Clash at Red House: Friendly Fire or Something More?

The incident near Red House not only serves as a lesson in the hazards of nineteenth-century warfare but also underscores the importance for historians of cross-referencing newspaper reports with multiple sources.

It was shortly after sundown on July 14, 1861. The Ohio longshoremen and steamboat crewmen of the 1st Kentucky Infantry Regiment (U.S.) were packed tightly onto the decks of four steamboats as they were ferried across the Kanawha River, less than a mile below the small, deserted village of Red House in what was then Putnam County, Virginia. The men were accustomed to working on riverboats, but they were not accustomed to the ill-fitting wool uniforms or long, heavy muskets they carried.

Earlier that day, their colonel, James Verner Guthrie (1809-1896) of Cincinnati, had remained behind in Ripley, Virginia with half the regiment. After a foot march from Ripley, the men of companies B, E, G, H, and K spent the afternoon riding the boats up the Kanawha River to rendezvous with Brig. Gen. Jacob Dolson Cox, Jr.’s brigade, which was steadily advancing into Virginia. Cox’s mission was to support loyal Virginians by clearing Confederate forces out of the Kanawha Valley. The regiment’s chaplain lifted their spirits with the zeal of a man on a divine mission to save the Union.

Upon arriving at Cox’s camp southeast of Red House, the men busied themselves gathering firewood, lighting campfires, and hanging kettles. But their respite was short lived. Around 7 o’clock that evening, two scouts rode into camp with alarming news. Col. Jesse S. Norton, along with three companies of the 21st Ohio, was in danger. They had gone down to the mouth of Scary Creek, approximately 7.5 miles up river, where they encountered the enemy and faced the threat of encirclement. The sound of cannon fire signaled the men to strike their tents and form up.

The five companies of the 1st Kentucky, led by Lt. Col. David Alexander Enyart, along with the remaining men of the 21st Ohio, were ferried to the Kanawha River’s south bank, where they disappeared into the darkness, “determined to see the fun.” It was around 9 o’clock. A correspondent for the Cincinnati Daily Times described what happened next:

“The column had not been moving more than twenty minutes before we heard rapid firing of musketry. Wishing to ascertain the cause, I started up to where the firing was heard. Proceeding a short distance, we found the dead and wounded in the road.”

Two men were killed outright, and five were wounded, one severely. The wounded were taken to the boats under the care of assistant regimental surgeon Dr. William L. White and transported back to Gallipolis, Ohio. Alexander Mordecai died en route to Cincinnati. The following is a list of the dead and wounded:

• Pvt. John Hogan, 1st KY, Company G. Killed.
• Pvt. John W. Robbins, 1st KY, Company G. Killed.
• Pvt. Alexander Mordecai, 1st KY, Company G. Mortally wounded.
• Maj. Bart G. Leiper, 1st KY, Slightly wounded.
• Pvt. Theodore Ranagan, 1st KY, Company B. Wounded.
• Cpl. William Stewart, 21st OH, Company B. Wounded.
• Pvt. Morrison Lewis, 21st OH, Company B. Wounded.

In the fog of war, rumors spread and made their way into newspapers, with some reporting that a cavalry troop had attacked the 1st Kentucky under the cover of darkness. The Louisville Daily Courier even stated that a “reliable source” claimed a “masked battery” had opened fire on the beleaguered infantrymen: “The fire was immediately returned, but with what effect could not be ascertained. The next day blood was traced for a mile, but no bodies were found.”

Even 34 years later, in Volume 12 of the Official Roster of the Soldiers of the State of Ohio in the War of the Rebellion, 1861-1866, the entry for the above casualties read “Killed July 12, 1861, in the battle of Red House, Va.” (The 1st and 2nd Kentucky regiments appeared in that book because they primarily consisted of volunteers from Ohio). The date of death, however, was incorrect.

But what really happened? Did a Confederate cavalry troop ambush the 1st Kentucky and 21st Ohio at night, killing three and wounding several others? According to the officers in charge, that wasn’t the case.

In Brig. Gen. Jacob D. Cox’s July 16th report to Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan, he wrote:

“I am sorry to have to report an accident by which two men were killed and another badly wounded. The half of the Kentucky regiment were marching on Sunday evening last to join Colonel Norton, who had moved in advance from Red House. They were out after night-fall, not starting till about 9 o’clock. As they marched, the captain of the rear guard, to correct some irregularity in marching, commanded “steady,” which the men mistook for “ready,” when one of the guns in the rear going off by reason of the nervousness or carelessness of the man holding it, a portion of the company imagined they were attacked, and without waiting for orders fired in the direction of the shot. The above is the account given by the officers of the regiment.”

