13th Missouri Cavalry Regiment (Confederate)

Map of key points in Arkansas, including Little Rock, Pine Bluff, and Camden

On September 28, Wood and the 275 men he had recruited by then were ordered to move from their camp at Arkadelphia, Arkansas to join Marmaduke's command. This directive was remanded because the unit, which was organized into a six-company battalion, was too poorly disciplined to be an effective combat unit.[7] Earlier that month, Union forces commanded by Major General Frederick Steele had taken Little Rock; this success was followed up by the occupation of several points along the Arkansas River. One of these outposts was at Pine Bluff, which was defended by 550 Union cavalrymen and 300 freed slaves commanded by Colonel Powell Clayton. Marmaduke decided to lead an attack against the post, which occurred on October 25.[8] Wood's battalion took part in this action, which was known as the Battle of Pine Bluff.[7]

When Marmaduke drew up his plan of attack against the post, Wood's battalion was assigned to a force which was ordered to split from the main Confederate force, which was advancing from the east, and take side roads to attack the Union garrison from the southeast.[9] The force split from the main body followed this path of approach, and Wood's battalion and most of the rest of the column dismounted after reaching a brickyard 0.5 miles (0.80 km) from the town.[10] The still-mounted portion of the Confederate force attacked down a road, scattering Union pickets. Wood's battalion was ordered to support this advance, which occurred around 09:00.[11] After hearing a cannon shot used as a signal, the Missourians attacked down the road, but were stopped at the outskirts of Pine Bluff. The unit was then reinforced by Texans under the command of Major B. D. Chenoweth and Pratt's Texas Battery. After some sharpshooting, the Union defenders were driven further into the town. Another Confederate attack and subsequent fighting through the streets followed, until the Union troops reached a barricade made of cotton bales. A lull in the fighting followed, which Wood's men used to create their own cotton bale defenses.[12] The Union defenders bolstered the strength of their cotton bale line with nine artillery pieces, and the Confederates were unable to take the position, despite launching several attacks and attempting to burn down the courthouse.[8] The unit is reported to have suffered two casualties at Pine Bluff.[7]

At some point after November 1, Wood's battalion was augmented by two companies that had been recruited by James T. Cearnal during Shelby's Raid. The unit issued a strength report on November 10, which found that it consisted of 400 men in eight companies. The report did not mention any artillery component of the unit; what happened to the four cannons previously associated with it is not known. Throughout the rest of 1863, Wood's battalion served as an independent unit under Marmaduke's command; it spent the early portion of the next year associated with Price's headquarters.[13] In March 1864, Steele was sent from Little Rock with 8,500 to thrust into southwestern Arkansas in support of the Union Red River campaign, which was targeting Shreveport, Louisiana. Opposing Steele was 7,500 Confederate commanded by Price,[14] including Wood's battalion.[15] On April 15, Steele took the town of Camden, but had trouble securing enough food to feed his army.[14] After the capture of Camden, Wood's battalion began fighting a series of small actions against parties sent out from the main Union position.[15] One such party was sent out on April 17, with the purpose of gathering supplies. The next day, the Confederates moved to attack it, bringing on the Battle of Poison Spring.[16] Shortly before the battle opened, Wood's battalion, by this point known as the 14th Missouri Cavalry Battalion, arrived on the field, having been sent by Price to reinforce Marmaduke, who was exercising command despite not being the most senior Confederate officer on the field.[17] The Confederates then attacked the column, which included a sizable wagon train. Despite attempting to put up a defense, the Union line was quickly broken.[18] Wood's unit was deployed briefly after the line broke, but was soon disengaged to get captured wagons into movable condition.[15] After the fighting ended, some captured African American soldiers were massacred; postmortem mutilations were also inflicted on some of the Union dead.[19]

Meanwhile, the Red River campaign had been repulsed, enabling the Confederate to focus on Steele. Isolated and running low on food, the Union troops abandoned Camden on April 26, and were harried by pursuing Confederate during the retreat.[20] The 14th Missouri Cavalry Battalion participated in skirmishing during the pursuit.[15] When Steele's column reached the crossing of the Saline River, they were caught by the Confederate pursuers, who launched several futile attacks on April 30 in the Battle of Jenkins' Ferry. The Union soldiers were able to escape across a pontoon bridge and eventually reached Little Rock.[21] The 14th Missouri Cavalry Battalion had been held out of the Jenkins' Ferry fighting as a reserve unit. It then spent the summer of 1864 defending an outpost at Princeton, Arkansas.[15]

