Letter No. 16.
Dear Doctor:-
Now you may begin to listen for something with growing interest,- “General
Sterling Price is coming with 20,000 men!” they said. Scouts were riding south,
southeast and southwest day and night. Guard duty became very heavy. Company H
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was drawn upon mostly for scout and picket details. On the morning of Sept. 21st, Lieut.
E. P. Settle asked permission to take five men of Company H and visit his home on
Twelve Mile Creek, between Coldwater and Fredericktown, to see his dying babe. He
was furnished the men, but was to look more to duty than to his babe. He found his babe
already dead but only had time to give his wife a few hasty directions and hurry away,
but brought no definite word as to Price’s approach, only that the lower country was full
of rebels.
Late in the afternoon of the 20th, Company H broke rendezvous camp and
hastened to the post at Pilot Knob, northeast of Ironton, then on the 21st, we were ordered
to quarters near the Hancock Hotel, about 75 yards northeast of Fort Davidson. Lieut.
Sutton had already brought the unmounted men of companies A and G from Patterson.
Then late in the afternoon of the 21st, Sergt. E. A. Wilkinson and nine men of company H
were ordered by Maj. Wilson to escort two wagons to Patterson to assist Capt. McElroy
in bringing off his camp equipage, and “Sergeant, don’t you permit any two men, or ten
men to take those wagons away from you. You proceed to Patterson with all haste.”
were the Major’s orders. Sergt. Wilkinson marched at once and reached Patterson
between daylight and sun up the 22nd, having marched nearly all night. He said he found
the M. S. M. with arms on, blankets rolled and horses saddled, ready to mount at the
word. He and comrade Parker, his most trusted man, went up to the fort on the hill south
of Patterson for breakfast with Companies A and G. Having eaten, he returned to Capt.
McElroy down in Patterson and at 9:45 A. M., Sept. 22nd, Capt. McElroy gave him orders
to “Leave your wagons and march with your men to Pilot Knob.” Some trouble arose
with one of the teamsters who refused to drive his team, and Capt. McElroy threatened to
shoot him if he ran, and one of Sergt. Wilkinson’s men volunteered to exchange places
with the teamster. Then he proceeded north on the Ironton Road, and at the English farm,
1 ¼ miles north of Patterson, he discovered the rebels in force in line across his road,
over which he had traveled at daylight. The rebels at once opened fire, the first ball
cutting through John Crowley’s beard, and Sergt. Wilkinson wheeled right about with his
men and went flying back to Patterson, loosing good old Crowley, whose horse stumbled
and fell, throwing him over his head, and stepping on his shoulder, but luckily, Comrade
Crowley got into the brush between two limestone rocks, in time to save his life and
capture. As Sergt. Wilkinson came up, Capt. McElroy mounted and rode up and said
“Sergeant, how many are there ?” He said, “I don’t know, captain, the road is full as far
as I could see, and yonder they come now!” Then the captain rode along his line, already
formed and steadied his men, then gave the word, “FORWARD!” and as lead began to
fly thick, they dashed to the east and up a slope into an open field, and soon were sinking
behind the slope from the onrushing rebels, into Clarks Creek and down it. Capt.
McElroy kept in the timber until he reached the Shearer farm on the St. Francois River,
after passing a road that came directly east from the English farm, three miles away. He
was then three miles from Patterson. Here he halted, readjusted saddle girths and watered
at a good spring and then formed in good order with a strong rear guard of trusted men
and proceeded up the river on the west side, with Shearrer’s and Mud Lick Mts.
immediately on his left, but unmolested. Sergt. Wilkinson lost in killed after capture,
Albert Kelley, Jud Belmar and Tom Young. In disabled and lost, John Crowley; in
squandered, Newt Faiz; in captured, Pink Bates,- six men out of ten! Fortunately for
Bates, he found some of his Arkansas kin, and they saved him from being murdered with
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the other poor boys. He effected his escape by getting sick (?) at dusk and “Must (?)
have a drink of water.” “There is a spring, hurry up,” they told him. He hurried too
much. He was active build and in his great hurry, he shot too high for that spring and got
lost (?) in the brush. They did not get him again.
