The Battle of Wireman’s Shoals
(The Johnson County Boat Fight)
By Brian Hall and Robert M. Baker
In October of 1862, Lt. Levi Hampton, adjutant of the 39th Kentucky, left Pikeville with a detachment of 200 men, including elements of Companies A, D, G, H, and I. He was ordered to procure some push-boats at Peach Orchard in Lawrence County and to continue from there up the Big Sandy River to Catlettsburg, where he would receive some supplies earmarked for the regiment. The trip down-river was quick and uneventful (Osborne 85).
Upon arriving in Catlettsburg, Lt. Hampton was informed that the stores were not yet ready for transportation. Hampton was also held up while he attempted to hire enough experienced boatmen to guide his push-boats up-river. Apparently, he felt that his new recruits would not be up to the task. It wasn’t until the last week of November 1862 that Lt. Hampton’s detachment left Catlettsburg for the trip to Pikeville (Osborne 85).
After a week of hard work and due to the low stage of the river (Preston 66), the party had passed beyond Peach Orchard and reached Wireman’s Shoals near the Floyd-Johnson County Line on December 3rd, 1862 (Osborne 85-6). That evening, the Federals encamped on the nearby farm of Patrick Vaughn, father-in-law of one of the boatmen, James Y. Brown (Scalf 317).
The local Union commander, Col. Jonathan Cranor, had learned from a Union sympathizer (Osborne 88) that the convoy was in danger of being attacked, and had sent an escort with the boats as far as Peach Orchard. His report indicated that Col. Dils had previously agreed to send an escort to Peach Orchard to accompany the boats for the remainder of their trip to Pikeville. Col. Cranor did send a cavalry scout out to ascertain if the enemy was nearby and that reconnaissance indicated that no Confederate forces were in the area (39th Kentucky Website). For some reason, no troops were sent from the 39th to continue the escort, but the convoy pressed ahead anyway (Preston 66).
Late that evening, Second Lt. Addison Miller of the 39th Kentucky, Company G, rode out to Wireman’s Shoals with a detachment and informed Lt. Hampton that he was in danger of being attacked by a large force of the Virginia State Line under the command of Col. John Clarkson (Scalf 319). Lt. Hampton attempted to have his force fall back to Peach Orchard, but that movement was interrupted by a message from Col. Dils who stated that the convoy was in no danger and that they should move ahead as quickly as possible (39th Kentucky Website, Preston 66). Realizing that their situation was perilous, and in spite of assurances of the opposite, Hampton and Miller armed the boat crews with guns impressed from the homes of nearby neighbors, gathered as many of the locals as they could, and prepared his mixed forces for the inevitable attack (Osborne 86).
Col. John N. Clarkson, in command of a force of 800 cavalry, had arrived in Prestonsburg on December 4th and learned of the presence of the Federal convoy just a few miles down-river. He immediately moved his force the short distance to Wireman’s Shoals, where they found the push-boats and the Yankees prepared for a fight (Preston 66). The Union troops and civilians guarding the boats could see the Confederate cavalry riding along the ridge across the river. Then they descended the hill, crossed the level bottom-land, and rode directly into the water opposite the boats where the Union soldiers were defending. Accurate fire from the defenders drove the Confederates back onto the shore, where they reformed for another charge. Again, withering rifle fire from the defenders drove them back. At that point, Clarkson’s force retreated to a two-story log building (Scalf 318) located on a hilltop (Osborne 86), which they fortified (Scalf 318). A stalemate had developed and both sides settled down to see what the other would do.
Col. Clarkson realized that a frontal assault would inevitably fail, and so he decided to divide his forces. He left a light screen of skirmishers in front of the Federal forces to keep their attention. He marched the greater portion of his command down Little Paint Creek, crossed the river, and brought it around behind the Union troops from the east (Scalf 318).
The appearance of the enemy behind them caused the Union forces to panic, but they continued to fight from cover before finally being overwhelmed. A Confederate officer, Mark Allen, was shot through the mouth and killed when he jumped up on a stump and called on the Yankees to surrender (Scalf 318), and an Ironton newspaper carried an account (perhaps slightly dramatized) of Lt. Hampton’s death:
When he saw there was no prospect of repulsing the enemy, he told the boys to save themselves as best they could; that for his part he would be obliged to surrender, as he could not run being a cripple. He then seated himself on a log, lighted a cigar, and calmly awaited his fate. When the rebels came up one of them shot him dead. They then stripped him of all his clothing and dragged him about one hundred yards(Osborne 86).
One of the civilian boatmen, Frank Rose from Lawrence County, was also killed.
The action had lasted for no more than an hour. Many of the Federal soldiers surrendered, but quite a few managed to escape to the hills. John Vaughn saw the prisoners being marched away, among them his brother-in-law, James Y. Brown. Vaughn rode to Peach Orchard with the news of the fight (Scalf 319).
As far as casualties, Col. Cranor admitted that two Federal soldiers were killed, Lt. Hampton and Pvt. George Rose. Col. Clarkson admitted the same number killed from his forces. Clarkson also claimed that he had seven wounded (Osborne 89), among them, according to the Lynchburg Virginian, Capt. Frank Findlay, Floyd Bailey, and Findlay Harris (90). Official records indicate that the 39th lost one killed and 38 captured at The Battle of Wireman’s Shoals (86). Osborne also estimates that 10 to 12 Federal soldiers were wounded in the skirmish.
Among those captured were First Lt. Isaac Goble; Pvts. Eli R. Dials, Alexander Hall, and William Hall; and the Reverend Samuel Hannah and John W. Howe, who were both private citizens (39th Kentucky Website). The Kentucky Adjutant General’s Report also lists Cpls. Andrew J. Ratliff and William McGuire, both of Company C, and Pvt. David Dyre, Company C, as captured, but returned on May 19th, 1863. A number of the Union soldiers captured at Wireman’s Shoals ended up in Confederate prisons, some dying there of disease; most notably William Hall, Co. G, who died in Richmond. Pvt. George W. Charles of Company I was also captured on this date, but died in Tazewell County, Virginia, on January 1st, 1863 (Compiled Service Records, National Archives). He may have been one of the two Confederate deserters whose executions Micajah Woods mentions witnessing on this same date; the other man being Adam Davis, also of Company I.
The Confederates also made off with the stores that were being transported on the push-boats. Cranor numbered the losses at 50 to 100 stands of arms, 300 suits of fatigue uniforms, 7,000 rounds of ammunition, a “small lot of commissaries”, a tent, and two push-boats. Much of what was captured was left behind by the Confederates and later recovered (39th Kentucky Website). Clarkson reported that he had captured 500 Enfield rifles, 7,000 rounds of ammunition, and enough clothing to outfit his own command (Preston 66). What Clarkson’s men could not carry away, they tried unsuccessfully to destroy (Osborne 91). They also captured large quantities of sugar, coffee, salt (88), shoes, overcoats, flannel underwear, socks (89), and some other non-military items, according to Col. Cranor and Micajah Woods, adjutant for the Virginia State Line. Woods also mentioned finding women’s shoes among the stores captured from the boats (87). Col. Dils would later be dismissed from the service of the United States Army for, among other reasons, the misuse of Federal transportation for his personal needs and the misappropriation of Federal property for his own profit. As well, the loss of those supplies had a strong impact on the 39th throughout the remainder of the winter of 1862-3. The next day, December 5th, Companies B and K of the 39th Kentucky under Col. Dils would again confront Col. Clarkson’s forces at Bull Mountain in Floyd County.