The Real Horse Soldiers

by Timothy B Smith

  The Pearl River was the last major obstacle between Grierson’s command and Grant’s army, which Grierson expected would cross the Mississippi River at any time. The Federal raiders were now on the same side of the Pearl as Grant, and there were few, if any, serious obstacles between them. If, that is, the timing worked out.

  ***

  The crisis emerging at Georgetown was a grave threaten to Captain Forbes’s company, which was making a determined effort to catch up with the main column. If Grierson crossed his entire command and destroyed the ferry, Forbes would be trapped east of the river. Neither Forbes nor his troopers, however, knew anything about what was transpiring at the Pearl River crossing or that Grierson was pushing the column southwest.

  Forbes and his men spent days on the diversionary ride to Macon and then Enterprise, confusing the enemy and damaging whatever military property they could find. When he discovered he was heavily outnumbered, Forbes had hurriedly, but in his words, “very cheerfully” left Enterprise and rode hard to catch up to the main force. The troopers were overjoyed at their escape and the “superior game of bluff” that had played out at Enterprise. They also realized they were still in danger, or as Forbes poetically put it, “out of the lion’s mouth, but woefully and inextricably entangled in his den.” According to the captain, “We rode on towards the sinking sun and—planned. Should we run North? Should we attempt Pensacola, Mobile, Vicksburg?” Forbes decided on “one more despairing effort at a stern chase of the Regiments,” despite the fact that his company was many hours behind the column.40

  Grierson’s last known position was Garlandville, so Forbes set out hoping to meet it there. His scouts found the townspeople preparing for resistance, but not a man of Grierson’s column was in sight. One of the advance riders befriended the county sheriff. The scout talked the sheriff into riding with him to help warn the townspeople that Alabama cavalry was coming through and not to fire on them. The trick worked, with the hoodwinked sheriff helping the Federal scout clear the way. “We rode undisturbed thro’ this town,” confirmed Forbes, “which contained nearly twice our number of armed enemies.” Hours later, at Raleigh, Forbes’s advance found another group of civilians organizing for resistance. The Illinois troopers captured the captain “by a headlong charge” and rode on through the night, eventually cutting the distance between the company and the main column to just seven or eight hours.41

  Making up those hours was exceedingly difficult, especially since Grierson was burning the bridges behind him. Stephen Forbes described the Leaf River bridge as nothing more than “a wreck of blackened timbers.” He later admitted that Grierson had “[given] up Co. B as necessarily lost,” and some of the fatigued men began to wonder whether they had been abandoned in enemy territory. Exhausted sentinels, including Stephen, fell asleep at their posts only to be shaken awake by the clattering of wooden rails when a restless horse pulled down a fence. Bereft of both sleep and bridges, the company soldiered on, swimming across five creeks and rivers—“all of them difficult, and one of them fairly desperate,” recorded one participant. It is little wonder that Captain Forbes described this part of the journey as “the hardest and most discouraging ride of the Raid.” At one point Company B had to take “a long detour to find a place where we could get into the water and out again.” Unaware of where the main column was heading, “We were now wholly at a loss to understand Grierson’s plans.” Forbes thought Grierson would turn north, for the “broad, navigable [Pearl] river, lay close in front.”42

  Experiencing all the uncertainly he could stand, Forbes sent three men, including his brother Stephen, on strong horses in a desperate effort to locate the main column. “I never expected to see one of them again,” admitted the officer, “feeling sure that they would be picked off by stragglers.” When the trio came across the rear of the brigade column near Westville, Grierson’s guards shouted, “Halt! Who comes there?” The overjoyed riders ignored the question and yelled, “Company B!” as they rode past the stunned guards. Cheers of “Company B has come back!” ran down the line “from company to company, cheer upon cheer, faster than our horses could run,” recalled the younger Forbes. “Captain Forbes presents his compliments,” he announced, “and begs to be allowed to burn his bridges for himself.” Preparations to burn the Strong River bridge were canceled and a company was left to guard the span for Company B’s use.43

