Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1861-09-03
S1itp SSp1yeal,


august ~. 1861.
BrIg.-Gen :. Cooper, Adjutsut General c. S a:
GENERAL: Ihave the honor to make the
following Official report Of the battle Of toe
Oak Hills on the 10 b inst. Having taken po-
sition about ten miles from Springfield, en-.
de7vOred TO gain the necessary information of
the strength ard position Of the enemy, station
ed in and about the town. The Information
was very conflicting, and unsatisfactory
howcv T made up my mind 20 attack the enemy
in their position, and issued d&srde-s On the 9.h
inst. to ny force to start at 9 O'Clock at night
TO attacS at four sIferen- points at daylight.
= rW days before, Gen. Price, IN command Cf
the Missouri force, turned ever bis command
to me, and I assumed command OF The entire
force, comprising ny own brigade, the brigade
OF Arkansas State forces under Gen. PeaTC5,
and Gen. Pricc's command OF NIssOUriaus.
nav effective force was Eve thousand three
hundred infantry, fifteen pieces OF artillery, and
six thOuss1 bGTsemeB, armed with muskets,
Tifies and shot guns. There were other horse
men with the army, who were entirely unarm-
ed, and instead Of being a help were cOUtIHu-
ally in the way When The time arrived for
the night march, &c commenced TO rain slight
Iy, and fearing from the want Of cartridge box
es tha my ammunition would be ruined, ] or
dered the movement 70 be stopped, hoping TO
move the next morning. Hy JRUn had but
twenty-five T0uats Of cartridges apiece, anG
there wss no more 20 be had. NLliss'iii nesi-
t8tiDg in the morning, the enemy was reported
advancing, and I made arrangements TO meet
hi n. The sttackws made simultaneously,
at half past ,, A. n, on cur TisIt aBs left
fauks, and the enemy had gained the positions
they desired.
General Lyon attacked us on cur left and
General SiEei on our right and rear. From
these points batteries opened upon Us. Ny
comma I'd was soon ready. The hIissOurians
under Generals Slack, Clark, Mcbride, Par
sens ard RaiBes, were nearest the position
taken by General Lyon, with bis main force !:
they were instantly turned 60 the left and
opened tue battle with an iucesssnt fire Of
small arms. Woodruff opposed his battery to
the battery Of the enemy under Capt. Iulten,
and constant cann0nadinE was kept up be-
tween these batteries during the battle. Her
bsrt'a regiment Of louisiana volunteers and
McIntosb'5 regiment of Arkansas mounted
rifemen were ordered TO the front, and after
passing the battery (Totten's) turned to the
left and soon engaged the enemy with The Trgi
meuts deploved. Col. Mcintosh dismounted
bic regiment and the two marched up abreast
to a fence around a large corn field, where
theT met the left OF the enemy already posted
A terrible conflict Of small arms took place
here The opposing force was a body Of
regular U4i-ed ates Infantry, CON handed By
Captains Plummer and Gilbert.
Notwithss snding tie CALLING fire poured on
these two regiments, they iesped over the
fence and, galiartly led BY thsir colonies,
drove the enemy before them, back upon the
main body. During this time, the Missouri
ans, under Gen P.iCe, were no6ly attempting
to sustain themselves IN the center, and were
h0tiv engaged on tie sides Of the hight upon
which the enemy were posted Far On the
right, S.gel had opened his battery upon Cnur-
chii's and Greer's regiments, aDa had gradu-
A. y - a. T-.r1
edt side Of which the army was eHc7mpet,
and IN a prominent position be established bis
battery. / At once took two companies Of the
Louisiana regiment, who we're nearest me, and
msTcbeu them rapidly from tae front and right
20 the rear, win order to Col. Mcintosh to
bring up The rest. When we arrived near the
eneuy's battery, we found thai ReI1's battery
had opened upon IT, aHd T. was already in con
fusion. Advantage was taken Of it, and soon
the L5uiEianiaus were CALAMITY charging
among tbo guns, and swept the canDo0iefs
away. Five qua were here taken, and S gels
command, completely routed, were in rapid
retreat, With a single gun, followed by some
companies Of the Texas regiment and portion
of Col. Esior's Missouri cavalry. 10 the
pursuit EaHy Of the enemy were killed and
taken prisoners, AID their last gun captured.
Having cleared our right and rear, il was
necessary to turn all OF our attsHtioa TO the
cea re-, aodcr Gen Lyon, who was pressing up
on The MissouTiaHs, having driven them back.
To this point GcIatosh's regimen, under
Lieut.. Col. EnbrY, and ChuTcbipJ regiment
on foot, Gratiot's regiment, and EcRae's 5at
talon, were sent TO tleir ail.
