A Long Serving Military Man

Union Captain George Lucas Hartsuff was appointed assistant adjutant general March 22^nd 1861 under the duty of General William S Rosecrans in West Virginia.

George Lucas Hartsuff was born May 28^th1830 in Tyre, New York.  He moved with his family in 1842 to Michigan.  He received an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point, graduating 19^th in the class of 1852.  Hartsuff served in Texas and Florida and was wounded during the Seminole Indian Wars.  He survived the wreck of the steamer “the Lady Elgin” on Lake Michigan in September 8^th 1860, while serving at Fort Mackinac.

When the Civil War started Hartsuff was sent on an expedition in April 1861 to reinforce Fort Pickens in Pensacola, Florida.  He received an appointment on March 22^nd 1861 to Assistant Adjutant General under Union General William S Rosecrans in West Virginia, even briefly serving as Chief of Staff in the Mountain Department.  He was promoted to Brigadier General April 15^th 1862, serving in the III Corps of the Armies of Virginia and the Potomac, where he would lead men at the Battles of Cedar Mountain and Second Bull Run.  He was wounded in the hip during the Battle of Antietam.  With another promotion to Major General, Hartsuff was back in duty, commanding the XXIII Corps in the Army of the Ohio by May 28^th 1863.  At the end of the Civil War he was commanding the defenses at Bermuda Hundred in the Army of the James.

Hartsuff mustered out of the Union volunteer army and went back to service in the United States Army on August 24^th 1865 with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.  Do to disabilities relating to old battle wounds he resigned his command on June 29^th 1871.  Hartsuff left the service with the rank of Major General.  He died of pneumonia May 16^th 1874 in New York City and is buried in the United States Military Academy Post Cemetery at West Point.

The Brigade Was Cut To Pieces

The Battle of Farmington fought October 7^th 1863 was a part of Confederate Major General Joseph Wheeler’s Cavalry Raid.

Confederate Major General Joseph Wheeler with about 4,000 cavalrymen had been raiding behind Union lines in the Sequatchie Valley in early October 1863.  They were capturing or destroying everything in the valley which might be of use to Union General William S Rosecrans’s army at Chattanooga.  Union General George Crook with about 25,000 cavalry had been following Wheeler’s troopers fighting almost all the time with the Confederate rear guard, looking for a place to stop them.

Wheeler having completed his damage in the valley headed his cavalry toward the Tennessee River, but was forced to turn and face the Union cavalry at Farmington, Tennessee.  The Union trooper hotly perused, causing one Confederate to write, “For five hours and a half, over seven miles of country, the unequal contest continued.  My gallant brigade was cut to pieces."  As the Confederate rear guard reached Wheeler’s line in Farmington, they passed through and formed up to meet the Union cavalry.  Crook’s troopers were swept by small arms and artillery fire.  They settled into two hours of heavy fighting, when the Union line began to waver.  Wheeler took this moment to order a charge with sabers drawn into the Union ranks causing many to retreat.

Darkness brought an end to the fighting.  The next day found both sides heading for the Tennessee River.

Abandon Pursuit

Earl Van Dorn

The Battle of Hatchie Bridge or Davis Bridge was the final engagement of the Luka-Corinth Campaign and was fought October 5^th 1862 in Hardeman and McNairy Counties Tennessee.

Confederate Major General Earl Van Dorn’s Army of Tennessee retreated on October 4^th 1862 from Corinth, Mississippi, halting that night near Chewalla, Tennessee.  Union Major General William S Rosecrans began his pursuit the next morning, with the assistance of Major General Edward O C Ord.  Around 8am on the morning of October 5^th 1862 Ord took command of the combined Union forces and moved on Van Dorn’s advance; commanded by Confederate Major General Sterling Price’s men, pushing them back about five miles to the Hatchie River and across the Davis’ Bridge.  Ord was wounded in the ankle during this push.  While Ord’s men pushed Price’s Confederates, Van Dorn had scouts looking for another way to cross the Hatchie River.

Union General Ulysses Grant ordered the Union command to abandon the pursuit of the Confederates, allowing Van Dorn’s Army to escape.

The Proud Command Was All But Wrecked

A Skirmish at Anderson’s Cross Roads on October 2^nd 1863 was a part of Wheeler’s October 1863 Raid, fought between October 1^st and 9^th 1863 a Confederate raid made in southeastern Tennessee.

Following the Union defeat at the Battle of Chickamauga, Major General William S Rosecrans pulled his army back into the city of Chattanooga, Tennessee.  Confederate General Braxton Bragg placed the Union troops under a siege.  The Union army was forced to bring in supplies on a 60 mile wagon route from Bridgeport, Tennessee by way of Walden’s Ridge.  Bragg saw a way of disrupting Rosecrans’ supplies and communications, sending his cavalry to Walden’s Ridge.

Confederate General Joseph Wheeler left on October 1^st 1863 with the divisions of Brigadier General Frank Crawford Armstrong, and Major Generals William T Martin and John A Wharton.  They broke through the Union screen of Brigadier General George Crook at Decatur, Tennessee and moved on toward Walden’s Ridge.

Reaching Anderson’s Cross Roads on October 2^nd 1863 the Confederate Cavalry hit a train of 800, six mule team wagons, plus some sutler’s wagons.  Wheeler’s men quickly captured the wagons and following orders began destroying them, killing about 1,000 mules, burning  wagons and pillaging clothing and the whiskey found in the sutler’s wagon.  While this was going on Union cavalry under Colonel Edward M McCook arrived.  Wheeler’s pickets were driven in on both flanks by the Union troopers, but they held their position for eight hours, until after dark.  The Union men recaptured many of the mules and wagons, and caused 270 casualties among Wheeler’s men.