Map of Price's Raid

In the 1864 United States presidential election, incumbent president Abraham Lincoln supported continuing the war, while former Union general George B. McClellan promoted ending it. By the beginning of September 1864, events in the eastern United States, especially the Confederate defeat in the Atlanta campaign, gave Lincoln an edge in the election over McClellan. At this point, the Confederacy had very little chance of victory.[22] Meanwhile, in the Trans-Mississippi Theater, the Confederates had defeated a Union expedition during the Red River campaign in Louisiana from March through May. As events east of the Mississippi River turned against the Confederates, General Edmund Kirby Smith, commander of the Confederate Trans-Mississippi Department, was ordered to transfer the infantry under his command to the fighting in the Eastern and Western Theaters. This proved to be impossible, as the Union Navy controlled the Mississippi River, preventing a large-scale crossing. Despite having limited resources for an offensive, Smith decided that an attack designed to divert Union troops from the principal theaters of combat would have the same effect as the proposed transfer of troops. Price and the new Confederate Governor of Missouri, Thomas Caute Reynolds,[lower-alpha 2] suggested that an invasion into Missouri would be an effective operation; Smith approved the plan and appointed Price to command it. Price expected that the offensive would create a popular uprising against Union control of Missouri, divert Union troops away from principal theaters of combat (many of the Union troops defending Missouri had been transferred out of the state, leaving the Missouri State Militia as the state's primary defensive force), and aid McClellan's chance of defeating Lincoln;[25] on September 19, Price's column entered the state.[26] When Price organized his army, Wood's battalion was attached to Marmaduke's division.[27]

After entering the state, Price learned of a Union force holding Fort Davidson and the town of Pilot Knob. Price believed that his army could subdue the garrison, and sent Brigadier General Joseph O. Shelby's division north of the area to operate against a railroad, while Marmaduke's and Major General James F. Fagan's division moved against Fort Davidson. On September 27, the Confederates attacked the Union soldiers, who had taken up positions within the fort.[28] During the ensuing Battle of Pilot Knob, Wood's battalion served with Brigadier General John B. Clark Jr.'s brigade, which attacked down from Shepherd Mountain against the fort. The battalion was part of Clark's right wing, along with the 3rd and 10th Missouri Cavalry Regiments.[29] When the attack against Fort Davidson occurred, these three units separated from the rest of Clark's brigade and fought alongside Brigadier General William L. Cabell's brigade. Despite taking heavy losses, Cabell's men and the attached units of Clark's command crossed a dry creek bed and were able to reach the fort's moat; the rest of Clark's brigade did not pass the creek bed. The Confederate attack was unable to reach the fort, whose defenders were protected from much of the Confederate fire by sandbags. After the attack fizzled out, the men of Clark's brigade fell back to the creek bed, although Cabell's men made another unsuccessful attack.[30] The Confederates were unable to carry the fort via assault, and its Union defenders abandoned it that night.[31] Wood's battalion had suffered about 30 casualties during the fighting at Pilot Knob and helped pursue the Union soldiers who had abandoned the fort.[15]

Wood's battalion and the 4th Missouri Cavalry Regiment traveled to Cuba, Missouri, on September 30, where they destroyed part of the railroad and burned a depot. The unit later rejoined Clark's main body, with which it burned a bridge over the Meramec River.[15] Meanwhile, Price had decided against attempting to take St. Louis, and began to head westwards towards Jefferson City.[32] Wood's battalion was intended to travel to Jefferson City by train after boarding in the area of Hermann, but the railroad tracks were impassable. As a result, Wood's men burned the train and traveled mounted.[15] Price eventually decided that Jefferson City was too strongly defended to be taken, so the Confederates instead continued their movement west.[32] Wood's battalion moved on a route that bypassed Jefferson City and reached Marshall via California. While four companies of recruits were added to Wood's battalion while the unit was at Marshall, these men were detached from Wood's battalion during the campaign.[33]