Sergt. Wilkinson continued with Capt. McElroy up the St. Francois River, until
within three miles of his home, when he continued to the Coldwater road to the right, in
time to save much property, such as horses and clothing, on Cedar Creek. He reached
home at a late dinner and Lieut. Wilkinson at once mounted “Salem” and rode for dear
life, to spread the news, and then back again into the brush, as Price came up and took up
headquarters in the old Baptist Church house at Coldwater, the night of the 22nd, and his
men camped all over Capt. Powers’ farm and the adjoining farms for two miles up Cedar
Creek. They at once began to pillage people’s houses, taking all of the good dresses and
underwear of the women they could find, and in the meantime, his wagons were going to
all of the farms around for corn. In Comrade R. F. Lowrance’s poem, he rhymed in about
how “Price had taken Missouri with 20,000 “gritters’!” Price’s men went armed each
man, with a grater made of sheet tin, nailed to a board, to grind their corn into meal and
the “Johnny cake board” on which to make up and bake the grated meal. (This may be
doubted, but nevertheless, it is true; but more of this further on.)
Capt. McElroy reached Pilot Knob late in the evening of the 22nd, with nearly all
of his men, but lost his wagons with his camp equipage. Only three of Company H came
in with him,- J. P. Collins, John Head and ever faithful Dan M. Parker. Companies A and
G fared much worse, as it seems there was no specific understanding between the two
captains,- McElroy and McMurtry, so they could have concert of action in the case.
Being high up on the hill in the old fort, 250 yards from McElroy, they could see Sergt.
Wilkinson and his men coming and the host of rebels after them, and they began to cheer,
thinking that the great cloud of dust raised by the running horses of the rebels was heavy
reinforcements rapidly approaching from Pilot Knob, but in a moment, Tom Young, one
of Sergt. Wilkinson’s men, who reached McElroy some bit before Sergt. Wilkinson came
in, came up to the fort with word from McElroy for them to “Git!” Then they were taken
aback and confusion became the disorder and they failed to join McElroy as he rode
eastward as they were too far to the right. They ran afoul of a rebel picket on the Hog
Eye Road and had to scatter and fight out, losing some in killed, among whom was Lieut.
Bob Fulton, formerly of Company M, 8th Prov.
Companies A and G reached Pilot Knob in squads of ones and upwards. Poor
Tom Young, that was the last ever heard of him alive, as after delivering his message to
Capt. McMurtry, he wheeled his horse and rode for the place where Capt. McElroy had
been, but the rebels were there and took him in. His buried body was afterwards found
north of Clarks Creek, nearly a half mile north of Patterson. Comrade H. Tom Fulton
gave us this story of Tom Young. The night of the 23rd, Maj. Wilson sent Orderly
Sullivan of Company G down to the Ellis Kemp farm on the St. Francois River in
Madison County, to feel for Price. He found a Rebel Captain and two men lodged up
stairs in the Kemp house and they came out on the upper story of the piazzo and at once
opened fire on Sergt. Sullivan and his men, who returned their fire, but it was very dark
and raining a little. The captain got a broken arm, as the writer was told by his neighbor,
Jno. C. Kerr, who had stopped there for the night on his way to Fredericktown for salt.
Sullivan then heard the “long roll” sound on the next farm above, and bodies of horsemen
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dashing every way. He had to skedaddle with his men. It was Shelby and his men
camped on the next two farms above him. So he returned to Pilot Knob without the
requisite information, “ascertain if Gen. Price is actually in command in person!” were
the orders to all of the scouts thence forward.
On the same night, Capt. Powers was sent with a squad of the M. S. M. down the
Patterson road with the same orders. On starting, he asked “Shall I go as far as is
prudent?” “Yes” was the reply, “and a little further!” He made his way to Wiley
Hinkle’s, a mile east of Brunot, and then only five miles west of Price’s headquarters at
his own farm on Cedar Creek. To have gone on over there to shake hands with old
“Pap”, the Capt. thought was going beyond that “little further.” He wrote a hasty note to
Sergt. E. A. Wilkinson, then in the brush near his home a mile and a quarter west of
Price’s headquarters. Uncle Wiley Hinkle’s oldest daughter volunteered to bear the letter
to Wm. Cobb’s near the mouth of Cedar Creek and hard by Sergt. Wilkinson’s home, to
be conveyed to him. She reached the Cobb home all right. (Mrs. Cobb was Capt.
Powers’ sister) but there was a gang of rebels there who at once accused her of being a
spy! Here countenance betrayed her, although she denied it. She then pretended to fix
her nether clothing and hastily went into a side room and hid the message behind the
weatherboarding, where no doubt it is at this day. Capt. Powers returned without the
requisite information, “Ascertain if Gen. Price is actually in command in person.” This
information in the affirmative would have certainly spoiled our great-little battle at Pilot
Knob. We would then have at once evacuated Pilot Knob and fallen back on Gen. A. J.