  The three scouts had caught up with the main column, but the rest of Company B was still struggling to reach the Pearl. At one point, Forbes found a man at a small dwelling where the company stopped to feed who informed him that Grierson was eight hours ahead. The man agreed to guide the troopers on their route, but soon lost his way in the darkness. An exasperated Forbes recalled that the man “seemed to fall into confusion, grew excited, chattered incessantly and often incoherently . . . frightened at his responsibility, [he] presented a good case of emotional insanity. He expected momentarily to be shot as the penalty of his blundering.” Some of the troopers grew suspicious and wondered aloud whether he was “blundering or treacherous” and sought permission to shoot him. “We were roadless, guideless, and suddenly found ourselves involved in the path of an old tornado, which, two years previously,” explained the captain, “had prostrated the pine forest, dashing the trees in every direction.” The disoriented troopers, riding under a steady rain, “for an hour or more blundered blindly on through the hideous maze,” losing two of their three prisoners in the process. Once they emerged on the far side of the damaged woods, Forbes called a halt for the night, and the men, guards included, did their best to get some sleep.44

  The arrival of daylight helped the scouts get their bearings, and the company moved on after losing another dozen hours of precious time. Fortunately, although unbeknownst to Forbes and his men, Grierson’s column was engaged in the painfully slow process of crossing the Pearl River on a single ferry. Forbes’s troopers rode hard and caught up with Grierson just as the last members were being pulled over the swollen river. The return of the lost company, recalled Woodward, “caused as much joy to the officers and men as did that of the biblical ‘Prodigal Son’ to his father.”45

  Forbes was especially proud of Company B’s exceedingly difficult ride within the larger raid. Later, after having time to think about it, he put pen to paper and sketched the adventure for posterity:

  We had been absent five days and four nights. We had marched fully 300 miles, in ten different counties; had captured and paroled 40 prisoners; confronted and evaded several thousand Confed. troops at Macon and Enterprise; slipped through the home guards of six county towns; been twice misled and once lost; had had five bridges burned in our faces; and in all this time had had but 18 hours of sleep, while rations for man and horse had been for the most part conspicuous for their absence. We had not had time to eat.46

  Grierson agreed. Forbes’s ride, as he described it, was a “most exciting and wonderfully successful expedition.” In order to catch up with the column, continued Grierson, Forbes “was obliged to march 60 miles per day for several consecutive days. Much honor is due Captain Forbes for the manner in which he conducted this expedition.” Despite everything he had experienced, Forbes lost only one man killed and another wounded.47

  ***

  Crossing the Pearl in dramatic fashion was quite an accomplishment, but Grierson had more in mind. The New Orleans, Jackson, and Great Northern Railroad was ripe for destruction at or around Hazlehurst, and he wanted to tear up some of the track before word of his approach tipped off the locals or, more important, Confederate commands in the area. As noted earlier, he sent some scouts and Colonel Prince’s two tired battalions out to do just that as soon as they crossed the Pearl and while the rest of the column was still making the agonizingly slow passage via ferry. Prince’s orders were to ride west and strike the railroad at Hazlehurst, similar to what he had done at the ferry at Georgetown, and destroy a large section of track before any resistance developed.48

  Fifteen miles o
f enemy territory separated the Pearl River from the railroad at Hazlehurst. The chance of surprise diminished as news spread that Federals had descended upon Georgetown, so speed was everything. Surby’s scouts led the way, with Prince’s battalions riding behind them, and they quickly ran into civilians armed to the teeth. One, who bragged that he was planning to “exterminate the invading Yankees,” was taken prisoner. Some of Prince’s troopers stopped and destroyed an assortment of weapons at a gunsmith’s shop before continuing the ride.49

