From The Greensborough Patriot
Jan. 2, 1862 – Pg. 3
The Fight at Drainsville.
The
Confederates Out Numbered Full Particulars.
A
correspondent of the Richmond Dispatch gives the following account of a heavy
skirmish which occurred at Drainsville, in the neighborhood of Centreville, Va.,
on the 20th inst.
A
foraging party was sent out, by Gen. Stuart, consisting of about two hundred
wagons, escorted by the 11th Virginia,
Col. Garland; the 5th South Carolina, under Lieut. Col. A. J.
Secrest; the 10th Alabama, Col. John H. Forney, the 1st
Kentucky, Col. Tom Taylor; the Sumter Flying Artillery, Capt. Cutts; and
detachments from Ransom’s and Radford’s cavalry. Our whole force amounted to nearly
twenty-five hundred men. They started
off early in the morning, and before day were some distance on the
journey. Soon after leaving, a rocket
was seen to shoot up in the direction of Drainsville, which as was afterwards
ascertained, was a signal from the enemy, and indicated that our approach was
known. It is about fifteen miles from
here to Darinsville. When within a short
distance of the place, two or three regiments of Yankees were seen deployed as
skirmishers in the skirts of a pine thicket, which stretched but on either side
of the road Gen. Stuart drew up his force and prepared to make an attack. On either side the woods were very thick, and
it was difficult to make through them, but our force was pushed forward in the
following order: The Eleventh Virginia, being in the advance, was deployed on
the right of the road with the Tenth Alabama, while the Sixth South Carolina
and the First Kentucky were sent to the left.
On account of the dense thicket on either side, the artillery was forced
to advance down the road in order to gain a position to make the guns effective.
As
we approached the Yankees, the 11th Virginia charged them with a yell, and drove
them back to their line within sight of Drainsville. The enemy seemed somewhat confused, but soon
formed again in line of battle. The
advanced positions were held by the 11th and 6th South Carolina, the
former on the right and the latter on the left of the road. While waiting to get sight of the enemy the 6th
South Carolina was drawn up, and the 1st
Kentucky advanced upon them, and mistaking
them for the enemy, a portion of the regiment fired without orders, killing
five of the South Carolinians. The error was soon discovered, and Col.
Taylor advanced cautiously to the left, and soon after came in sight of another
regiment but a few yards away. To be
sure there was no mistake, Col. Taylor shouted to the Colonel and asked who he
was?
“The
Colonel of the 9th,” was the reply.
“Of
what 9th?”
“Don’t shoot,”
said the Yankees, “we are friends, South Carolinians.”
“On which side are
you?” asked Col. Taylor.
“For the Union,”
and immediately after the Colonel gave the command to fire, and a volley was
poured into the Kentuckians from the 9th Infantry regulars,
U.S.A.—The engagement then became general, and our four regiments with Capt.
Cutt’s four guns were soon actively engaged.
The Yankees had every advantage of position. There were several houses along the Leesburg
turnpike, and back of it a hill upon which their battery was placed. Lower down, and opposite the 11th,
was another battery placed in position to enfilade the turnpike should we enter
it. The main battery of six guns swept
the road upon which we were advancing, and kept up an incessant fire of grape,
canister and epherreal case. The
accuracy of their aim was remarkable considering the rapidity with which the
guns were fired. Cap. Cutts got three of
his pieces in position and returned the fire rapidly and successfully.
Meanwhile
the enemy advanced several regiments of infantry and, protected by the nature
of the ground, came within a hundred yards of us, and forming in line, fired
for some time, keeping the air full of Minnie balls, and finally attempted to
charge. Three times the officers gave
the order and tried to get their men forward, but failed. They could not be pushed into the
thicket. Soon after this the firing on
both sides ceased, but not before great damage was done to our force. For over an hour both sides had kept up an
incessant fire. The wounded and dead lay
on every side and the regiments were beginning to get scattered.
The
Confederates approached so near the enemy that they could plainly hear their
commands.
To
give it a little more in detail: As our first advance was marching by the flank
towards the Yankee skirmishers, two companies of the 11th Virginia
were thrown out as skirmishers, and sent forward,--Captain Houston’s company
charged the Yankees with a shout and drove them in, and soon after the shout
was taken up by others, and all advanced within sight of Drainsville, Company
A, of the 11th, was deployed on the right, but by some means got
lost and was separated from the regiment until the fight was over.
When
the enemy formed in line of battle, Col. Forney drew the 10th Alabama up also and
prepared to advance upon them. The
coolness and daring courage displayed by Col. Forney was observed by
everybody. He rode backward and forward
in front of the line encouraging his men and in getting all prepared for the
coming struggle. The same can be said of
Col. Garland. Soon after the firing
commenced, Col. Forney was shot through the right arm, Lieut. Col. Martin was
killed, and command of the regiment devolved on Major Woodward, who commanded
on the one side of the road, and the senior Captain on the other. This regiment lost more than any other. The Sumter Artillery was on the road, and had
three guns in position. Only four pieces
were out, and about sixty men. Capt.