Smith, at De Soto! But as luck, either good or bad, would have it, this information was
not OFFICIALLY had, until Shelby was at Mineral Point and Potosi and Price all around
us! So we were completely cut off from Gen. Smith. By the 23rd, Company I came in
from Fredericktown; Company F from Farmington; so now, of the 47th, we had at Pilot
Knob and at Ironton, Companies A, E, F, G, H. and I.
In the afternoon of the 23rd of Sept., Adjt. Murphy was drilling us over west of
Fort Davidson, as was his custom every spare moment, when an orderly came up and
delivered him a message. After reading the message, Adjt. Murphy at once ordered us
back to our quarters, and to at once fall in on our company parade grounds,- all of the 47th
that were present. This we did and soon he came and took charge of us and marched us
all over into the town of Pilot Knob, in front of post headquarters. We then came to a
“Front FACE! Present ARMS!” Ah, now we saw what the message was. Out stepped
Brigadier-General Thomas Ewing to acknowledge our salute. Yes, there stood our noble,
brave commanding general! In build, he was tall, straight, full breast, large, well formed,
robust and in every way, of the genuine military bearing. He had the keen, eagle eye,
Roman nose somewhat, and in fact, it seemed to the writer that he could, at one look give
fighting courage to the biggest coward in the whole command. In short, it turned out that
Gen. Ewing was THE man for Pilot Knob in its darkest hours of the war. Here now we
have a bit more of Mr. Perry S. Rader’s “History of Missouri”, as follows: “At Pilot
Knob, he (Price) met Gen. H. S. Ewing with twelve hundred men, who gallantly held his
position for a time, then spiked his guns, blew up his magazine and returned to Rolla to
join his forces with Gen. McNeil.” (Paragraph 217, Page 347.) The true facts are, that
Gen. Thomas Ewing was the man, and he never spiked his guns either, for we were in at
the remounting of them. All living participants in that awful battle full well know the
facts as stated by the writer. All school histories should certainly relate the Facts. Perry
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Davis’ “Pain Killer” would serve a better purpose in our schools that Perry S. Rader’’s
“History of Missouri.”
Comrade Jas. F. Johnson of Company E, 47th, says that the 14th Iowa Inft. Vols.
came with Gen. Ewing as an escort. Being associated with the 14th Iowa, after Company
E was left minus a commissioned officer on our retreat to Rolla, Comrade Johnson
gathered this from the 14th boys. Then it was that Capt. Montgomery came with his
battery H, 2nd Mo. Light Art. of six guns. Rifled pieces, using conical shot and conical
percussion shells and canister. The percussion shell is unlike the fuse shell. The fuse in
the fuse shell is connected with the powder inside the shell, and it is so arranged that it is
ignited at the other end when the gun is discharged. The length of the fuse is regulated to
the distance the shell is intended to be thrown before exploding. The percussion shell
must be handled with caution, for if dropped point forward and the pointed end
containing the percussion connected with the powder within, should strike any solid
substance, you are torn to atoms. The percussion shell never explodes until it strikes
point foremost,- then woe be unto you if it should strike your musket.
Saturday, Sept.24th, was a day of excitement. We were all ordered to the rifle pits
north and south of the fort, but nothing of a definite nature occurred that we heard of.
Company H’s position was about the middle of the south rifle pit, and late in the
afternoon a hand was laid on our shoulder from behind as we stood looking west in deep
meditation over the situation. “Do you know me, sir?” “Yes” we said, “Our cousin,
Capt. John W. Smith,” from Jenkins’ Ferry on Saline River in (then) Saline County, Ark.,
where Gen. Steel fought Price back, while his men crossed the pontoon bridge on the
retreat to Little Rock, after Gen. Banks’ failure in the Red River (Cotton) Expedition.
Capt. Smith belonged to the 1st Ark. U. S. Vols. as chief scout. He was in it at Steel’s
battle as he had lived near Jenkins’ Ferry. His widowed mother,- Lieut. Wilkinson’s
sister,- with her widowed daughter and family were over at the depot, and we at once
obtained leave and went over to see “Aunt Jane” and “Cousin Margaret Dement” and to
get a wagon and send them down to Arcadia, where they could obtain supplies of our
merchant,- E. S. Eisner,- and a house for shelter, until she could reach her brother, Lieut.
