Hay At The Station

The Skirmish at Stanwix Station on March 29^th 1862 was the westernmost fight to occur during the Civil War.

On March 29^th 1862 Union Captain William P Calloway and his detachment of 272 soldiers of the California Column moved toward Stanwix Station.  The Station had been a stop on the Butterfield Overland Mail Stagecoach line and was built in 1850.  It is located about 80 miles east of Yuma, Arizona.  There had been fodder placed at the Station for the Column’s animals.   Upon approaching they discovered a detachment of Confederates being led by Second Lieutenant John W Swilling, burning the supplies at the Station.

There was a small skirmish with the larger Union force, forcing Swilling’s small band to retreat to Tucson in the Confederate held Territory of Arizona.  There was only one Union casualty reported, German born Private William Frank Semmelrogge, who would recover.  The burning of the hay at the Stanwix Station and five other former stagecoach stops along the Gila River had its desired effect of slowing the movement of the California Column’s advance, giving the Confederates time to evacuate Tucson.

A Stovepipe And Blindness

Confederate Adam Rankin “Stovepipe” Johnson was promoted Brigadier General on September 6^th 1864.

Adam Rankin Johnson was born February 8^th 1834 in Henderson, Kentucky the son of Thomas J and Juliet (Rankin) Johnson.  He attended local schools before going to work at the age of 12 in a local drugstore.  He moved to the Hamilton Valley, in Burnet County, Texas in 1854, where he became a surveyor.  Johnson also supplied and drove stagecoach for the Butterfield Overland Mail stations, and was a noted Indian fighter.

When the Civil War started, Johnson returned to his native state of Kentucky, and joined Nathan Bedford Forrest’s cavalry as a scout.  He escaped being captured at Fort Donelson, and received a promotion to Colonel for his and his regiment’s actions well behind Union lines in Kentucky.  In a raid against Newburg, Indiana, Johnson with twelve men captured the city by using two joints of stovepipe he mounted to an old wagon convincing the Union presence it was a cannon.  This was how he picked up the nickname “Stovepipe”.  In 1863 Johnson took command of a brigade in Confederate Brigadier General John Hunt Morgan’s cavalry.  When Morgan’s raid came to an end at the Battle of Buffington Island, Johnson led 350 troopers across the Ohio River to safety.  He was appointed Brigadier General September 6^th 1864.  An accidental shot by one of own men on August 21^st 1864 at the Battle of Grubb’s Crossroads blinded Johnson.  He was captured by Union soldiers and spent most of the rest of the war in Fort Warren as a prisoner of war.

After the war ended and Johnson was paroled, he returned to Texas.  Even though he was blind, Johnson founded the town of Marble Falls, Texas; known as “The Blind Man’s Town”, founded the Texas Mining Improvement Company  and worked to try to harness the Colorado River for water power.  He died October 20^th 1922 in Burnet, Texas and is buried in the Texas State Cemetery in Austin, Texas.  His body was laid in state in the Senate Chamber of the Texas State Capitol.

Burning Hay

Stanwix Station a stop on the Butterfield Overland Stage line saw a small skirmish on March 30^th 1862 which slowed the progress of Union troops, giving Confederate troops in the capital of Arizona time to evacuate.

Stanwix Station was built in the 1850’s near the Gila River to the east of Yuma, Arizona as a stop on the Butterfield Overland Stagecoach line.  An advanced unit of the California Column under the command of Union Captain William P Calloway came onto a detachment of Confederates.  The Confederates under command of Second Lieutenant John W Swilling were burning hay that had been deposited at Stanwix Station for the animals of the California Column.  The two forces exchanged gun fire on March 30^th 1862, before the larger force of Union troops forced the Swilling’s men to retreat.  The only casualty was a German born Union private; William Semmilrogge, who recovered.

The burning of the hay at Stanwix as well as several other stations slowed down the movement of the California Column.  This gave the Confederates time to evacuate the territorial capital of Mesilla, Arizona.  It also allowed Swilling to reach Confederate Captain Sherrod Hunter at Tucson, Arizona and warn him of the advancing Union troops.