The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1896-01-16
The I'd Nv. Cav.

during the war. / allude TO the ID KY.
Cav.-a regiment with a record to stir the
pride of every man in it lacking, however,
the one element characterizing so many
| regiments these latter days-of boastful
elf-laudation-which every properly-con-
| stituted man must read with indignation
and disgust. Some of these people, promi-
nent at that, in their own opinion, as if by
| the command of God, ordered the war to
cease, and so the end came. The I'd KY. Cav
did not and does not now proclaim its great
ness with blare of trumpets; and during
| its services in the field the conduct of it's
| officers and men was marked by COM
mendable modesty, obeying all orders, and
otherwise discharging their duty; careful to
deserve the approval of superiors in COM
mand, and the warm appreciation of their
friends at home caring little for the opin-
ion of others, so cheaply bought if desired,
by cultivating friendly correspondents of
newspapers. / understand, of course, the
paragraph in question was written in a per-
tunctory manner from data in "Fox's Regi-
mental Losses" Allow me to say that
Fox is only partially correct in this instance.
1t is due the survivors of the regiment and
its friends that something more should be
said; and in writing now / shall not infliet
you with a word more than what / consider
necessary. The Cd KY. Cav. was organ
lied at Camp Joe Holt, in August, 1861,
and on the night of Sept. IL responded
to its first long ROLL" marching at once
to the front, forming the nucleus of the
afterwards historical Army of the Cumber-
land, and remained at the front during its
term of service, at no time having what
might be considered soft berth. In all
that time its services were in request, par
ticipating in every battle of the Army of
the mberland, besides numerous cavalry
raids and affairs, battles and skirmishes, of
importance enough to be enumerated by
Fox Its first skirmish at Duck River, in
the Shiloh campaign, with Buell.; Murfrees-
boro, scouting and skirmishing; with Buell.
on the retreat into Kentucky; battle at Bor-
dentown; Champion Hills; Stone River cam
| paign with Phil Sheridan in the Tullahoma
campaign; with Crook at Alpine, Ga; Chick
| amauga; chasing Wheeler across the rear of
the army; the fight at McMinnvilIe; Muir
freesboro again at Shelbyville, followed by
the Pennington affair, where some OF our
cavalry brigade5 failed to connect, and yet
we managed very well without them. Then
followed the battle of Mission Ridge and
Lookout Mountain, during which the I'd
Ky. Cav. was attached to the command of
N.
lor's Ridge; Buzzard's Roost; Ringgold, on
the day the town was burned. This itinerary
is dreadfully incomplete. just notice that
had omitted an entire epic poem in not
mentioning our hasty march after Chatta-
nooga to the relief of Burnside at Knoxville
under sealed orders to go into the city, and
it was donel To resume: Rousseau's raid
into Alabama, the I'd KY. itself destroy
ing six miles of railroad near Notasulga !;
the Fitzpatrick raid /; the McCook raid; the
fall of Atlanta; JOnesboro, and to the sea
with Sherman, and the Grand Review in
Washington; meantime, part OF the reg1-
ment remaining in Georgia, with SehOfield
at franklin and Thomas at Nashville,
| only ending with the capture of jeff
| Davis. I do not intend to claim for the I'd
KY. Cav that it was better than other good
regiments; but there were none better. 1t
was in Longs Brigade, composed of the I'd
Ky.. 1st. Sd, and 4th Ohio Cav, aud part of
the Chicago Board of Trade Battery, and as
a brigade there was none better. You will un-
derstand that this has been written off hand,
on seeing your paragraph alluded to, and at
best is only brief summary of the cam
paigns of the regiment, many important
events omitted which might be filled IN
with little time. | feel SO much is due
anyway, and wish to have it published in
your admirable paper. L wish to add to
Fox's statement of losses, to wit, Five Off
GERS and 81 men killed in battle, 122 died,
etc., the following statement. Several
years ago / noticed an advertisement
in the dispatches that several regiments
named had failed to file official reports
of certain battles; among them was the
I'd KY, its report of the battle of Chick
amauga not appearing among the records of
the War Department; and the compiler of
that immense work, the WAR Records"
desired that it should be forthcoming. Col.
Nicholas having died shortly after the war,
and he having been in command at the
battle, took it upon myself to correspond
in regard to the matter, wrote q report OF
the battle, the report being an exact copy
OF data on hand in an old diary kept by me
at the time sent it to the Department, and
received a reply that while it could not be
received as an official report, yet it would
be published in an appendix with proper
explanations. 1t is obvious that our losses
at Chickamauga should be added to Fox's
statement, and the result would be an addi-
ton of Ii Killed and 43 wounded; for
Chickamauga was day of blood for the I'd
XIV. Cav, As well as for the army. Now let
me say further, that this list of losses in
DattlS IS large lOT ~ CtSdtEy Il
have found none to exceed it, excepting
some regiments of mounted infantry with
an infantry record, or infantry changed
during it's term of service into cavalry, as
was the case with the 9Th Ind. Cav, for
instance.-E. s. WATTS, Colonel, I'd Ky.
Cav, Oak Park, iii.
The 1st Battery, n. Y. Ind'p't r.. A.
EDITOR NATIONAL TRIBUNE: l wish to
correct the figures of losses in the 1st bat
terry, N Y. PIT l.. A, Cowan's Battery,
as given in your issue of Jan. 2. You give
Cowan's Battery fifth place in point of loss
among light batteries. We claim second
place. New York in the War of the Re-
bellion,n compiled by Capt. Frederick Phis-
terer, late Captain United States Army,
gives our loss two officers and Is privates
killed. Total, 20. Wounded, four officers
and So privates. Col. Andrew Cowan
entered the army as q private in the Spring
of 1861, and at close of war was Chief of Ar
tillery of the Sixth Corps, Army of the PO-
tomac When we consider that the Union
army, outside of the Regular artillery, con-
tanned 297 batteries, to stand second is quite
an honor. OF the SO batteries from New
York it stands first in loss.-W. E. WEBSTER,
LIST N. Y. battery, Auburn, N. Y.
The 1a4th III.
This regiment was organized at Spring
field, ILL.,, Sept 10, 1862, to serve three years.