9
Edward and William Vining, 3rd Wisconsin Cavalry
September to December 1862
About the same time that Herbert Kilburn was heading toward Antietam and Henry Kilburn was joining his battery, the Vining brothers were on an expedition to counter the latest invasion of Missouri from Arkansas.
Confederate General T.C. Hindman had sent agents out all through southwest Missouri to encourage uprisings and raids. Large areas of the state were becoming burned out, ruined and deserted. It was about this time that Missouri started raising local militias around the state, one of which James and William Spencer joined. In mid-September Hindman gathered his forces and led two divisions, under Rains and Parsons, from Arkansas into southwest Missouri.
General Blunt organized an expedition from Fort Leavenworth to suppress some of the guerilla activities. Companies B and L of the 3rd Wisconsin Cavalry, along with a company of the 8th Kansas Infantry, started out on September 8. Over the next two weeks they traveled through Jackson, Cass, Johnson and Lafayette Counties in Missouri, returning to the fort on September 23.
Upon their return, the entire 3rd Wisconsin was reassembled and moved to Fort Scott. This was probably in response to Hindman’s invasion. No sooner did the regiment arrive at the fort, than they set out on another expedition to meet Hindman. Companies I and M remained in garrison at Fort Scott; the rest of the regiment, including Company C, went with the expedition.
Dyer calls this expedition "Blunt’s Campaign against Rains and Parsons," but the initial expedition was probably led by Salomon. Josephy’s history says Blunt sent Salomon to investigate with two brigades; and Monoghan’s version says Blunt was sent out at a later time to help Salomon. Salomon was commanding a brigade at this time, and the 3rd Wisconsin was an unassigned unit directly under Blunt. Like many other Union officers, Friedrich Salomon was a former German army officer who fled to the United States after the failed 1848 revolt. His brother Edward was Governor of Wisconsin during the war. Friedrich started as Colonel of the 9th Wisconsin Infantry and eventually rose to General and the command of a division in the Army of Tennessee.
Salomon’s forces on this occasion consisted of the 3rd Wisconsin Cavalry, 9th Wisconsin Infantry, 2nd Ohio Cavalry, 25th Ohio Battery, the 6th and 9th Kansas Cavalry, the 10th and 13th Kansas Infantry, and the 3rd Kansas Indian Regiment. Edward Vining almost certainly was with them; William may have been at the start, but if he did go he returned sick within a few days.
The 3rd Wisconsin Cavalry is listed as taking part in a fight at Cross Hollows on September 27 and 28. I don’t know yet where this is or what happened.
On September 30, 1862, Salomon’s force ran into part of Hindman’s army at Newtonia, Missouri. The Confederates consisted of an Indian mounted regiment of 2000 Choctaws, Chickasaws and Cherokees under Colonel Cooper, and 2300 Confederate Missouri Cavalry under Jo Shelby. The Indian regiment swept through Newtonia at a full gallop through the Union forces. Then Shelby’s cavalry came up around Salomon’s left flank, and his men were driven out of the town. They were saved from complete defeat only by the arrival of some Missouri militia. The Federals lost 50 men killed and 80 wounded, with 115 missing or captured. This is probably the battle in which Colonel Barstow was nearly captured.
Sam R. Curtis (Department of Missouri) immediately sent General Blunt out with another brigade to help Salomon. General Schofield, commanding the District of Southwest Missouri under Curtis, also came down to take command of the combined forces. T.C. Hindman had in the meantime been called away from his army for a conference at Little Rock; the Confederates were worried about possible attacks into Arkansas by Grant’s army, which was now working its way down the Mississippi toward Vicksburg. While Hindman was absent, Rains was left in command of all the Confederates in the area, with Cooper and Shelby at Newtonia.
Blunt arrived with his brigade at Sarcoxie on October 3. They were now calling his group (with Salomon’s two brigades) the 1st Division. Schofield brought a second division down from Springfield to join them. They attacked on October 4 and drove Cooper and Shelby out of the town. The Confederates had a very strong position behind stone walls, but without their leader they panicked and scattered. The 3rd Wisconsin Cavalry participated in this battle, called the "Occupation of Newtonia." The Confederates retreated to join the rest of Rains’ army in northern Arkansas. Schofield now brought his 3rd Division (Herron) down from Springfield.
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The Federal forces in the field were organized into the Army of the Frontier on October 12. It was commanded by General J.M. Schofield and consisted of three divisions. General Blunt was given command of the 1st Division, and Salomon was given a brigade under him. J. Totten and F.J. Herron commanded the other two divisions. The 3rd Wisconsin Cavalry became part of Salomon’s 1st Brigade, along with the 9th Wisconsin Infantry, 11th Kansas Inf., 9th Kansas Cav., 2nd Ohio Cav., and 1st Kansas Battery.