Cox elaborated in his post-war memoir, explaining that a gun had gone off in the hands of a raw recruit, and his brave but inexperienced comrades fired back at an imagined enemy. They searched for the supposed attackers but found none. “This [their casualties] and the chaffing the men got from their comrades was a lesson to the whole command.”

An anonymous letter appearing in the July 24 issue of the Cincinnati Daily Commercial corroborated Cox’s version of events. Written by a member of the 1st Kentucky, who signed his name as “M,” it read:

“Having heard at the Camp at Red House, that Col. Norton, of the 21st Regiment, with a couple of companies was in danger of being cut off and surrounded by the enemy, the remainder of the 21st, and the five companies composing the left wing of the 1st Kentucky were ordered to his rescue. The men were immediately equipped in right marching order, and furnished with extra rounds of cartridges. About nine o’clock at night the expedition was conveyed across the river as silently as possible, and as soon as formed, proceeded at a double quick up the road. The night was so dark that it was impossible to distinguish objects a few paces ahead. After running a few hundred yards, they were suddenly brought to a halt—faced towards the wheat field on their right and were ordered to make ready. While standing in breathless expectation, the click of horses’ hoofs were distinctly heard coming over the bridge towards us. The order was then given, ‘Left face, forward, double quick time, march!’ A man in the front, in attempting to bring his piece to a ‘right shoulder shift,’ discharged it, and the rest of the men taking this as a signal, commenced firing, at what in the darkness they supposed to be the enemy, but which, in reality, were their own comrades. The firing was pretty hot for a few minutes, when Captain [James W.] Mitchell, of Company G, discovering the fatal mistake, shouted to his men, ‘For God’s sake stop firing; you are firing on your own friends!’ We immediately ceased, but a few shots were afterwards fired by other companies. The Kenton Rangers suffered the most severely, two of their men being killed–John Robbins and Thomas Hogan—and one—A. Mordecai—mortally wounded. Several men were wounded in other companies, but none killed. Major Bart Leiper was wounded in the face by a musket ball, but not seriously.

The cause of the mistake in regard to the orders to get ready, and the subsequent firing, is inexplicable. Major B. Leiper and Adjutant J. W. Givens perceived it was in error as soon as the firing commenced, and made every effort to arrest it, but without success for a few minutes.”

The letter contains a few errors but explains why some men believed they were attacked by cavalry. The “click of horses’ hooves” likely belonged to scouts or officers. The Cincinnati Daily Times correspondent mentioned that two of the wounded had been “run over by a horse,” suggesting that the accidental firing spooked some horses, causing them to dash into the lines.

Most notably, the Daily Commercial letter identified the order to “get ready” as the mistake that led to the shooting, aligning with Cox’s report.

The first edition of The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Vol. II, published in 1880, listed the “Skirmish at Red House” in its summary of principal events for the West Virginia Campaign but marked it for deletion in the 1902 version. This was because, as Cox explained in his memoir, his records had not been sent to the War Department in time for inclusion in that volume. The report, which mentioned the friendly fire incident near Red House, was later included in Series I, Vol. LI, Part 1, published in 1897. However, several letters between Cox and McClellan do not appear in either volume.

The incident at Red House bears resemblance to the friendly fire incident between the 7th and 3rd New York Infantry regiments in the twilight hours of June 10, just prior to the Battle of Big Bethel. In the nineteenth century, night operations were extremely hazardous, especially for inexperienced and nervous troops and officers.

The incident at Red House not only serves as a lesson in the hazards of nineteenth-century warfare but also underscores the importance for historians of cross-referencing newspaper reports with multiple sources. Without corroborating accounts, one risks coming away with a distorted picture of events. The truth of historical events can easily be obscured by rumor and misreporting.

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Sources

Cincinnati Daily Commercial (Cincinnati, OH) 24 July 1861.

Cincinnati Daily Times (Cincinnati, OH) 17 July 1861.

Cox, Jacob Dolson. Military Reminiscences of the Civil War. Vol. I. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1900.

Howe, James C. Official Roster of the Soldiers of the State of Ohio in the War of the Rebellion, 1861-1866, Vol. 12. Norwalk: The Laning Company, 1895.

Irvine, Dallas, ed. Military Operations of the Civil War: A Guide-Index to the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, 1861-1865, Vol. I. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1977.

Louisville Daily Courier (Louisville, KY) 19 July 1861.

The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Series I, Vol. LI, Part I. With additions and corrections. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1902.