The 13th Kentucky Cavalry

in the Second Raid on Gladesville

On the 27th of June, 1862, Colonel Benjamin Everidge Caudill reported that 2,200 Federal troops were advancing on his position from the Cumberland Gap with designs on the saltworks at his position. Reinforcements were sent, but by July 1st, Brigadier General William Preston discounted the report of a raid on Saltville as a rumor and the area once again lapsed into an uneasy routine.

As it turned out, Colonel Caudill's assessment of the situation was much closer to the truth than that of General Preston. Major General Ambrose Burnside had planned a major thrust into the heart of the Confederate States, and the coming attack was part of that coordinated effort. Brigadier General Julius White was in command of the local Union forces that were at Beaver Creek in Floyd County and led them into the Pound Gap in July of that year.

General White reported to his superiors after the fight... "On the third instant, I marched from this station with six companies of the 65th Illinois Infantry (two mounted), Second battalion 10th Kentucky Cavalry, one squadron Ohio Volunteer Cavalry, One company 14th Kentucky Kentucky Infantry (Mounted), and two mountain howitzers, under command of Lieutenant Wheeler, of Company M, 2nd Illinois Light Artillery. At Pikeville, 20 miles South of this, I was joined by a part of the 39th Kentucky Infantry (mounted), in all about 950 men. From Pikeville I proceeded up the Louisa fork of [the Big] Sandy River with about half of the entire force, directing that the 2nd Battalion 10th Kentucky Cavalry and the Ohio Squadron Proceed by a rapid march through Pound to Gladesville, West Virginia, and demonstrate upon or attack the enemy at that place, under Colonel Caudill; thence to the railroad at or near Bristol, and destroy so much of it as practicable, unless it should appear too hazardous an undertaking."

White and his command arrived just outside Gladesville on the evening of the 6th of July, 1863. They camped just north of town and waited for daylight. Typical of the times, the chaplain held a brief prayer service and the troops waited for the attack at dawn.

When dawn came, the Federals charged into town, taking the Confederates there completely by surprise. In a first hand account of the attack that was more or less typical, "Devil" John Wright recounted in a 1950 newspaper interview, "There were 15 of us in one tent; and before we knew it, they had us surrounded, and we had to surrender." 18 officers and 99 enlisted men were captured. Colonel Caudill was among the officers captured.

General White felt that he could do nothing further of any real value, since he considered the railroad that he came to destroy so heavily defended that it was definitely, "too hazardous an undertaking." His command turned around and began to withdraw with their prisoners towards Pikeville.

The Federals didn't get away without experiencing any difficulties, however. A local Confederate sympathizer named Jesse Bowling was taken prisoner and when his kin got wind of it, Delano Bowling led a group of men to find and effect the release of his kin if possible. These "scouts" had on flintlock rifles with which to effect their goals, but fortified by a "good snort of white whiskey," Bowling and his men waited in ambush at Horse Gap hoping to have an opportunity to provide enough of a diversion to provide an avenue of escape for some of the prisoners. Delano Bowling ordered his men not to fire on the Federal until he did. According to tradition, the volley killed two Federal and two mules. When the Federal troops returned fire, four of Bowling's men were wounded. Discretion proved the better part of valor, and the Bowling party retreated to tend to the wounded. After accomplishing this, they bolstered their spirits with another snort of "white ligthening," and crept to where they could get a better look at what the Union troops were up to. Unfortunately for the prisoners, the Federal troops were now using them as a human shield, effectively thwarting any further attemps by Bolling and his men at any sort of rescue. All quotes are from C. Connie Bowling, (granddaughter of Jessee Bolling), for her interview in the "Coalfield Progress."

"Devil" John Wright later recalled, "They lined us up between their soldiers and started marching us towards Kentucky. Down Indian Creek the laurel grew thick right up to the edges of the road. I watched [for] my chance and stepped out of line into the laurel, and I doubt if they ever even missed me. That was one of two times I escaped the Yankees."

Colonel Caudill's capture sent a sobering ripple of fear through the Confederate command in Virginia. The vulnerable works at Saltville were ultimately, if belatedly, reinforced.

Colonel Caudill and his compatriots coooled their heels in Camp Douglas awating parole or exchange. Ben Caudill and some of the others taken prisoner were eventually exchanged before the end of the war, but others of his men were not so lucky. Caudill's brother-in-law, D.J. Dotson, died at Camp Douglas of pneumonia. Just as he seemed about to recover from a bout of typhoid, D.J. was asked to stand out in the cold to answer questions regarding a recent escape attempt and contracted the case of pneumonia that would prove his undoing.

