The Siege of Cincinnati by a Pearl Street Rifle
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The Siege of Cincinnati by a Pearl Street Rifle Edited by Louis L. TUCKER The war had been going badly for the Union in 1862. The few successes achieved by Ulysses S. Grant in the western theatre of operation were overshadowed by resounding Confederate victories in the main areas of conflict. Now, in September, a veteran Con- federate force of some 10,000 troops was positioned on the Kentucky approaches to Cincinnati. A key economic bastion of the Union, Cincinnati appeared fated for capture, and the Northern war effort as a whole seemed destined for ignominious failure. Should the Confederates achieve a few more decisive victories, there was every likelihood that France and Great Britain would recognize the South as a nation, and recognition would place the "civil war" in a new perspective. If Cincinnatians were distressed by the Union's military and diplomatic problems, they were terrified by the thought of occupation by "foreign" troops. Would the Confederates be content to destroy factories and military installations? Or would they sack the entire city, and thereby lay waste to over one hundred years of human achievement? The dark thought of imminent devastation swirled through the minds of Cincinnatians as they hurriedly marshalled available military resources and braced themselves for the impending onslaught. William Howard Neff (1828-1902), who maintained a hardware business on Pearl Street, was one Cincinnatian who was determined to defend his city. Neff, however, was not a wild-eyed fanatic. A practical man by temperament, he first put his personal affairs in order before dashing off to war. He buried his silver, transferred bank deposits to New York City, stored away remaining treasures, dispatched his family to Yellow Springs, and then took his position in the line. As a member of the Home Guard, the thirty-four-year-old Neff had trained diligently and was sufficiently prepared to shoulder these sudden military obligations. Neff's account of the siege period, which was written some thirty years after the event, gives a detailed picture of this critical and exciting era of Cincinnati's history. Perhaps its primary virtue is the richness of its minutiae. As one reads the document, he comes to an immediate awareness of the "personality" of the times. De- scriptions of massive military preparations are balanced by a recita- tion of minor incidents, and it is the latter which gives meaning to the whole. To Neff, war was not merely a matter of logistics. Em- 256 The Bulletin bedded in his memory were those incidents involving man's personal reaction to the vicissitudes of war. Some of the events are humorous and some are filled with pathos. Consider these few examples. As two armies stand poised for battle, a distressed father rides into the Union encampment and beseeches the officer in command to release his under aged son. With re- luctance, the officer acquiesces in the plea, but the boy thereupon refuses to leave with the father — "I would be eternally disgraced now. I will not go." Then there is the incident involving the regimental surgeon who meticulously sets up his hospital in full view of the troops preparing for battle, "all his knives and saws laid out ready for immediate use." Fearing a "stampede" by his raw-nerved forces, the Union commander orders the surgeon to set up his unit farther to the rear. Military accounts of the "Siege of Cincinnati" invariably termi- nate with the statement that the Confederate forces suddenly left their positions during the night of September 11 and retired south- ward. Neff adds flesh to the story. Thus we learn that the news that the Rebels had "skidaddled" was followed by the sound of song. Somewhere in the neighboring hills of Kentucky, someone began voicing the words of the popular "John Brown's Body." Men standing and lying nearby picked up the refrain and, before long, some 80,000 voices joined in the grand chorus. "It reverberated from hill and valley," Neff recalled, "now dying, now coming back with increased volume and force, an occasion which comes but once in a lifetime, never to be forgotten." Neff's account is studded with many such items of human interest. As cartoonist Bill Mauldin so graphically demonstrated during World War II, the civilian-soldier of the United States has always been the first to recognize his shortcomings as a pro- fessional warrior. The Civil War had its share of "Willies" and "Joes," and Neff's narrative gives testimony to this fact (Note the experience of Adjutant Carlisle). Humor, compassion, dedication — all of these elements were present among the Union defenders of Cincinnati. There are three compelling reasons why Neff's story deserves a printing. Initially, September 1962 marks the centennial of the Siege. Secondly, the document has an intrinsic