Year: 1869

Battle Of Cane Hill.


From Pea Ridge the Army of the
Frontier marched to Lindsay's Prairie
three miles south from Maysville,
Ark. where it lay encamped for ten
dsys. On the morning of November
81 1862. a eonscript deserted from the
enemy. came into Gen. Blunts lines
and reported the rebels encamped at
Cane Hill, twelve or fifteen miles dis
tant.


Major burlington, with 80 men of
the Second Ohio Cavalry, was ordered
to reeOnnOiter in the direction OF Cane
Hill, and if possible discover the prob
able strength and position occupied
by the enemy.


After a march of probably ten miles
the recon aOitering party came upon a
force of about six hundred of the che
my's cavalry, and with his usual inn
petuOsity the Major charged the line.
The enemy gave way and a running
fight of half an hour ensued, when
the rebel horsemen broke ranks and
became a total route. When within
two miles of Cane Hill, or BOonsbOro,
the enemy was found strongly posted
with cavalry, infantry and artillery,
and finding they wouldn't press back,
the major returned with his little
squad and reported on the situation.


On the strength of this report Cen
eral Blunt, on Thursday morning, No
vember 29th, the Army of the Front
ier was put in motion and Thursday
night bfvouacked within mile of the
rebel piekets. With the first streak
of morning light came an iron mes
senger into camp from battery post
ed on a hill in the village of BOOns-
boro. To this defiance Rhabb's Indi-
ana Battery rolled into position and
opened whitening fire upon therebel
guns, driving them within the half
| hour from their position; but in the
meantime, while this artillery duel
was going on, the enemy had relin-
quished its position in BOonsboro-
| town is at the foot of the Boston
l Mountains-the fall of the country be-
| ing such that no line of battle can be
formed and held in the vicinity, and
moved off in the direction of Cane
Hill and Fort Smith.


As soon as the movement of the en-
envy was discovered, cavalry charge
was made into the town, coming jam
upon the rebel rear, which faced about
and repulsed the attack. Then the
Third Kansas and Rhabb's batteries
came crowding up and opened upon
the enemy, throwing them into con-
| fusion; and so this running fight con-
I tinued for eleven miles through the
mountains, the rebels turning back
and resisting the gallant charges of
our cavalry and shelling the road from
every elevation. Oftentimes these
halts and counter-charges would be OF
such q determined character as to set
eur cavalry back upon the infantry
support, when the force in front would
again be compelled to give way and
crowd down the road. The road taken
by the enemy leads from Cane Hill to
Fort Smith, and runs through q mar
Tow mountain gorge, and of course all
this running fight, from the nature Oi
the ground, was carried on by a very
small force on each side-the rebels
having placed two Louisiana regi-
ments in the rear, who moved along
in good order and almost at their Will,


From nine in the morning until
sunset this running fight continued,
when the enemy raised flag of truce
ostensibly for the purpose of return
ing Lieut.. Col. Jewell, who had been
wounded and captured, and TO ask the
privilege of burying their dead, but
really to gain time and save their ar
tillery, which was now being closely
pressed and in great danger of speedy
capture. AS darkness was already
spreading over the field, the fight
4 closed with the flag of truce, the ene-
my continuing their flight to the Ar
kansas river during the night; and
had the Army of the Frontier been in
condition to follow up, it could doubt
less have marched into Little Rock
with but little opposition.


1t was late in the day when Lieut.
Col. Jewell, of the Sixth Kansas Cav
airy, fell mortally wounded. Twice
he had led his lines through that
mountain gorge, eneountering a ter
rifle fire from musketry and artillery,
and in the third charge, with his
hands almost upon the rebel battery,
he fell from his horse pierced by fOuI
bullets. He soon after died He was
one of the few Kansas officers the boys
loved to honor, and his loss, from the
scarcity of good officers in that depart
mGnt was most severely felt.


The Third Kansas took an active
and. honorable part in the battles OF
Prairie Grove, December 1th, and
Van Buren,, December 18th, 1852; and
which, by long and tedious marches
through the Ozark and Boston noun
tains in the dead of winter, it return
ed to Missouri and went in camp at
Crane Creek.


1t was in this month that the COM
mand became water bound. The Wa
tiers of White river, when the COM
, mand appeared upon its bank, was
roaring and tumbling along at a fear
full rate, seventy-five yards wide and
fifteen feet deep. No boat could be
found to ferry the command across, and
onewas imprOvised by the battery. The
boxes were taken from the wagons
lashed together, covered with tarpau-
lin, and rails were placed over the
tops for decking. The boat was now
made, but how to work it? There was
no means, seemingly, at hand by
which to get rope over the waters


The quartermaster proposed to tie
rope to a mules tail and swim him
over without a rider, but the attempt
to face a current of five miles or more
an hour was too much even for the
weIl-known tenaeity of the mule, and
he went under. y horse also perished
? in making the same attempt. \
small dug out was found, but II
swamped in mid-stream and nearly
drowned its crew. Lines were now
becoming scarce, and a few more fail
ures would have left the command fol
weeks high and dry upon the wrong
side of the stream. Finally Lieut.


Hadley attached line to an empty
case shot and threw it across from one
of his guns. The command was then
ferried over without the loss of an ar
ticle or man. When over, by order
of the division commander, salute
was fired in honor of the event. In
ten days the command was in its COM
mand at Crane Creek.


Maine Is. the child of Massachusetts,