  When they reached Hazlehurst, two of the scouts made for the telegraph office, where several Confederate officers were found surrounding the operator. Dressed in dirty civilian garb, the Illinois men calmly handed Grierson’s note to the telegrapher. The message, intended for General Pemberton at Jackson, falsely claimed that “Yankees had advanced to Pearl River and finding the ferry destroyed they could not cross and had left, taking a north-easterly course.”50

  The message, Grierson later explained, fit perfectly with “the orders already sent to destroy the ferry,” which in turn made it completely believable. A frank discussion broke out that satisfied the operator, who dutifully tapped out the message. The telegrapher and Rebel officers “had not the least idea that the Yankees were [on] that side of Pearl River.”51

  The ruse ended when the famished scouts made their way to the hotel for something to eat. On their way there, an escaped prisoner who had fled the night before on one of Grierson’s orderly’s horses recognized the scouts and sounded the alarm. Several citizens tried to stop them, but the scouts drew their pistols, jumped on their horses, and galloped out of town and into Prince’s thundering battalions, which were bearing down on Hazlehurst just as Grierson had ordered. A few locals formed to defend the town, but, as Grierson related, “Here, again, we found the citizens armed to resist us, but they fled precipitously upon our approach.”52

  With the element of surprise now lost, the scouts raced to the telegraph office to prevent word of their arrival from spreading. Their concern was understandable, but the Confederate officers and operator had fled, together with the telegraph instrument, leaving “not a soul . . . but two old men.” As it turned out, Grierson had little to worry about on that score. Other scouts had waited until they knew the Confederate clerk had tapped out Grierson’s phantom message before cutting the lines.53

  The Federals had the run of Hazlehurst. Prince’s men entered the town first, but Grierson’s following column came in at a gallop shortly thereafter because, as had been the case at Newton Station, they heard ammunition blowing up and mistakenly assumed Prince was “hotly engaged.” The relieved Federals began destroying military equipment as well as archives and papers stored in the Marx and Loeb store. An owner of a dwelling next door had a pack of bloodhounds to track slaves and Union prisoners, so Grierson’s ordered both structures burned. The fire, however, spread to Benjamin R. Neal’s store. The Federals were busy destroying the railroad when word arrived that another train was due in from the north. The news prompted the men to take up positions to capture it. When the train failed to arrive as soon as they expected, the impatient Federals returned to their work of destruction. A short time later, however, the train steamed around the bend and into sight. Some would later claim the cars were laden with troops and carried a large cache of Confederate money. When the eagle-eyed Southern engineer spotted the Federals tearing up the track, he stopped the train and put it hard in reverse, saving the valuable locomotive, cars, and perhaps much more. The temporarily disappointed Federals soon found other railcars on the sidings stocked with “500 loaded shells and a large quantity of commissary and quartermaster’s stores, intended for Grand Gulf and Port Gibson,” reported Grierson. The troopers moved the cars out of town and set them afire while others cut the telegraph lines in additional places and destroyed as much track as they could.54

  Unfortunately, the fire engulfing the railroad cars spread to nearby buildings, including a drug store. The Federals “worked energetically and, by great exertion, saved the town from destruction.” Citizens who just a few hours earlier were ready to fight the invaders “were greatly astonished at our action,” confirmed Grierson, “and complimented us upon our good conduct.” Proud of how he had handled his command, the colonel added, “They were not the first nor the last of the citizens of Mississippi who were surprised at our gentlemanly bearing and leniency towards those who might have been treated as foes to the general government and Union cause.” Grierson rarely granted leniency toward eatables, however, and “several barrels of eggs, [together with] a lot of sugar, flour, ham, and bacon . . . which with other supplies appropriated proved sufficient for a hearty meal for the entire command.”55

  Lingering in Hazlehurst offered the Confederates an opportunity to catch up with the raiders, and this was something Grierson could not afford. Even though the railroad was broken and the telegraph lines cut, word was surely spreading of their arrival, and the engineer who had saved his train at the last moment was certain to do so. Around sunset, the brigade commander pointed his reunified command west once more and moved out. He intended to ride far enough away from the railroad to allow his men a decent night’s sleep, because he had kept them awake the night before.56

