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| Army Forge. |
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Schoepf, with the Seventeenth, Thirty-first, and Thirty-eighth Ohio.
Disposition was made early the next morning to assault the Confederate intrenchments, when it was ascertained that the works were abandoned.
The beleaguered troops had fled in silence across the river, under cover of the darkness, abandoning every thing in their camp, and destroying the steamer Noble Ellis (which had come up the river with supplies), and three flat-boats, which had carried them safely over the stream.1 Destitute of provisions and forage, the sadly-smitten Confederates were partially dispersed among the hills on the borders of Kentucky and Tennessee, while seeking both.
Crittenden retreated first to Monticello, and then continued his flight until he reached Livingston and Gainesborough, in the direction of Nashville, in order to be in open communication with Headquarters at the latter place, and to guard the Cumberland as far above it as possible.
Thus ended the battle of Mill Spring (which has been also called the Battle of Beech Grove, Fishing Creek, and Somerset), with a loss to the Nationals of two hundred and forty-seven, of whom thirty-nine were killed, and two hundred and eight were wounded; and to the Confederates of
three hundred and forty-nine, of whom one hundred and ninety-two were killed, sixty-two were wounded, and eighty-nine were made prisoners.
Among the killed, as we have seen, was General Zollicoffer, whose loss, at that time, was irreparable.2 The spoils of victory for Thomas were twelve pieces of artillery, with three caissons packed, two army forges,3 one battery wagon, a large amount of ammunition and small arms, more than a thousand horses and mules, wagons, commissary stores, intrenching tools,
1 Some accounts say that the Ellis was set on fire by the shells of the Nationals, but the preponderance of testimony is in favor of the statement in the text. The Confederates hoped to prevent immediate pursuit by leaving-nothing on which their foe could cross the river.
The Confederates suffered terribly in their retreat. “Since Saturday night,” wrote one of their officers, “we had but an hour of sleep, and scarcely a morsel of food. For a whole week we have been marching under a bare subsistence, and I have at length approached that point in a soldier's career when a handful of parched corn may be considered a first-class dinner. We marched the first few days through a barren region, where supplies could not be obtained. I have more than once seen the men kill a porker with their guns, cut and quarter it, and broil it on the coals, and then eat it without bread or salt. The suffering of the men from the want of the necessaries of life, of clothing, and of repose, has been most intense, and a more melancholy spectacle than this solemn, hungry, and weary procession, could scarcely be imagined.”2 Zollicoffer was killed by Colonel Fry, of the Fourth Kentucky. That officer, according to his own statement in a letter to his wife, was leading his regiment in a charge upon the Mississippians, when he was mistaken for a Confederate officer by Zollicoffer. The latter rode up to Fry, saying as he pointed toward the Mississippians, “You are not going to fight your friends, are you?” At that instant Zollicoffer's aid, Major Henry M. Fogg, of Nashville, fired at Fry, wounding his horse. Fry turned and fired, killing Zollicoffer, not knowing at the time his person or his rank. He was covered in a white rubber coat, and on the previous evening had his beard shaved off, so as not to be easily recognized. The aid of Zollicoffer was mortally wounded at the same time. Zollicoffer's body was taken to Mumfordsville, and sent by a flag, of truce to General Hindman. It was honored with a funeral salute at the National camp when it was carried over Green River.
3 The army forge is a part of the equipment of a corps of artillery or cavalry in the field, and is portable. It consists of a four-wheeled carriage, with compartments in which a blacksmith's outfit of fuel and implements may be carried, and may be made ready for use in the course of half an hour. The fore and the hind wheels of the carriage may be separated--“unlimbered” --the same as those of a cannon. Attached to the fore wheels are the boxes for supplies and tools, and to the rear wheels the bellows and forge, as seen in the engraving. When needed for use, the anvil is taken out and placed on a block made from any neighboring tree, and the work may be speedily begun.
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