Wilkinson. She was a refugee from Arkansas, having endured the battle of Jenkins’
Ferry. She said she got enough fighting at her home at Jenkins’ Ferry, “and here I ran
right into it again!” She saw Gen. Fagan the 27th and knew him as she was well
acquainted with him in Arkansas. He was in Arcadia at and around Gen. Price’s
headquarters before the assault was made on Fort Davidson. She did not then claim
acquaintance with Fagen. Night came on and so far as we now remember. It passed
comparatively quiet in camp, but not so with the poor boys on patrol, as they got no rest.
Sunday, the 25th came nice and clear, but no definite news as yet, or at least none known
to the soldiers as the prudent commander never tells to his men all he knows, or aims to
do. Dinner came and passed off with the hard tack and beef and “Linkum” coffee, &c.
Then the writer had been quietly notified by Adjt. Murphy that he had better see that the
men carried clean guns at guard mounting. So we said, “Company H, if don’t clean your
muskets, you are sure to go to the guard house!” This put Company H to work at once,
but hardly had they begun to clean up our muskets,- some in bad fix when drawn,- when
we saw Lieut. Fessler, the fort Commander, go by us from Post Headquarters, on a gray
horse at a furious gallop towards the fort, and crossing the drain or branch that flows
south through Pilot Knob into Stouts Creek, his horse came near falling, and some one
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exclaimed, “Look out that horse shoe!” In stumbling the horse threw a shoe off his foot
away up above the Lieutenant’s head, as the horse regained his feet and ran on to the gate
of the fort. Here, as he dashed into the fort over the drawbridge, he hurriedly shouted to
his men, then quartered just outside south of the gate. The drummer snatched up his
drum and rattled off the “long roll!” Something up sure! “Fall in Company H!” Then,
as there were no commissioned officers present, we looked towards Regiment
headquarter and saw Adjutant Murphy come dashing up bareheaded, pen in hand, as he
was then making out his regiment report. He looked to see Lieut. Fessler’s men dashing
into the fort, then he turned to look to the 47th, then camped east of the fort in column by
companies, ours the north company. He then dashed into his marquee, then instantly out
again, bareheaded and his glittering sword in hand, which he had snatched without
belting on. He saw Company H already formed and awaiting orders, and here he came,-
“Where is Capt. Powers?” he asked as he dashed up. “Don’t know, sir! Perhaps over to
Post Headquarters!” we replied? Then springing to the place of the captain, he shouted,
“Company H Forward by file left! Double quick, MARCH! Right Shoulder shift
ARMS!” and away we went for the south rifle pit. As we were passing under the muzzle
of the north east 32 gun, she fired the alarm and two of Company H concluded that they
were killed and fell flat. Then as we passed under the southeast 32, she fired and threw
the fire and bits of the flannel cartridge all over us. Then the old iron furnace whistle was
going the “Long whistle” and the men cam pouring out of the furnace building, many
coming to us. We were soon in line at right angle to the south rifle pit, near Stouts Creek,
facing the gap between the Mts. of Pilot Knob and Shepherd, and Company H won the
ribbon! She was first in line of battle of the whole part of Pilot Knob. Then Adjt.
Murphy ran to the next company of the 47th that was ready and placed them on our left,
then Battery H dashed up on this company’s left on the higher ground, where two days
later, the dead and wounded rebels covered the ground. The bugle sounded “Unlimber,”
and prepare to fire to the front!” Never while memory stays with us, will we forget the
sound of that artillery bugle. Then came the clatter and hurried orders of the gun
commanders as they unlimbered and wheeled their guns to the front ready to load and
fire. Soon were the five companies of the 47th in line on either side of the battery as
support. The cavalry were no less active, also. Now one poor fellow whom we will call
“Dave” who belonged to Company H, began to pray and beg, to the general merriment of
his comrades. He said “Lord, what are they going to do with us-ah.” For his
enlightment, we said “Dave, we are here to support that battery up there.” Then he said,
“Lord, I don’t want to go-ah?” A very short time was sufficient to learn that two of our
scouting parties, went on the Farmington Road, had mistook each other for the enemy
and began firing at each other. Then as soon as the battery was out of our way and the
47th already in line, Adjt. Murphy put us through a short batallion drill, our first and only
batallion drill we had previous to the battle of the 27th. Drill was soon dismissed and we
retired to camp. In relating this story of our first experience in going into line of battle, as
the 47th Mo. Inft.Vols., we have given the details that the reader may have a good picture
of how it really was, and how it looked,- so if we appear tedious, we ask pardon.
Yours truly
H. C. Wilkinson,
Damon, Mo.