Cutts and his men fought bravely, and suffered severely. The enemy’s batteries played upon him for
some time, and killed nearly all his horses, destroyed one limber and exploded
a caisson. Twenty-five horses were left
upon the field. The guns still kept
firing and did good execution, every shot scattering the Yankees and telling
upon them seriously. He succeeded in
breaking their line and in driving their sharpshooters from the house behind
which they were hidden. When ordered to
fall back, the pieces were taken to the rear by hand, with the assistance of
the infantry.
Seeing
the wagons safely to the rear, Gen. Stuart gave orders to fall back to a better
position. The regiments marched to the
rear in good order, both sides having ceased firing. At this time Col. Tom Taylor rode to the
right to see what disposition had been made of his neighbors, and on returning
found his regiment gone, and himself nearly surrounded by Yankee cavalry. Throwing himself down he eluded them and
afterwards crept into a pine coppice and remained there until dark with Yankees
on each side of him. At night, he
escaped, and joined his regiment this morning, sustaining no injury beyond a
slight scratch to the hand by a musket ball.
Taking
his force to the rear, where the ground offered better positions, Gen. Stuart
once more drew up his force and awaited the enemy, but he had enough of it and
was not disposed to give battle again. Thus
ended the battle of Drainsville, which, although disastrous to us, was more so
to the enemy, if recent reports are true.
It is believed there were 15 regiments of infantry and eight pieces of
light artillery against us.
The
following is a list of the killed and wounded in Col. Wynder’s 6th
South Carolina Regiment:
Co. A. Calhoun
Guards.—Killed, none. Wounded, Wm.
McFadden, seriously; Robt. S. Wylie, do.
Co. B—Killed, Sohn G. Barbour.—Wounded, A. J. Barnes,
seriously; James Gladen, slightly; Wm. F Nnox, do; D Roddey, missing.
Co. C. Buckhead
Guards.—Killed, Sergt. R. H. Morris, private Frank English.—Wounded, Capt.
Means, slightly in the arms; Corp. W. C. Byers, mortally; Corp. B. P. Allison,
slightly; private Zeb Mobley, leg broken, was left on the field; R. W. Bryce,
slightly; John Blain, do; B. W. Means, do; A. P. Syles, do; D. W. Hollis,
severely.
Co. D. Boyck Guards.—Killed, J. M. Elliot. Wounded, none.
Co.
E. Chester Guards.—Killed, private G. W.
Breakfield; missing, supposed killed; Thos. B. Harden. Wounded, Capt. O. Harden, severely; Sergt. J.
A. Sanders, slightly; private John Lucas, do.
Co. F. Chester Blues—Killed, privates W. H. Abell, R. T.
Johnston, J. McKown, J. W. Smith, Sergt. Cruthers. Wounded, Sergt. Elliot, slightly; S. McAlily,
do; privates Boyd, do; Lepsey, do.
Co. G. Pickens Guard.—Killed, J. T. Coldwell, W. S.
McDill. Wounded, Corp. L. S. Douglas,
slightly; private M. R. Dye, do; S. M. Schooner, do.
Co. H. York Guards.—Killed, 1st Lieut. F. E.
Moore, Corp’l W. T. Robinson, privates Thos. J. Parks, H. P. Price, Sam’l
Aoffman. Serg’t. J. N. Faires, mortally;
privates, Wm. Hamilton, do; Wm. Crosby, severely; A. F. Branch, do; H. K.
Sadler, do; Andrew Merritt, do. Serg’t
Wm. Campbell,
slightly; John Honey, do; Wm. M. Whitesides, do; private Holles, do; private
Patterson, do.
Co.
I. Limestone Guards.—Wounded, J. P. Scales,
slightly.
Co. K. Carolina Mountaineers.—Wounded, T. H. Cunningham,
seriously, D. W. Blaingame, do; John C. Atkinson, do; K. B. Latham, do; J. L.
Griffith, do; J. M. Jackson, slightly; J. W. Holclaw, do; J. W. Rowan, missing;
Lawrence Lenhart, do; probably killed.
Maj.
Thos. W. Woodward was wounded in the thigh, but not seriously.
Sumter Flying Artillery,
Capt. A. S. Butte.—Killed, Corporal John L. McGarroh; privates W. F. Williams,
W. P. Lang. Wounded, privates John A.
Capps, (since dead,) mortally; Thos. Mills, mortally; J. L. Proctor, mortally;
Corp’l C. H. Varner, severely; privates John Murfey, severely; James Mr.
Cannor, severely; G. L. Lmith, severely; Sergeant W. H. Fletcher, slightly;
privates H. T. Rogers, slightly; S. D. Fraiser, slightly; William Richards,
slightly; J. N. English slightly; Thomas Calhoun, slightly.
The
report from official sources states the loss in the S. C. Regiment at 17 killed
and 48 wounded.
The
Confederate loss, altogether, is estimated at 50 killed and 170 wounded. Reinforcements were sent to Gen. Stuart and
the next day he took possession of Drainsville, the point occupied by the enemy
the day previous. The Lincolnites left
in double quick time.
A
portion of Ransom’s North Carolina Cavalry Regiment was on the field during the
fight, but not directly engaged, as no cavalry was used. A detachment from Capt. Miller’s company was
commanded by Lieut. James Morrow.
The
enemy’s loss is said to be about 300.
