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Col. Duffield's Official Report

Col. Duffield's Official Report image
Parent Issue
Day
15
Month
August
Year
1862
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

MüHFHKESBORO,Tenn., July 23, 'C2. Colonisl- Although I had not yet formally assumed tho command of the Twenty-thhd Brigade, yet, as Brigadier General Thomas L. Critteudoc aud tho other officers of his oommaud have been captured and forwarded to Chattunooga, permit me to submit the following report of such portioo of thu attaek on this post, made on the I8th inst., tis eame uuder my own personal observatioa. 1 arrived here, al'tcr au absence of two months, on the afteruoon of the llth inst , coming iIowD on ihe same train with Brigadier General Thomas L. Crit tonden, the newly appointed eommander of the post. aud fouud that several material changos had beun made in the l.icatiouand enoampwent of the Twcnty-tlurd Brigade siuce my departure. Instead of camping together as it had done, it wi-s separated Dto two portions scvurul miles ap;u-r. - The brigade luJ uever beun drillad as as BUCh, nor a brigade guard mouuted.- Eaoh regimeut farui&lied Lts quuta of officers and men atul watched certaiu roads, and, wurse thau all, the commanding officers of tlieir respective regiments were on ill terms with caoh other and the fecling upun oue occasion liad broken out into au open personal quarrel. The rosult w:is a great lack of discipline be tween the two regiments, manifesting itself in the personal cncounters of the men when tliey met or. the street. Theie was no order and no hariuony. The parta of the machine did not fit well aud the commandiug ofliecr seems cither not to have possessed tho will or the ability to adjust them General Crittenden aud rnygelf, immediately aftcr our arrival, visited theseveralcainps.anddiscuised the improprietv of u. dividod command, but as neithor 'of us had assumod command, we deferred it until the morrow. But on the morrow, the blow feil, and the danger we anticipated became a realily. Gen Crittenden mudo his headquarters in town, wliilo I preferred camping with my own men, and thorefore pitobed mjr tent with the five companies of the Niuth Michigan Voluutccrs. The force then at Murfreesboro was as follows: Five companies Niuth Michigan Volunteerá, Lieuteiiaut Colouel Purkhurst, two hundred strong, together with the First Squadron, Fourth Kentucky Cavalry, Captain Chilsou, eighty-ono strong,'were encamped three-fourths of a uiilc cast of the town upou tho Liberty Turnpike. One company, B, Ninth Michigan Volunteers, Captain Rounds, forty-two strong, occupied the court heuse, the other four companies Ninth Michigan Voluutcers having boon ordered to Tullahoma a month since, whilo mne companies of the Third Minuesota Volunteers, Col. Lester, (one cotnpany being on detatched duty as traia guard), four hundred and fifty strong, and Hewitt s Batterv, First Regiment Artillery, (two jCotioDs), seventy two strong occupied the east bauk of Stone's River at a dstance of more than miles froin the encumpment of the detachment of the Ninth Michigan Volunteers. Orders were received from Nashvillc the evecing of the 12th inst,, dirocting the First Squadron Fouvth IS.entu.cky Cavalry to proceed at once to Lebanou. Ihe total effective strength of the command at Murfreesboro on the morning of the 13th inst., did not, therefore, exceed eight hundred aud fourteen uien, inoludiug pickets. The attaek was made at daybreak on the morning of the 13th inst. by the Seeond Cavalry Brigade, C. S. A., Brigadier General N. B. Forest, over a thou sand strong, consisting of one Texas Keeimcnt, Lieutenant Golonel Walker, the First and.Seoond Georgia Regiments, Colonels Wharton :;nd llood, one Alabama Regiment, Colonel Saunders, and ono Tenpessee Regiment,Colonel Lawtou. The nqise of so many hoofs upon the maoadamiïcd roadis at full speed was so sreat, that the alarm was given before the head of their column reached our pickets about a mile distant, so that our meu were formed and ready to receive them, although they carne in at tull speed. The Texans, and a battahon of the Georgia regiment, in all over eight hundred strong, attackcd tho dotachmeiit of the Ninth Michigan Volunteers. So fierce and impetuous w;is their attaok, that our men were lorcd ue;uly to the centre of tlieir camp. But tliey leu duck steadily and in order with tlieir taces to the foe. But upon reaching tlie ceutre of our camp tlieir line was brought to a balt, aud atter tweuty minutes of nearly