As the Confederates moved west, they began to meet Union resistance. Union Major General James G. Blunt fought a delaying action in the Second Battle of Lexington on October 19, but his force was brushed aside.[32] Clark's brigade saw some action during the fighting at Lexington.[34] Blunt's retreating men left a rear guard to hold the crossing of the Little Blue River. The Confederates attacked this holding force on October 21, bringing on the Battle of Little Blue River.[35] Elements of Clark's brigade had crossed the river and were fighting against the rear guard when Blunt arrived on the field with reinforcements, pressuring the Confederates.[36] Wood's battalion crossed the river, dismounted, and took up a position in an orchard to support the wavering Confederate line. Eventually, the weight of Union numbers forced the Confederates back towards the river, but Clark's men were reinforced, stabilizing the situation.[37] The Confederates were eventually able to bring enough reinforcements across the river to successfully attack and defeat the Union line. Blunt's men fell back to Independence.[38] Wood's horse was shot during the fighting.[39]

Modern photograph of Byram's Ford

By the morning of October 22, the Union troops had fallen back to a line along the Big Blue River. The Union line was under the command of Major General Samuel R. Curtis and contained many units of the Kansas State Militia. The Confederates occupied Independence.[40] While Confederate forces broke through the line at the Big Blue River during the opening stages of the Battle of Byram's Ford on October 22, Union cavalry commanded by Major General Alfred Pleasonton, who had been pursuing Price's army from the east, caught up to the Confederates at Independence.[35] Pleasonton's men forced Cabell's brigade back through Independence, capturing a number of prisoners.[41] While Clark's brigade, including Wood's battalion, managed to slow the Union pursuit, Pleasonton continued the fighting with night combat. The 3rd Iowa Cavalry Regiment drove the Confederates backwards, and almost all of Clark's brigade fell back across the Big Blue River that night.[42]

The next day, the Battle of Byram's Ford resumed as Pleasonton's men attacked the Confederate position at the Big Blue River. Union cavalrymen drove the Confederate front lines back from the river towards a height known as Potato Hill, where Clark's brigade was aligned.[43] At around 11:00, Union soldiers armed with repeating rifles attacked Potato Hill and drove off the Confederates, most of whom had retreated before the fighting reached close quarters.[44] Marmaduke's division eventually escaped from the Union pursuit and fell back to the south.[45] Simultaneously with the October 23 fighting at Byram's Ford, the rest of Price's army was defeated at the Battle of Westport. The Confederates began retreating and entered the state of Kansas.[46]

On October 25, Price's column became stuck at the crossing of Mine Creek, in Linn County, Kansas, as the Confederates' wagon train attempted to cross the ford of the river. While the crossing was occurring, 2,600 Union cavalrymen led by Lieutenant Colonel Frederick W. Benteen and Colonel John F. Philips caught up to the Confederates, who formed a line between the Union soldiers and Mine Creek.[46] Clark's brigade was on the Confederate right flank.[47] Benteen and Philips' men attacked; Wood's battalion was in the front rank of the Confederate line and was second from the right when the attack hit.[48] During the fighting, which was known as the Battle of Mine Creek, the better-armed Union soldiers quickly shattered the Confederate line. About 600 Confederate soldiers, including Marmaduke, were captured.[46] 50 of the prisoners were from Wood's battalion, which lost a total of 72 men killed, wounded, or captured at Mine Creek.[34] After Mine Creek, Wood's battalion retreated with the rest of Price's army through the Indian Territory into Texas, with an eventual destination of Laynesport, Arkansas. Complete casualty figures for the battalion over the course of the entire campaign are unknown. While one member of the unit stated that it lost almost 350 of the 400 men in the unit, the historian James McGhee rejects this claim as exaggerated.[34]

At an unknown date, probably while the unit was in Texas or Arkansas, the four companies that had been attached to the battalion during the campaign and the eight existing companies were consolidated down into ten companies, forming a regiment. The new unit was named the 13th Missouri Cavalry Regiment.[34] The ten companies were designated with the letters A–K and I and were composed of Missourians. Wood became the regiment's colonel, Richard J. Wickersham the lieutenant colonel, and William T. Payne was its major.[49] The men of the unit spent the rest of the war performing outpost duty in Arkansas.[34] Smith surrendered the Trans-Mississippi Department on June 2, 1865,[50] and the men of the 13th Missouri Cavalry Regiment were paroled at Shreveport, Louisiana on June 8.[34] The National Park Service states that the unit may have been disbanded in May 1865.[51] Muster rolls indicate that about 670 men served in the regiment over the course of its existence, and at least 67 of them died during their military service.[34]