A terrible FIRE of musketTy was now kept up
along the whole top and side Of the bill, upon
which the enemy we're posted. Masses Of in /
fsntry fell back and again rallied forward. !
Tie summit OF the bin was covered with The /
4 -aI cf.H EHft
With desperation f0rtne day. CsTIOlFs and
Greer's regiments, led calamity by Capt. Brad /
flute. charged the battery but the whole strength
Of the enemy was Immediately in rear, and /
dead FIRE was opened upoB them. At thIs 1
critical moment. when tie fortune OF the day I
seemed 70 Be ct the turning point, two r5Ei- /
TneUts OF Gen. PeaTce's brigade were ordered |
to march from their position, las reserves TO /
support the GENRE. The order was obeyed with |
alacrity, and Gen. Pearcs galautjy rushed to |
the rescue.
Reid'5 battery was also ordered TO move
forward, and the Louisiana reg meu5 was again
called into action on the lefE OF t.. The battle
then became general, and probably no tTo op-
posing forces ewes fought with greater Csspe-
ration; inch By inch tue enemy gave way, and
were driven from their position Iotten's bat
terv fell back. Niss0uT.aHs, hEisaBsisls, Lou
isi2nsns and Texans pusaed forward. TIE
ince=saut roar uf uusk5JTy - - de2Fening, ard
the balls fell thick aB hails5ous=: cut still cur
gallant souJheTneTs pushed onward, and with
Que wild sell broke upon q enemy, pushing
them back and strewiug 'heir ground "lth tue
dead-nOthirg could withstand the ImRetu0sitg
Of our 6nsl charge. The enemy fed, and could
not sgsju be rallied, and they were seen at z
O'Clock, fast retTsating among the hills IN the
distance. Thus ended the battle. Il lasted
six hours and half.
The force Of the enemy, between DiHe and
ten thousand. was composed OF vel disciplined
trooBs, well armed, ani a large part OF lhem
belonging TO the old army Of the United Ststes.
with every advantage on their side, they
have met with signal repulse. The loss Of
the enemy is at least eight hundred killed, one
Thousand wounded, and three hundred prison
ers. We captursd six pieces Of artillery, and
several hundred stand Of small arms, and seve-
raj Of their standards.
Major General Lyon, chief in command,
was Killed. Many OF the officers, high in rank,
were wounded. Our loss was also severe, and
we mourn the death of many gallant cAlcer
and soldier. Our killed amounts TO two bun
dTed and siX.Y-EvC, eight hundred wounded
and thirty missing Col. WeigHtmsn fell at
the head Of bis brigade nf MissouriarF, while
gaHsut.v charging upon the enemy. His place
Sgil not be easily filed. Generals Slack aud
Clark, of Missouri, were severely wounded
Gen Price slightly. Capt. Hnsoa OF The
louisiana regiment, Capt. Alexander, OF
Cburchi!Ps regiment, Capt. Bel and Brown,
of Pearce's brigade, LieEtenants walton and
Weaver all fell while Eobly and gailaDtly doing
their duty. Col. HcIHt0sh was slightly wound
ed By grape shot, while charging with the
Louisiana regiment Ii5ut. Col. Neal, MAJOR
H. Ward, Captains King, Pearson Gibbs,
Eamsaur, Porter, Ljsu-eHauts Dawson, Chsnl-
bcTs, johnson, King, Adams, Hsrdista, Newer
and Ssddier, were wounded wh|e ct The head
OF their companies. Where all we're dong
their duty 50 gallanty, tits almost unfair to
discriminate.
I Uust, however, bring to your notice the
gallant conduct Cf the Missouri generals, [
Mcbride, Parsons, Clark, Sack aad th.i Of
icers. To General Price, [ an under many
obligations for assistance on the battle field. !
he was at The head OK his force leading them !
on and sustaining them by his gallant bearing.
Gen. P-sTce, wi bis Arkansas brigade, /
(Gratio3s, Walkers, DoCkeTy's regiments Of
infaBtTy,) came gsilsntig to the rescue when
SEN f0r: leading bis men into the tbicbest Of
the fight be contributed much to the success Of /
the CAV. TIE comm sndeT8 Of regiments OF my
own nrigade-Co!s. Churchill, Greer, Embry,
NcI1trsh. He1eTt and McRse--lcd their differ /
eut regiments into action with great GOODNESS
and bravery, and were always in front Of Their
men cheering them on WoodUG, Biedsoe and
Reid managed their batteries with great abi!-
itv and did much execution. For those officers
aud men who were particularly conspicuous l
Will refer tGe dep5FLmeh. 10 the reports Of the
r Hare1t commanders.