value for the his- torical information it contains. Finally, it should serve to remind researchers that the HPSO has a significant body of like materials in its holdings. The Siege of Cincinnati by a Pearl Street Rifle 257 THE SIEGE OF CINCINNATI1 by A PEARL ST. RIFLE Caeser wrote his Commentaries on the war in Gaul, Grant, Sherman and Sheridan have published their Military Memoirs, why should not a Pearl St. Rifle write the Siege of Cincinnati?2 In the spring of 1861, soon after the surrender of Fort Sumter, the merchants of Pearl St. organized a Military Company for home defense. George B. McClellan, then Superintendent of the Ohio & Mississippi Railroad, was elected our Captain, but unfortunately for us, that same afternoon he was commissioned by Governor Dennison, Major General of Ohio Volunteers. Our thoughts were then turned to W. S. Rosecrans, a distinguished civil engineer who had received a military education at West Point, but he at once was made a Brigadier General by President Lincoln, and we were then deprived of his services. No wise disconcerted by these marked approvals of our judgment, we elected John B. Groesbeck, afterwards the gallant Colonel of the 39th Ohio Volunteers, our Captain, and proceeded at once to complete our organization and equipment. 80 Colt's Re- volving Rifles were purchased by subscription for $50 each, and soon we were uniformed and accoutered in all the pomp and panoply of war at the expense of the business firms on Pearl Street between Main and Race Streets. We drilled incessantly and soon made our first public appearance. That was a proud day for Cincinnati. Our example was speedily followed by the Burnet Rifles, which after- wards contributed many valuable officers to the volunteer service, by the Winfield Rifles and other organizations. We kept on drilling and filling up our ranks as business engagements called our members from the city, so that in a year's time we had about 200 young merchants and merchants clerks well drilled in marchings and facings, and the manual of arms. Colonel Groesbeck soon raised a regiment and took the field. Peter Rudolph Neff was then elected Captain, and Adolph D'Visy First Lieutenant and I. P. Lytle Second Lieutenant. Many members of the company entered into active service, all as officers, but the organization was maintained, as it was intended for home defense. A fortunate arrangement for Cincinnati, as the sequel proved. Early in September 1862, the gallant General Wm. A. Nelson, to whose efforts we are greatly indebted for retaining Kentucky in *I wish to thank Mrs. Barbara Williamson, our staff secretary, for her careful typing of this article. 2On the "Siege of Cincinnati," see: Joseph S. Stern, Jr., "The Siege of Cincinnati," HPSO Bulletin, XVIII (July, 1960), 163-186; Lew Wallace, Lew Wallace, An Autobiography (New York, 1906), II, 589-628. 258 The Bulletin the Union, was defeated with great loss at Richmond, Kentucky by General Kirby Smith, a West Pointer of distinguished military ability with a well disciplined army estimated at 25,000 men. Nelson's force consisted principally of raw recruits, and although brave men and most gallantly led, they were unable to resist the fierce attack of veteran troops. Two Indiana regiments especially who had never been under fire lost heavily. Nelson himself was severely wounded, and his army completely routed. Those not captured were dispersed. Nelson was brought to Cincinnati, and most kindly cared for at the residence of Mr. Larz Anderson, who had three sons in the service. Not an armed man was left between Kirby Smith's victorious army and the City of Cincinnati,3 where a very long supply of army stores had been collected for the use of the Western armies, a most tempting prize, as well as the plunder of a wealthy city, to the ill clad, poorly fed, Confederate troops. An advance brigade of 5,000 men under the command of General [Henry] Heath, was pushed forward as far as Latonia Springs, a distance of five miles from Cincinnati, and Kirby Smith with the remainder of his troops was within supporting distance. While it would have been impossible to have held the city for any length of time, twenty-four hours possession would have enabled them to obtain the army stores, the money from the banks, and to destroy the city by fire. The moral effect of this success would have been most inspiring to the Confederate cause, and equally disheartening to the National troops, while the acquisition of the army stores and money would have enabled the Confederate troops to have kept the field during the winter. Twelve large warehouses were filled with boots and shoes alone. Overcoats and blankets were stored here in very large quantities. It is not too much to say that the moral and material effects of the capture of Cincinnati might have turned the scale at this critical time, and resulted in the dismemberment of the Union.