12
Edward and William Vining, 3rd Wisconsin Cavalry
January to June 1863
The Vinings had returned to Fort Scott with the 3rd Wisconsin at the end of December. They were stationed there for the rest of the 1862-63 winter, going out on patrols through southwest Missouri and having minor run-ins with the few small guerilla bands still remaining in the area.
Elsewhere in the war, Rosecrans advanced from Nashville to Murfreesborough, where the Battle of Stone’s River or Murfreesborough was fought from December 31 to January 2. The Confederate army under Bragg actually defeated Rosecrans, but they were too weak to do anything more and were forced to continue their retreat toward Alabama – most of western Tennessee was now under Federal control.
The 3rd Wisconsin was involved in a fight at Carthage, Missouri on January 13. I don’t have any details on it at this time.
Edward Vining was sent off on a scouting trip on January 18, about the same time that Henry Kilburn was starting on the Mud March in Virginia. Edward’s record calls this "D.S. Scouting." I don’t know what that means – maybe "detached service", or "detached squad"? The records don’t give us any idea where he went or how large the group was. Since the note is on a company muster roll and he is listed as absent from them, we know the entire company did not go. His brother William is not listed as going. It was probably a small scouting mission involving a few men from the company. Since Edward was now a sergeant, he may have been in charge, or second in charge after an officer.
Sometime during the month of January, the regiment was split up again. Companies C, G, I and M remained stationed at Fort Scott, while the other eight companies were moved from Carthage to Forsythe, then to Springfield, where they were stationed from January to May 1863. During the winter and spring, the regiment performed scouting duties in southwest Missouri and northwest Arkansas, operating against Patty’s, Livingston’s and Quantrell’s guerillas. There were numerous small skirmishes in Barton, Jasper and Newton Counties.
In another reorganization at the end of January, the 3rd Wisconsin Cavalry became part of the Cavalry Command, Herron’s Division, Army of the Frontier (Schofield). I don’t know where Blunt is at this time – he was removed from his division command at the end of December, and we don’t see any mention of him until next June. William Vining was still at Fort Scott with Company C. Edward returned from his scouting trip sometime in February.
Nothing of note happened during February, but with the coming of warmer weather in March the Confederates became active again. Parts of the 3rd Wisconsin were involved in fights at Carollton on March 2, and at Yellville on March 4. We have no details on them at this time.
During the month of March, Edward Vining was off on another detail, on "duty attending to forage." The concentration of horses in the area was too high to feed by grazing, so the units had to send men out through the surrounding countryside to buy food for both horses and men.
The 3rd Wisconsin was involved in more fighting at the end of the month. A skirmish called The Island took place on March 30 in Vernon County, Missouri. The 3rd Wisconsin was the only unit involved – we don’t know which companies. One man from the regiment was killed, and two others wounded. The next day, a small detachment of the regiment was involved in the Clapper’s Saw Mill skirmish at Crooked Creek, Indian Territory. We have no details on either of these engagements.
The District of Southwest Missouri was recreated on March 30, and General Schofield was placed in charge of it again. General Herron took over command of the Army of the Frontier.
April was relatively quiet; routine patrols continued through southwest Missouri, southeast Kansas, and northwest Arkansas. Parts of the 3rd Wisconsin were involved in a skirmish in Jackson County on April 2. We don’t know which state that was in – Missouri, Arkansas and Kansas all have a Jackson County – but I am guessing it was probably Missouri, as that is the closest.
About this same time General Blunt reappears, finally getting his chance to move into the Indian Territory permanently. Union and Confederate tribes had been fighting among themselves all winter. In the spring, Blunt ordered Colonel William Phillips to start moving some of the loyalist Indians out of their refugee camps in Missouri and Kansas back to their homes. Phillips took 1000 Creek, Cherokee and Seminole refugees, along with 3000 Federal troops, and moved to Fort Gibson, near present-day Muskogee, Oklahoma.