As a result of this raid, General Preston would ultimately request that southwest Virginia be transferred out of the Army of Tennessee, since "I feel assured that it would be more rapid, simple, and efficient than to defend the district and transact the business through Chattanooga."

This whole affair came to be recognized as the first sign of serious problems for the Confederacy along the Cumberlands, and the 13th Kentucky Cavalry was a part of this piece of history in the making."

Partial Listing of the Men Captured at Gladesville

Capt. Hays' Co. C had the most men captured (21), Capt. Stamper's Co. A (15), Co. B. (13), Co. F (13), Co. G (11), Co. H (8), Co. E (6), Co. I (2). To date, no men from Co. D have been listed as captured during the Gladesville event.



Captured

Prison*

Death

Afflictions

Adams, Gilbert	A
Adkins, Samuel	C
Allen, John	G
Allen, Sgt. Joseph	F
Allen, William, Jr.	F
Amburgey, Alfred	A	Camp Douglas
Amburgey, Lt. Charles Wilburn	A		1912-07-10
Amburgey, John J.	B
Ashley, H.J.	B
Barnes, William	B	Camp Douglas	1863-10-01
Bentley, Lt. A.R.	H
Brashears, John L.	H
Brashears, Capt. Samuel Ray	H
Caudill, Lt. Henry R.S.	H	Camp Chase	1910-03-02
Caudill, Col. Benjamin Everidge
Caudill, William	B
Clemons, Francis	C
Collier, Lt. Isom W.	A	Johnson's Island+	1863-12-02
Collier, John B.	A	Camp Douglas	1863-10-22
Collins, Marshall	F	Camp Douglas	1863-10-20
Collins, William	F	Camp Douglas	1912-07-01
Combs, Elijah	C
Combs, Felix	C	Camp Douglas
Combs, Fielding	C
Combs, Isaac	C	Camp Douglas	1865-02-26
Combs, Pvt. Jeremiah	C
Combs, Sgt. Jeremiah	G	Camp Douglas
Combs, Kendrick	I	Point Lookout
Combs, Nicholas	C
Combs, Sgt. Wesley	C	Camp Douglas	1865
Conley, Ashford	F	Camp Douglas
Conley, Joseph	F	Camp Douglas
Cornett, John	B
Cornett, Joseph E.	A	Camp Chase	1863-08-10
Craft, Lt. John E.	C
Day, David	B
Dotson, Thomas M.	A	Camp Douglas	1864-10-24	measles, pneumonia
Everidge, William	B		1929-07-19	Deserted 9 July 1863, Gladesville.
Fitzpatrick, Lt.James B.	E
Francis, John	A
Francis, Corp. Simeon [J.]	A	Camp Douglas	1864-02-04
Griffith, James	C		1916-03-07
Grigsby, Benjamin	C
Grigsby, Lt. Edward	C	Camp Chase	1863-12-09
Grigsby, Sgt. William	C
Guinn, Allen	I
Hart, James	A			"shot off right arm?"
Hays, Capt. Anderson	C		1909-12-24
Hays, Sylvester	C

Hilton, R.N.	H
Hogg, Capt. George	B
Ingle, Henry, Jr.	C	Point Lookout
Ingle, William B.	C
Johnson, Abisha, Jr.	E
Johnson, Sgt. John	G
Johnson, Preston	C	Camp Douglas	1865-01-30
Justice, Riley	E
Landrun, Capt. William S.	G
Madden, A.J.	A	Camp Douglas	1863-10-04
Madden, George W.	A	Camp Douglas	1864-02-16
Miller, James	B
Miller, Corp. John	G
Moore, Tandy	E
Mullins, Joseph	H
Oney, Sgt. John	F
Ritchie, Martin	C
Roberts, A.J.	G
Roberts, Alsion	G
Roberts, John	G
Sexton, Berry	B
Shepherd, Sgt. Brison	F
Shepherd, William	F
Shepherd, William [R.]	C			"kidney and liver disease"
Slusher, John	F
Sparkman, Sgt. John [S.]	A	Camp Douglas	1920
Stamper, Capt. Hiram H.	A		1873-02-19
Summers, James	B
Sumner, Wesley	B	Camp Douglas	1863-11-04
Tyree, Joseph	H
Tyree, Patterson	H
Walker, Capt. James C.	F		1879-12-30
Watts, John C.	A	Camp Douglas	1863-12-19
Whitaker, Isaac J.	B
Wiseman, Morgan	F
Combs, Jesse	G	Camp Douglas	1864-10-08	died of remittent fever
Combs, James P.	G
Fugate, Corp. Daniel	G	Point Lookout	1864-07-17
Johnson, Joab	E
Johnson, John	E
Wright, John	G		1931-01-30	captured but escaped through the laurels

























 

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