  It was a good thing Grierson moved when he did. News of his presence flashed all along the rail and telegraph lines, especially to Jackson, where those who had been convinced the raid had been turned back north now realized their mistake. One of Pemberton’s confidants, reported the editor of the Jackson Daily Mississippian, had declared the raiders “were running for dear life—that their horses were jaded and worn down and the men in constant dread of capture.” But he added, “Such is just the opposite of the facts.” The Federal brigade, continued the newspaper, was a “splendid looking and daring set of men, well equipped and well horsed.” According to an informant from Hazlehurst, “The whole force entered the town in squads of fifty and a hundred—several hours interval between the van and rear guards.”57

  Grierson, meanwhile, moved west toward the small village of Gallatin, which was four miles off the railroad. There, he turned the column southwest and rode along the road leading toward Union Church, capturing along the way at Hargroves a large “64-pound artillery piece, a heavy wagon load of ammunition, and machinery for mounting the gun.” The large cannon had been destined for the Vicksburg area; Grierson thought the mostly likely destination was Port Gibson.58

  One trooper in the 6th Illinois Cavalry detailed the destruction of the captured weapon and its wagons. The cannon, he wrote, was one of the largest “I ever saw. . . . They were hauled by cattle.” The Illinois men spiked the gun, destroyed the carriage and the ammunition, and killed the oxen pulling it. They next gathered the ammunition wagons, piled boards and fence rails on top, and set them on fire. The ensuing explosions shocked the onlookers, and “the rails flew in the air like birds. There was never such noise. There were some dismounted. We lit running, the horses tore loose from the boys that were dismounted; we ran about one hundred and fifty yards before we stopped.” The shells, thought another trooper, “made a fine booming.”59

  With the excitement behind them, Grierson urged his column on. The sun was approaching the horizon, but the men could not see it. Another storm system had moved in, and a drenching rain pelted the exhausted Federals. That afternoon, reported Grierson, “It rained in torrents, and the men were completely drenched.” The fact that the men had worked hard all day and had not slept the night before, coupled with the terrible weather, convinced Grierson to halt a few miles outside Gallatin. The Federals made camp on the spacious Jesse Thompson plantation along the upper reaches of the same Bayou Pierre that would, closer to its mouth, play a large role in Grant’s upcoming Vicksburg operations.60

  Like several other plantation owners the Federals had met in Mississippi, the 50-year-old Thompson was also a slave owner. His total net worth, including 39 slaves, was placed at $60,000. The weary band of Illinoisans spent the night along Thompson
Creek grateful for the provisions and rest. Their commander was thankful they had put 30 miles behind them that day and more than 70 since they had logged their last full night of sleep at McAdory’s plantation on April 25.61

  Grierson knew he was approaching the end of his raid, although how it would end remained to be determined. His column had ridden some 110 miles since leaving Newton Station on April 24. He did not know where Grant was, but the best chance of ending his raid successfully was to link up with his army on this side of the Mississippi River. Perhaps news would arrive with better information to help guide him on his final leg of the journey. If no intelligence on Grant’s location reached him, Grierson knew his next best chance to emerge safely from Mississippi was to continue riding south toward Union-held territory and Baton Rouge.62

  Although he was unsure what direction to ride, one thing Grierson knew with near-certainty was that enemy forces would quickly hem him in if he did not keep moving.

  1“The Enemy Cavalry on the Southern Railroad,” Jackson Daily Mississippian, April 24, 1863; “The Cavalry Raid,” Jackson Daily Mississippian, April 25, 1863; “The Yankee Raid,” Jackson Daily Mississippian, May 2, 1863.

  2For early Vicksburg efforts, see Ballard, Vicksburg.

  3For occupied Corinth, see Smith, Corinth 1862.

  4“The Enemy Cavalry on the Southern Railroad,” Jackson Daily Mississippian, April 24, 1863.