The raid continued until October 9^th 1863 when Wheeler’s men crossed the Tennessee River at Rogersville, Alabama.  They had been pursued by Union troopers for over 57 miles and took heavy losses, it was said that Wheeler’s “once proud command all but wrecked."

Joseph Wheeler

His First And Last Battle

Union Lieutenant Colonel Julius Peter Garesché was killed December 31^st 1862 at the Battle of Stones River in Tennessee.

Julius Peter Garesché was born April 26^th 1821 near Havana, Cuba.  He was able to attend Georgetown College beginning in 1833.  After four years at Georgetown, Garesché received an appointment to the United State Military Academy at West Point.  He graduated in the class of 1841 and began his military carrier in the 4^th United States Artillery.  After duty on the frontier and action during the Mexican American War he reached the rank of Captain in 1855.  Garesché was also a devout Catholic and he received recognition for services performed for the church from Pope Pius IX in the form of the Knight of St Sylvester medal.

When the Civil War started Garesché became the Chief of Staff with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel for Union Major General William S Rosecrans.  This placed him with the Army of the Cumberland in the Western Theater.  The Battle of Stone River was the first combat of the war for Garesché and on December 31 1862 as he rode with Rosecrans during the battle he was decapitated by a cannonball.  Shortly after Union General Philip H Sheridan found Garesché’s body and removed his bible and West Point ring from the dead body.  Garesché is buried in the Mount Olivet Cemetery in Washington, DC.

If you’re interested in reading more, check out, Eccentric Officer 'Knew' He Would Die in His First Battle and The Gallant Garesché

Across The River At Brown's Ferry

Fought in Hamilton County, Tennessee, the Battle of Brown’s Ferry took place October 27^th 1863.

After the Union defeat at the Battle of Chickamauga, the Army found itself trapped by Confederate General Braxton Bragg’s Army of Tennessee in Chattanooga, Tennessee.  Bragg settled in, to siege the Union position.  He sent Confederate Brigadier General Evander Law downstream, where Law was to stop any Union supply trains.  Union commander Brigadier General William S Rosecrans telegraphed Washington to say, "We have no certainty of holding our position here."  In response Washington sent reinforcements under the command of General Ulysses S Grant.

Grant started on October 26^th 1863 to open a supply route from Brown’s Ferry to Chattanooga.  The planned route was designed by Chief Engineer, Brigadier General William F "Baldy" Smith.  The new supply line was named the “Cracker Line”, by soldiers who were running low on food.  Smith’s two brigades under Brigadier Generals William B Hazen and John B Turchin would split, with Turchin’s men marching across land to hold Brown’s Ferry, while Hazen’s would ferry down the river in pontoon boats.

Hazen’s troops made the landing point at 5 am on October 27^th 1863.  Although they were moving quietly some of the men were fired on by Confederate pickets.  The Confederates quickly formed for an attack, however at this time Turchin’s men were being ferry across the river.  The combined force of Union men outflanked the Confederate soldiers who withdrew toward Wauhatchie.  By latter that afternoon the 1^st Michigan Engineers had a pontoon bridge across river and open.

He Served Through Out The War

Union Brigadier General Green Berry Raum a politician, author and lawyer died December 18th 1909.

Green Berry Raum was born December 3rd 1829 in Golconda, Illinois. He attended local schools, studied law and admitted to the bar in Illinois in 1853.

Raum enlisted in the Union Army when the Civil War started. He was a Major in the 56th Illinois Infantry, and was their Colonel by 1862. Serving under Major General William S Rosecrans during the Siege of Corinth, Raum ordered the charge on the Confederate left, capturing an artillery battery. They were part of the army at the surrender of Vicksburg, Mississippi in July 1863, and he led the 2nd Brigade of the 2nd Division of the XVII Corps at Chattanooga. Raum was wounded at the Battle of Missionary Ridge November 1863. In 1864 Raum’s brigade held the line of communication during the Atlanta Campaign. He received a brevet to Brigadier General in September 1864. He and his men were called in to reinforce Resaca, Georgia in October and held the town against Confederate General John Bell Hood. He served through to the end of the war.

Following the war Raum returned to his home in Illinois. In 1866 he secured the charter for the Cairo and Vincennes Railroad and became its first president. He ran for and served as a Congressmen for two terms. Raum was the United States Commissioner for the Internal Revenue Service from 1876 through 1883. He oversaw the Commission of Pension, rejecting or accepting Union Civil War pension application from 1889 to 1893. Raum spent the rest of his life practicing law in Chicago, Illinois. He died December 18th 1909, and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia.

Drove They Out Of Western Virginia

As part of the campaign in Western Virginia, on September 10th 1861 the Battle of Carnifex Ferry in Nicholas County Virginia [now WV] took place.

Confederate Brigadier General John B Floyd and his troops; after routing the 7th Ohio in early September 1861 set up a camp near Carnifex Ferry. They began building entrenchments near Summersville VA on the rim of the Gauley River Canyon on the farm of Henry Patterson. Union Brigadier General William S Rosecrans moved three brigades of infantry south from Clarksburg VA into position on the afternoon of September 10th 1861. They advanced on the Confederate’s position.

The battle carried on through the day only ending when darkness came. The strong Union artillery held the day, causing General Floyd to pull his troops back, crossing to the south side of the Gauley River. The Confederates than moved on eastward toward Lewisburg VA.

The Union victory at the Battle of Carnifex Ferry helped drive the Confederates out of western Virginia and would eventually lead to the creation of the state of West Virginia.

Other information about the battle
The Battle of Carnifex Ferry The West Virginia Review November 1931