Rains meanwhile separated his army into two groups and continued to retreat further into Arkansas. Rains, Shelby and most of the army headed east toward Huntsville. Cooper, Stand Watie and the Indians went west into the Indian Territory. Their intention was to create a diversion by attacking Fort Scott. Blunt and most of the 1st Division (don’t know what "most of" means) followed Cooper. They caught up with them on October 22 in a battle at Old Fort Wayne, captured their artillery and scattered their infantry. The 3rd Wisconsin is not involved in this battle; they were probably with the part of the division that went with Schofield, trying to catch Rains. But T.C. Hindman returned at about that time, fired Rains for drunkenness, eluded Schofield’s trap, and retreated to the Arkansas River to rest.
Schofield thought any further campaigns would be impossible with the coming winter, so he left Blunt in northwest Arkansas and sent the other two divisions back up to Springfield. Blunt’s Division settled around Lindsay’s Prairie, probably near the Missouri-Arkansas border. They intended to spend the winter there, assuming that Hindman was also through for the year.
William Vining had been sick at Fort Scott since October 2. He was still absent at the end of October, but returned sometime in November. Edward Vining was promoted to Sergeant on October 26, 1862 by order of Colonel Barstow, most likely because of some actions at Newtonia. Edward then spent the month of November on "extra or daily duty" as Sergeant of the Guard.
Companies I and M of the regiment, who had been left back at Fort Scott, went out on an expedition of their own from November 6 to 11. They ran into a small group of Confederates at Cato, Kansas on November 8; there was a minor firefight but no casualties on either side.
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General U.S. Grant was now making good progress down the Mississippi. In response to this, Hindman was ordered to call off all attacks on Missouri and send his army to Little Rock, from where they would be shipped to Vicksburg. But Hindman was certain he could defeat Blunt with one last attack, and he got permission to try before moving east. He first sent out some Arkansas and Confederate Missouri cavalry, along with some artillery, to Cane Hill – about 2500 men, under Marmaduke. They intended to settle into this farming area for the winter and gather flour, corn, potatoes and apples for the entire army. They were also located here to make sure that Blunt would stay in the area. In late November, Blunt’s scouts reported Marmaduke’s "Division" (actually just a brigade in size) coming north through the Boston Mountains. Blunt took 5000 men, most of his division, 25 miles south to find them. Cane Hill is a low ridge, about eight miles long and five miles wide, on the north side of the Boston Mountains, on the road from Fayetteville to Van Buren. Blunt attacked Marmaduke on November 28 in the Battle of Cane Hill (also called Battle of Boston Mountains or Boonsboro Arkansas). William Vining had probably returned to his company by this time – he is listed as present two days later.
Monoghan says that Blunt had three "divisions" at Cane Hill; this is an error and should be three brigades. According to Monoghan, Blunt ordered Salomon’s Brigade to be held as a reserve, and attacked with the other two. That would imply that the 3rd Wisconsin was not actively involved, although Dyer and the Official Records give them credit for the battle. The initial Federal attack was made with one cavalry regiment (the 2nd Kansas, fighting dismounted as infantry) and two infantry regiments (including one made up of Cherokees). The Confederates retreated slowly from one defensive position to another, back to the Boston Mountains. Marmaduke found a narrow gorge passing through the mountains to Van Buren. Blunt’s entire division followed, but there was no room to get at Marmaduke – the pass was so narrow that it only took a few men staying back as a rear guard to slow up the whole Union army. Shelby had his brigade divided up into companies and strung out along the route. As the Federals came up on each position the rebels would fire their rifles, jump on their horses and race through the rest of the companies, then take a new position at the end of the line. Blunt’s Division thus had to advance slowly through an endless storm of bullets with nothing to shoot back at. They pushed on this way for 15 miles, then night fell and both sides withdrew.
Blunt tried once again to settle his division in for the winter, this time at Cane Hill. But within a few days they heard that Hindman was returning through the mountains again, this time with 11,000 men and 22 cannons. On December 3, Blunt telegraphed Curtis for reinforcements, and Herron’s Division of 6000 men was sent out from its winter camp at Wilson’s Creek. Herron’s men had to march day and night to cover the 110 miles in three days.
On December 5, the first advance detachments of Herron’s cavalry began arriving at Cane Hill. At the same time, Confederates were sighted only eight miles away. Salomon’s Brigade (with the 3rd Wisconsin Cavalry) was sent to Rhae’s Mills with all the supplies and wagons for the division. The Confederates arrived at Prairie Grove and began forming their lines on December 6. (Jesse and Frank James were in this army). Their plan was to hold Blunt in place with a skeleton force, and sneak the main part of their army out during the night – they would then find and destroy Herron the next day, before he could join Blunt. That part worked fine: Blunt thought he was facing a large army, and sat all night and through the next morning watching a single cavalry regiment and some campfires, while the battle went on some miles away.
