Shelby left Arkadelphia, Arkansas, with his "Iron Brigade" on Sep 22, 1863, crossing behind Union lines to begin his raid. Shelby characterized the Union troops as the, “…terror to the country, the insulters of unprotected women, and the murderers of old and infirm men.”
They moved into Missouri Oct 2, and within a couple of day, they started "rattling their sabers." By Oct 4, he had marched 255 miles to Neosho, MO., where there were 300 Federal cavalry. Quickly surrounded and forced to surrender, Shelby captured their equipment and their horses.
“…the doomed enemy were encompassed by a cordon of steel before they knew of a foeman near. Thorp, with his usual dash, drove their pickets into town, where they, with the main body, took refuge in a strong brick court-house, pierced and loop-holed for musketry, where they kept up a hot fire upon our advancing columns. … I ordered my cannon into position and sent two balls crashing through the walls. This was followed by an immediate demand for unconditional surrender, which… …they agreed to.” ~ Shelby
After a short rest at Neosho, they moved on, passing through the war-ravaged Sarcoxie, which Shelby described as being, “…blackened and desolate…” Next they took the town of Bowers’ Mill, followed by Greenfield and Stockton and destroyed the fort at Stockton. All along the way they "appropriated" food and weaponry from civilians and military.
On his way to Warsaw, he captured 30 Union supply wagons and the Union men. Although they met resistance at Warsaw, Shelby's forces outnumbered and defeated the Union. From Warsaw, Shelby wrote: “Vast quantities of all kinds of stores were captured here, with some arms and prisoners, and a strong and well provisioned fort. Thus far I had traveled ahead of all information, but now the telegraph flashed out its view-halloo, and the railroads groaned under the dire preparations to meet me, and the thunderer of Saint Louis threatened vengeance as dark as death and terrible as the grave.”
Over the next few days, Shelby and his men moved through the towns of Cole Camp, Florence, Tipton, and Syracuse. Along the way, they captured supplies and arms, burned and destroyed bridges and railroads, and cut telegraph lines.
With Brown’s men now at both his front and rear, Shelby also split his force and made a desperate bid to escape. The 2 factions of the Iron Brigade managed to break through the Union lines and retreated, independently, to the south. Union forces stayed on Shelby's forces. On Oct 26, Shelby, with his Iron Brigade made it to Arkansas, toward the safety of the Confederate lines. The two columns reunited near Bentonville, Arkansas on Nov 3, 1863. Shelby had conducted a textbook raid, the longest raid, 1,500 miles, of the Civil War for either side.
In his final report of the raid, Shelby claimed to have killed, wounded, and captured more than 1,000 Union troops; captured and destroyed 10 forts; and captured, used, and destroyed more than $2 million worth of Union supplies, property, and railroads. Part of the "loot" included 12 ammunition wagons, and 2 pieces of artillery, $800,000 dollars in military supplies, which included 600 rifles, 40 stands of colors, 300 wagons, 6,000 horses and mules and destroyed another million dollars in enemy supplies. His own loses would be major; one man in six did not return home.
He was promoted to Brigadier General in recognition of his success, and a saying soon became popular in the Confederate Army of the Trans-Mississippi: “You’ve heard of JEB Stuart’s ride around McClellan? Hell brother, Jo Shelby rode around Missouri!”
No comments:
Post a Comment