We Are The Eagles

^"6 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: ⁷ And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up." -- Deuteronomy 6:6-7

Birthdays this week include: Angela Wagnon (March 4), Sylvester Wright (March 7), Meta Wright (March 9) and Casey Cargile (March 11).

Happy anniversary to Odus and Mabel Clary (March 3).

March is here, with Spring right around the corner. It's really cold and windy out there and, for you out-of-towner Eagles, we got some snow this Monday morning..

The change to daylight savings time is this weekend, so be sure to set your clocks forward.

I haven't yet heard the total raised in this weekend's BBQ and Auction fundraiser at the community center, but there were a lot of people present, so it was probably pretty good.

Part 2 of the Battle of Marks' Mills by James L. Boney: "Before daylight, Fagan learned from his scouts that the supply train was camped on Moro Creek. He was delighted by this information. They had overtaken the train and he now made plans to attack it at Marks’ Mills.  At this place the roads went out in every direction: to Camden, to Mount Elba and Pine Bluff, to Princeton, to More Landing, and to Warren and Long View.

General Fagan’s soldiers were also determined to capture this supply train since many of them lived on or near the road the enemy was traveling. It was known by all that the Federal soldiers were robbing every house and barn they passed. They were desperate for food. Not only did they take food, but robbed every house of its silverware, jewelry, bedding and fine clothes, in fact every article of family stores of any value including every horse and mule in sight. 

At dawn on the morning of the 25^th, Drake started the train on the road to Marks’ Mills. Earlier he had ordered the 43^rd Indiana forward to the junction of the Warren and Pine Bluff roads. Colonel Drake was two miles west of the junction when a courier brought him word that Shelby’s entire force had been sighted about three miles down the Warren road. He immediately sent orderlies to the road to bring up his other two regiments. In the meantime the 43^rd Indiana, 300 men strong, was forming a battle line covering the road junction with a line of skirmishers well out in front.  The time: 8 a.m., April 25 1864.

By daylight that morning, Fagan’s horsemen were in motion along the road that would taken them to Marks’ Mills. When they were about one and a half miles form the battlefield, Fagan’s escort was fired into by the 75-man Union cavalry patrol sent down the Warren road. General Fagan halted is column and ordered General Shelby to turn right toward the east. This command, guided by William Marks, would wind their way over the neighborhood roads and come upon the Pine Bluff road five miles east of Marks’ Mills. He then ordered General William Cabell to form a line of battle with his brigade parallel to the Pine Bluff road. Colonel Monroe’s 1^st Arkansas cavalry, which was marching directly behind the escort, was dismounted and formed on the right of the Warren road with two companies sent forward as skirmishers. When about 80 yards from their horses, they became engaged with the Union skirmishers and drove them back to the main force. 

In the meantime, General Cabell had formed the rest of his brigade. Colonel Thomas Gunter’s command, composed of his battalion and Colonel Allen Pettus’ battalion of State troops, were placed on Colonel Monroe’s right. Colonel Morgan’s 2^nd Arkansas Cavalry was placed on the left of the road. Captain William Hughey’s four-gun battery of artillery was posted in the Warren road with Colonel Gordon’s 4^th Arkansas as support.

General Cabell then sent an aide to General Fagan informing him of his position that was then across two roads leading into the road on which the train was moving. General Cabell received orders to move forward and attack the train. At the command from Cabell, the whole line of skirmishers and all except two companies of skirmishers under Colonel Monroe moved forward under a tremendous fire from the enemy and attacked the train. 

On the right or east flank, Colonel Gunter’s command engaged a part of the enemy that was trying to escape in the direction of the Mill or Pine Bluff. Here they were successful in capturing the train and in killing four men.

On the left or west flank, Colonel Morgan’s 2^nd Arkansas also met with little resistance as they advanced. After traveling about a mile, they came upon the train and, under heavy fire, they assisted in killing a number of horses and mules. The center regiment, Monroe’s 1^st, had advanced down the Warren road. After covering about 80 yards, they came into contact with the 43^rd Indiana Infantry who were covering the road junction. Suddenly the 43^rd launched a counter-attack that caused the 1^st Arkansas to fall back. 

When Lieutenant-Colonel Francis Drake arrived at the scene of action, he found the 43^rd Indiana engaged with Monroe’s 1^st Cavalry on the ridge known as the Red Lands. What he saw made his blood run cold. All of the 43^rd Indiana was slowly falling back with the exception of three companies that Major Norris had been holding back as reserves. With these three companies, Drake decided to make a counterattack. While he was forming his line, the 36^th Iowa arrived and was placed in line with the 43^rd. Behind this line he placed Lieutenant Peetz’ two 12-pounder James rifles. While Major Hamilton was forming the 36^th Iowa, the Confederates on the left and right had changed fronts and were now converging on the 43^rd. 

The left and right regiments, after breaking through the train, realized that the center had not advanced. They could hear heavy firing in their rear. They immediately retraced their line of advance and came upon a line with the 1^st Arkansas. As fast as each regiment came into position, it became engaged with the enemy.

After Morgan’s and Gunter’s regiments had been re-aligned with Monroe’s 1^st, they moved forward. The Confederates, after advancing some three hundred yards, spotted the Union battle line. The Federal soldiers were posted in the open woods along the ridge with a section of artillery in position. The time: 9 a.m., April 25^th 1864. 

As the Confederates slowly made their way toward the hill, Colonel Drake calmly waited until they had closed to within 75 yards. He then ordered Peetz to fire his artillery. The two James rifles shot forth their smoke and flame sending a storm of grapeshot into the advancing Confederates. At the same time, the 36^th Iowa and 43^rd Indiana began to fire volley after volley of minie balls into the Confederate ranks. The flag went down only to be raised again. The battle line staggered and fell back only to surge forward again. For the next one and one-half hours the battle raged with a savage fury. Cabell’s Arkansas cavalry, the 43^rd Indiana, and the 36^th Iowa fired thousands of rounds of ammunition. "

Please feel free to share items of interest for this column before Monday.  This will appear on the internet at http://WeAreTheEagles.blogspot.com.  Go Eagles.