Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1899-02-02
THE LAST CHARGE
II Was the Closing Action OF che
civil War and Was one OF
Desperate Bravery,

Desperate bravery
Col. Ransom Kennicctt, Of Chicago,
led the last charge in the civil war The
charge was made at the stormiug Of
Blakely, Ala, and took place some time
after Lee had surrendered TO Grant,
April 0, 1868
The story of the assault and taking
of the Notifications at Blakely defend
ing Mobile, makes one Of the most he.
roic and picturesque bits of history In
the civil war The war was ended and
the confederates had surrendered when
the engagement took place, This par
ticular division of confederates and
"Yanks" confronting each other at Mo.
bile knew nothing about 1t, however,
and they fought as desperately as II IT.
had been at the breaking out cf the
war instead of the close.
Reenforcements were being hurried
forward TO Gen. Frank Steele, In com
mand of the Thirteenth army corps
(unonsts), and his men were wildly
impatient to capture the Notifications
and achieve the glory for Themselves.
Col. Kennicott led an advance Of 300
skirmishers to dislodge lot of confed-
crate sharpshooters on the right and
pave the way for the last general as
sault. lie led his men across stretch
Of "tangleleg" half-mile long, dis
lodged or captured every confederate in
the rifle pits, and lost but one man. A
rush was then made all along the line,
the earthworks were taken, and Mobile
fell. 1t was one of the most gallant
charges OF the war, splend dly planned
and executed,
The storming of Blakely took place
during what is called the Mobile cam
paign." Gen. Frank Steele came over
from Pensacola in the latter part OF
March and first of April, 1865, and laid
siege to Mobile. The last defense CT the
place was u formidable line of fCrtiR-
cations at Blakely, ten miles from Mo-
bile. Earthworks had been thrown up
in semicircle around the town On
top of these big logs had been fitted in
place, protecting the heads of the men
behind the works, and leaving a hand
breadth space through which the firing
might be done. lntrenched behind this
protecting line the confederates kept
up a constant fusillade in comparative
safety. There were 5000 of them, com
manded by Gen. John ST. Liddell and
Gen. John Cockrell and Gen. Thomas,
The confederates had about 40 pieces Of
artillery and about $4,000 or 10000 men.
1t is counted that under circumstances
like this besiegers ought to outnumber
the defenders five to one, so that the
opposing forces were about evenly
matched. In addition to the earth
works the confederates had stationed q
lot of sharpshooters half-mile in
front.
The siege was conducted on humane
lines, the idea being to lose as few men
as possible, even at the expense Of con-
siderable time, April D, however saw
the end of the siege in the daring as
caut led by Col. Ransom Kennicott
There were lot of Illinoisans there, in
various parts of the line, and every
man made gallant record. Cen John
C. Black, Gen. j. b. Leake. Col, James
Sexton, Capt. Black, Maj. Bel, and
Capt. Kennicott, brother of the colonel.
1t was decided to detail 800 mel to de-
ploy as skirmishers and clean out the
rifle pits on the right. They were ia
be supported by the whole division
The command of the 300 picked men
fell upon Col. Kennicott. They made
their way through the half-mile of OBJ
structions under a raking fire from bat
teries and musket. During the whole
siege the guns had not roared SO ter
riby. The cannon belched out steady
stream of fire and smoke, ard it
seemed the whole 300 men must be cut