The Confederate army found Herron’s Division at dawn of the 7th, just as the Union force was starting out on the road from Fayetteville. The rebels had the advantage of surprise and superior numbers, and if they had attacked immediately they would almost certainly have demolished Herron’s troops, who were exhausted from several days of marching with almost no rest. But Hindman apparently lost his nerve at the last minute and pulled his army into a defensive line to wait for Herron. Herron formed a line along the north bank of the Illinois River; the Confederates formed a horseshoe-shaped line on a hill on the other side, in a dense woods called Prairie Grove. Both sides were hesitant to begin.
Although they were greatly outnumbered, Herron’s Division did make several attacks. Herron began the battle at 9:30 a.m. with his artillery (Blunt’s Division could not hear this; probably the wind was blowing the wrong way). A Confederate cavalry charge was repulsed, then the Federal infantry attacked across the river. They had to wade through the river in below-freezing weather, then get up a steep mud bank under intense fire. Wounded men fell back down the bank and were unable to get out. Forced to lay in the mud and water all day, many of the men froze to death. The infantry managed to cross the river but were unable to break through the Confederate lines. Both sides attacked back and forth, neither gaining anything. Herron was attacking through pear and apple orchards to get at the woods. There were huge stacks of straw in the orchards, and many of the wounded men burrowed into the stacks to keep warm.
Blunt’s larger force was eight miles away and did not hear the sounds of the battle until the wind shifted at 11:00 a.m. When he realized what was happening, Blunt set out with his division (the 3rd Wisconsin was still with the supply wagons at Rhae’s Mills) and marched to Prairie Grove, arriving at 1:45 p.m. As soon as he arrived, Blunt began bombarding the Confederates with his artillery for an hour. Some of the shells fell short, into the apple orchards, and started a fire – all the men in the straw stacks were burned to death. Then Blunt’s infantry attacked, through farms, cornfields, barnyards and hogpens. The battle continued back and forth as before, neither side able to break the other. Blunt made a final attack at sunset, then both sides just quit.
Blunt ordered his supply wagons, escorted by Salomon’s Brigade, moved that night from Rhae’s Mills to Fayetteville. He planned to use Salomon’s Brigade (including 3rd Wisconsin) to start a new attack the next day. But the Confederates had enough and pulled out secretly during the night.
This battle is usually called Prairie Grove, or sometimes Fayetteville or Illinois Creek. In addition to the 3rd Wisconsin in Salomon’s Brigade, this battle also involved the 2nd Wisconsin Cavalry as part of Herron’s Division. The Confederates lost over a thousand men killed or wounded in the battle. Union losses were 175 killed (about half of whom were frozen or burned to death), 813 wounded, and 263 captured.
Once again the Confederates retreated south through the Boston Mountains. Hindman’s army fell apart on the march; men dropped out sick or simply deserted, and he returned to Van Buren with less than 5000 of the 11,000 men who had started. Blunt and Herron took their two divisions back to Fayetteville to rest for a few weeks. They were both promoted to Major General for their actions.
Once again he could probably have settled in quietly for the winter, but Blunt was never content just to let things be. As soon as they were rested and resupplied, the two divisions headed south through the Boston Mountains to destroy the remnant of Hindman’s army.
They set out on December 27 from Fayetteville toward Van Buren. Blunt and Herron attacked the Confederates at Dripping Springs on December 28, scattering Hindman’s army, then swept through Van Buren. The 3rd Wisconsin was involved in the Dripping Springs battle. Blunt surprised Hindman’s cavalry in Van Buren, chasing them down the main street of the town with no saddles, no equipment, dressed only in their underwear. They captured or burned all the Confederate supplies in the town, reached the river and burned several more boats full of supplies. Hindman escaped to Little Rock, his army vanished for the winter.
Prairie Grove and the Boston Mountains Expedition are not among the major battles of the war, but they were important because they ended the year with a clear Federal victory following the defeat at Fredericksburg. Hindman’s army was now completely scattered, and northern Arkansas was under Union control. Another outcome of these battles is often overlooked: Grant was continuing to move down toward Vicksburg, and Hindman’s army had been ordered to help stop him. After this disaster, they were unable to send anyone from Arkansas, effectively removing 11,000 men from the armies that Grant faced. The Confederates fired Hindman and replaced him with General Holmes. Blunt could have gone on to capture Little Rock at this point, but Schofield did not want to have his armies spread too thin and ordered them back to Fayetteville for the winter.
The 3rd Wisconsin Cavalry was sent up to Carthage, Missouri at the end of the month; Companies C and G went on to Fort Scott, where they joined I and M for the rest of the winter.
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