Fort Gibson had been built in 1824 as protection against the Osages. The federal government abandoned it in 1857 and gave it to the Cherokee Nation. It had been occupied by the Confederates early in the war and used by them intermittently. Colonel Phillips recaptured it, but there is some disagreement about the dates. The Encyclopedia of Forts says it was captured on April 5, 1863; Josephy’s history says it was occupied on April 13. Phillips repaired the old buildings, and erected a mile-long earth wall protected by 18 cannon on a hill overlooking the fort. The new defenses were named Fort Blunt; histories of the Civil War may refer to either Fort Gibson or Fort Blunt, which means the same place. Most of the 3rd Wisconsin Cavalry would be moved there over the next several months.
Edward Vining was given a furlough from his regiment to return home on May 5, 1863. He may have been given the furlough because he was sick, or perhaps he became sick while at home; in any case he would be hospitalized the following month.
A wagon train of supplies was sent to Phillips at Fort Gibson in May. Companies B, G, H, I and M of the 3rd Wisconsin marched as escort to the train, leaving only Company C at Fort Scott. The train started from Fort Scott on May 14; besides the five companies from the 3rd Wisconsin, the escort included the 6th Kansas Cavalry and all three Kansas Indian regiments. They ran into some Confederates on May 20; called simply an "Action Near Fort Gibson," the action involved all the escorting units, but no one was wounded. The Indian Home Guard regiments were also involved in smaller skirmishes on the 20th and 22nd. A larger confrontation took place as they drew near the forts on May 25. All of the escorting units were involved in this "Action Near Fort Gibson and Fort Blunt." This was a rather severe fight: 25 men were killed and 12 wounded in the fighting. The Confederates (mostly Stand Watie’s Indians) were all over the surrounding area, trying to keep the fort isolated. Three regiments from the fort garrison were involved in another fight on May 28 as they attempted to go out to meet the wagon train. And after the supply train finally reached the fort on May 30, the pressure continued all around them. While on patrols around the forts, the Kansas Indian regiments were involved in skirmishes on June 1, June 6 and June 9. Then the area became relatively quiet for the next few weeks while Stand Watie prepared for a major attack on Fort Gibson.
* * *
Meanwhile, General Grant had continued slowly down the Mississippi. When his advance had been stopped at one point in mid-March, he had asked for and received a large number of troops from Curtis’ Missouri garrisons. Now in May, Grant had finally reached Vicksburg and begun his six-week siege, and he asked Curtis to send still more troops to support him. Curtis said he could spare no more men. He could have sent the troops out and replaced them with Missouri militia, but here they ran into personal problems between General Curtis and Governor Gamble of Missouri. The two men had disliked each other for a long time; Gamble believed in leniency toward anti-Union Missourians, while Curtis insisted on harsh treatment for anyone of doubtful loyalty. Gamble refused to support Curtis in anything, and since Lincoln could not replace the Governor he was forced to fire Curtis. General Sumner (one of the commanders at Antietam) was supposed to replace Curtis, but he died of pneumonia on the way to Missouri. The command of the Department of Missouri then went to General John Schofield on May 24, 1863.
Schofield had 43,000 men in the Department of Missouri when he took over. He immediately sent 20,000 to Grant, and activated the Missouri militia to take their place in protecting the towns and cities from guerilla raiders. Most of the men he had left were now concentrated at Fort Gibson in Cherokee Nation and at Helena, Arkansas on the Mississippi.
Still at home in Wisconsin, Edward Vining was admitted to the U.S. Army Post Hospital at Camp Randall, Madison on June 4. The hospital record does not say why he was admitted. Edward was given a medical furlough from the hospital, and was sent home again until June 24. That was a common practice at that time; they felt the men would recover more quickly in their own homes whenever it was practical to do so.
With most of the Federal troops sent off to support Grant at Vicksburg, what was left could no longer be considered an army. On June 5 the Army of the Frontier was dissolved, and on June 9 the new District of the Frontier was created in its place. It was placed under the command of General Blunt. The 3rd Wisconsin Cavalry became part of this District; other members included five cavalry regiments from Missouri and Kansas, four batteries from Kansas, Indiana and Wisconsin, one infantry regiment from Colorado, and six from Kansas (including three Indian and one Colored).
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