In a previous post examining which Federal forces were involved in the July 13, 1861 Battle of Corrick’s Ford, I noted that, given the ferocity and duration of the fighting, it is difficult to explain how Union losses remained so light, with just two killed and roughly six or seven wounded. This figure comes directly from the official report of Capt. Henry W. Benham, who led the advance regiments pursuing Confederate Brig. Gen. Robert S. Garnett: “Our own loss is two killed and six or seven wounded; one dangerously.”
Typically, the attacker suffers heavier casualties than the defender unless the battle turns into a complete rout, which this was. The Confederates sustained a total of 32 killed and wounded, though I suspect the true number was higher. Even so, only eight or nine casualties on the Federal side seems unusually low.
I recently came across several newspaper accounts from reporters embedded with the Union troops that challenge that figure. John Whitelaw Reid, a war correspondent writing under the pen name “Agate,” regularly contributed dispatches to Ohio newspapers such as the Cincinnati Gazette, Cincinnati Times, and the Cleveland Herald. At the outbreak of the Civil War, he accompanied McClellan’s army during its campaign in northwestern Virginia.
In one such dispatch, reprinted in newspapers throughout the North, he reported the Union casualties as follows:
“Our loss is wholly in the 14th Ohio Regiment, 2 killed–Samuel Mills of Co. A, and Henry Richeldiffer of Co. C; 2 fatally wounded–John Kirighanos of Co. A, by a ball through the chest, and Daniel Mills of Co. A, by four severe wounds by shell, and about fifteen others wounded, but not fatally. Richard Henderson of Co. C, wounded in the leg; Sergeant Greenwood of Co. C, a slight wound in the head; Capt. Fisher of Co. C, a slight wound in the face; L. Richards of Co. C, wounded in the arm; Casper Sinalf of Co D, wounded in the wrist. Others were more of less seriously hurt, but were too eager to fight to remain in the hospital after dressing their wounds, and hence I cannot give their names.”
“John Kirighanos” appears to be a poor spelling of the name “John Neihouse.”
His list is more or less corroborated by a rival correspondent, who sent the following list of casualties to the Cincinnati Commercial:
“Fourteenth Ohio–Killed–Samuel Milles, Company A., shot through the head; Henry Reifeldiver, Third Sergeant, Company C., killed by cannon shot through left breast. Mortally wounded–Daniel Mills, Company A., in leg–since died; John Kneehouse, Company A., shot in side. Seriously wounded–Henry Murrow, Company B., in side; Casper Sinalf, Company D., in wrist. Slightly wounded–Capt. Fisher, Company C., in face; Privates S. Richards, in arm, Richard Henderson, in calf of his leg; Orderly Charles Greenwood, along the side of his head; William Smith, Company K, buckshot in hip–flesh wound; Lieutenant Sherman, Company K; finger shot off. Several others slightly scratched. Total killed, 2; mortally wounded, 2; otherwise wounded 8; in all, 12.”
As far as I can determine, both Daniel Mills and John Neihouse survived their wounds.
The information from these two dispatches allows us to put together an enumerated list of casualties that includes two killed and ten wounded. I’m inclined to believe Whitelaw Reid when he says there were fifteen wounded, many superficially, but since that remains unconfirmed, this list will have to suffice. Still, ten wounded is more than what Benham reported.
| Name | Unit | Killed | Mortally Wounded | Wounded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pvt. Samuel Mills | 14th Ohio, Co. A | K | ||
| Pvt. Daniel Mills | 14th Ohio, Co. A | W | ||
| Pvt. John Neihouse | 14th Ohio, Co. A | W | ||
| Pvt. Henry Morrow | 14th Ohio, Co. B | W | ||
| Sgt. Henry Reichelderfer | 14th Ohio, Co. C | K | ||
| Pvt. Richard Henderson | 14th Ohio, Co. C | W | ||
| 1st Sgt. Charles Greenwood | 14th Ohio, Co. C | W | ||
| Capt. Benjamin H. Fisher | 14th Ohio, Co. C | W | ||
| Pvt. Lemuel N. Richards | 14th Ohio, Co. C | W | ||
| Pvt. Casper Sirolff | 14th Ohio, Co. D | W | ||
| Lt. Samuel Sherman | 14th Ohio, Co. K | W | ||
| Pvt. William Smith? | 14th Ohio, Co. K | W |
Sources
Cleveland Plain Dealer (Cleveland, OH) 17 Jul 1861.
Clinton Republican (Wilmington, OH) 19 July 1861.
Ohio Statesman (Columbus, OH) 18 July 1861.
Reid, Whitelaw. A Radical View: The “Agate” Dispatches of Whitelaw Reid, 1861-1865, Vol. 1, Ed. by James G. Smart. Memphis: Memphis State University Press, 1976.
Spirit of '61 