h;ind to hand flgbting tbc enemy broko aud fled iu the wilde: t coulusiou, followed in close pursuit by om company as skirmishers. A equadrou of cavalry luuDched attbeirheelsat tliis time would have utterly routcd and annilulated them. Indeed so greaL was the panic that their officeis wcre uuable to cbeek the fugiüvcs fol a gpaee of seven miles, and Colonel Lawton, commaudiog the Georgia regiment, was subsequently arreetel by Gen. Foreat lor wiscouduct mider the tire of the cacniy. IJuniig tuis attack büth offioars and men, with ouo singlo csception, beliaved very haudBOincly. Tlieru was no ocitcrauiit - 110 huri-y no confusión - cverythiug was douo cahnly, iiuietly, and iu ubedieneo to order. -But it is with tlic deepest shaine and moi-tiueation I am compelled to report that one ofücei' of Michigan has been guilty of grosa cowardice in the face of the cucmy. Capt. Jolin A. Taner, of company K, Michigan Nintli Voluu'tcers, at thu lirst alarm Irft his cjuarters, abandor.cd his company, aud fled from his commaud ander the enemy's fue, aud I tberefore inclose you herewilh charges preferrcd agaiust hun for violation of the 52d articjü of r. Capt. Charles V. DeLaud, company C, Ninth Michigan Voluntcers, deserves especial meutiou for cool and gallant cod! duet throughout tho whole action, acd ' the fearless mode in whioh he led liis company as skirmiühcrs in porsuit of the enemy wlien repulsad; alwo, First Licutenant Iliram Barrows, of corapany A, sume regiment, for tliu tenaoity with which lit held hisground although sorely prtssed by the soetay. The lort of the dotachment of the Ninth Michigan Voluntc-ers has been very sovere for the nuniber engnged, amounting to one oflicer xnd twelve men killed, and three olïicers and seventy-üve wound'ed. The cnemy's loss has boen raueh more severe ihan our own. More thaü doublé the number of their dead wero buried with ours, and their wound ed are found in almost every house. - Aiaong their woundcd are a Colonel tvnd Major, two Adjutants and a Surgcon. 1 enclose you herewith the surgcon's roport of the killed and wounded ot the Nir.th Micliigau Voluntecrs. Not havins; been present at the quent surrender of the detachment of Ninth Michigan Voluuteers, under Lieutenant Colouel Parkhurst, I can only state the facts as reported to me, which show that this foroe, isolated aud reduocd by killed and wouuded, to less than seventy-five men, aiter baving held thcir ground froia 4 A. M. to 1 P. M., wwe compelled to surrender or be cut to pieces by the entire foroe of the. eueniy. I am reliably informed that coinpany B, Ninth Michigan Voluuteers, uuder command of First Licuteuant Wright, held the court house againsf aii inoessant attack by a greatly superior force, from 4 A M to 7 A. M., aud did not surrender UU the enemy had possession of the lower story of tho building aud had started a tire with the evident inteution of buruing thern out. Of the surrender of the Third Minnesota Volur;teers and Hewitl's Battcry ander eomtriand of Colonel Loster, 1 cannot speak froui personal knowledge, nor havo [ received any iuformation from sources sufficieutly rc-liable to warrant my coiumuuicating to you any details. Indeed I would much' pret'er not to do so. The circumstances of tho case as reported beur painfully upou the honor of B brother oñicer, uovv a prisoner, and thercibro unablo to defend himself. I inclose you herewith a list ot killed and wouuded of the third Minnesota Volunteers, (urnished by the Assistaut Surgeon ui that regiment, amountiug to two killed and eight wouuded, one of whom was killed and two wounded iu liue, the remaindei' iu camp. In the early part nf this attaok I received two guushot wounds, one passing through the right testicle, the Other through the left thigh. These, although bleeding profusely and vu-y paiuful. did not prevent me from remajuiug ou the lield with my own regiment, until the attack was repulsed; wheu, faiuting from pain and loss of blood, l was carried from the tield, and was therefore, not a witness of what subsequently occurred. At noon of the eame day I was made prisoner by Brigadier General Forest. but, in my theu "helpluss condition, was released upou my parole not to bear arras acaiust the Confedérate States until ] am reguliirly exchanged. I reojain, Colouel. your ob'dt serv't, WM. W. DÜFFIKLD, Colonel Ninth Michieau Iu'antry Vol unteers, Commanding 23d Brigade. Colonel James B. Fry, A. A. G., Chie of Stalf,IIuntsville, Ala.

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Subjects
Old News
Michigan Argus