Skirmish at Meriwether's Ferry, Obion River, TN.

5fish

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Skirmish at Meriwether's Ferry, Obion River, TN.


Here is the OR...

AUGUST 16, 1862.-Skirmish at Meriwether's Ferry, Obion River, Tenn.

Reports of Brigadier General Grenville M. Dodge, U. S. Army.

TRENTON, TENN.

Colonel Harris of the Fifty-fourth Illinois Infantry, with Captain Fullerton's company of the Second Illinois Cavalry, attacked a rebel force from Kentucky, 150 strong, at Meriwether's Ferry, in Dyer County, completely routing and driving them into the river. The fight lasted thirty minutes, and Captain Fullerton's officers and men fought with great gallantry and bravery. His force was only 60.

The enemy's loss was large in killed, wounded, and drowned. We took 10 prisoners, 40 horses, and a large number of arms, ammunition, &c. Our loss, Lieutenants Terry and Goodheart and 1 private killed and 6 wounded.

Several companies of cavalry from Kentucky are trying to push through south. This was the first that crossed the line. They are well armed and fought desperately.

G. M. DODGE,

Brigadier-General.

snip...

Major-General GRANT.

HDQRS. CENTRAL DIVISION OF THE MISSISSIPPI, Trenton, Tenn., August 20, 1862.

CAPTAIN: The fight at Meriwether's Ferry was much more decisive than I telegraphed. So far as ascertained the enemy had 37 killed. We have taken 16 of their bodies out of the river. They lost everything. We got their horses, arms, and baggage. Some got away naked. Colonel Harris' conduct in the fight is spoken of highly. It was well planned and finely executed. The cavalry, after following
them 30 miles, overtook them at Meriwether's Ferry and charged down a hill, the enemy lying behind logs. The two lieutenants fell at the first fire, when the boys jumped from their horses and fought a hand-to-hand fight, driving the enemy into the river.

The enemy tried to re-enforce this party on the north side of the river by crossing men in a boat and on a raft. Our boys killed every man in the boat and on the raft, shooting down all those on the north side as they tried to swim the river. Our men fought bravely, and, considering that they lost both officers in the first charge, I think with great credit. The enemy were commanded by Captain Binford, formerly of Hickman. I must say that I am very much gratified and disappointed with the behavior of all my cavalry in these fights. They do much better than I expected. In only one case have they backed from any force, and I think I then gave them a lesson that will cause them to always stand hereafter. I dislike very much to part with them, as I have just got them fairly to work. They are well acquainted with the country, need no guides, and have learned to scout without giving me trouble from unauthorized depredations. You can readily see the disadvantage I shall labor under hereafter, using cavalry that are entirely unacquainted with the country.

I will endeavor to have my forces ready to move on the day you designate.

I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

G. M. DODGE,

Brigadier-General.

 

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Here is a side story...


Thomas W. Harris was a railroad president who had served as a Whig in the Illinois legislature before the Civil War. In November 1861 he organized and was made colonel of the 54th Illinois Regiment, which was part of the Kentucky Brigade. In the fall of 1862 the regiment was involved in taking and holding Unionist areas of Tennessee. When the Tennessee River proved dangerous for the transportation of military supplies, Harris was entrusted the task of repairing bridges, erecting block-houses, and guarding it as far south as the Big Obion River. Harris' regiment won the battle of Meriwether's Ferry, and spent much time fighting guerrilla units of Confederate sympathizers. At the end of 1862 he resigned his command.
His son Perry, without the consent of his parents, enlisted as a private in Company D of the 55th Kentucky Regiment on January 21, 1865. That unit operated from September 1864 to September 1865 in Kentucky and Virginia. The minimum enlistment age for the Union Army in the Civil War was theoretically 18, but innumerable boys enlisted and lied about their ages (some even putting the number 18 on a scrap of paper in their shoes, so they could honestly claim "I'm over 18"). Recruiters, faced with an ever-increasing need for enlistees, looked the other way. Moreover, some units adopted boys as drummers who were admittedly underage, but who were never permitted to formally enlist. The famous Johnny Clem was just such an instance.

Col. Harris was none too pleased with his son's action, and for good reasons. He sent a telegram from Covington, Kentucky, February 6, 1865, to Washington, addressed to both Illinois Senator Lyman Trumbull and Gen. John M. Palmer, saying "My son Perry Harris fourteen 14 years old insane crippled has been mustered in fifty-fifth 55th Kentucky regiment. Please have Secretary of War order him discharged Col. Thos. W. Harris of Shelbyville, Ill." Both men were well known to President Lincoln, with Palmer having been the man who nominated Lincoln as the Illinois favorite son candidate for President in 1860, and Trumbull having represented Lincoln in Washington when he was President-elect.

The telegram ended up on Palmer's desk, and rather than take the matter to Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, he determined to take it directly to the President. He endorsed the telegram "I have no doubt of the truth of this statement. John M. Palmer", and passed it along to Lincoln.

Amidst the swirl of the Civil War, Lincoln earned a reputation as a deeply compassionate and kind man, and this reputation reached from the battlefields into American legend. This is the picture that has come down to us, and we envision him as a man who was generous of spirit, who pardoned soldiers who fell asleep on guard duty, showed leniency whenever possible, and aided widows and orphans. Because of his position as President, he had opportunities to prove or disprove this reputation, as many requests for pardons, deferrals of executions, and pleas to aid soldiers came to him. His writings show that he seldom turned the needy aside. This is one concrete example of that, one consistent with the legend.
Moreover, Lincoln always displayed this compassion in his treatment of children, perhaps due to his having lost three of his own when they were still young. It is uncommon for any autograph or document of Lincoln's relating to children, including that of boys in the army, to reach the marketplace, this being one of that small number.
 
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