UNITED STATES MILITARY PRISON,
                                      Camp Chase, Ohio, March 25, 1863.
    CAPTAIN: In compliance with instructions from the general commanding division I have the honor to furnish the following report of the part that my brigade took in the action with the enemy, under General McClernand, at Arkansas Post on the 9th, 10th, and 11th of January:
    On Friday evening, January 9, about 2 p.m., I received a circular from division headquarters directing me to hold my brigade in readiness for active service at a moment's notice, with three days' cooked rations, and in about fifteen or twenty minutes afterward was directed by yourself to form my brigade as soon as possible and to place it in position in the lower rifle-pits, about 2 miles from the fort, down the river. I caused the cartridge-boxes of the men to be filled [the wet weather and bad condition of many of my cartridge-boxes had forced me to keep the ammunition packed up] and immediately started as ordered, but before reaching the upper rifle-pits received an order from one of the general's staff to take position in the latter, as the enemy were supposed to be already landing in large force in the immediate vicinity of the lower pits.
    On arriving at the upper line of rifle-pits I placed my brigade in position, the right resting upon the bank of the Arkansas River and the left prolonged toward a swamp, the general line being convex to the front, that being the line upon which the engineer officer had traced the ditch, though it was quite far from being completed.
    As the enemy made no demonstration on that evening other than firing a few shell from gunboats I made as good use of the time as possible in completing and strengthening the trench, and also extending it farther to my left, to the point where the right of Colonel Dunnington's brigade rested. I also cut down the timber in front of my position so as to make an abatis; in this way we worked during the entire night. The want of tools, axes, spades, &c., was a very serious drawback to this work.
    Captain Hart's Arkansas battery of six guns was posted with my right regiment, the guns being placed in the intervals between the companies.

    About 8 o'clock a. m. on the 10th, the enemy commenced a desultory artillery fire from their gunboats at a distance of probably a mile, firing at such pieces of Hart's battery as were exposed to view, and also at such persons as they could see about the trench, the right of which resting on the river bank was exposed to their view. This occasional cannonading was kept up until about 12 to 1 p. m., fortunately without causing any casualties in my brigade. At this time I received an order from you to fall back with my brigade to the fort, following Garland's brigade, as it was understood that the enemy were flanking us by a route through the swamp to our left. By direction of the general I left a battalion of five companies of the Tenth Texas, under command of Lieut. Col. R. B. Young, to strengthen the line of skirmishers covering our retreat. This battalion brought up the rear of the column under a heavy skirmishing fire, and rejoined the brigade soon after we reached the fort.
    On reaching the fort, by direction of the general, I took position as follows: My right touching the left of Garland's brigade and my left prolonged toward a bayou which ran into the Arkansas River in my rear, and just above the village of Arkansas Post. There was a space of about 200 yards from my extreme left to the bayou, thus leaving that flank completely open; the general direction of this line was nearly east and west, facing to the north.
    My brigade was posted as follows, from right to left: 1st, Eighteenth Texas Dismounted Cavalry [Darnell's], commanded by Lieut. Col. John T. Coit; 2d, Seventeenth Texas Dismounted Cavalry, Col. James R. Taylor; 3d, Tenth Texas Infantry, Col. Roger Q. Mills; 4th, Fifteenth Texas Dismounted Cavalry [Sweet's], commanded by Maj. V. P. Sanders; and numbered altogether about 1,500 to 1,600 rank and file. These numbers I can only give approximately, as all of my papers, returns, &c., as well as those appertaining to the regiments, were pilfered after the surrender; but I give these numbers from my general recollection of the strength for duty in my brigade. A large portion of my men were armed with double-barreled shot-guns, rifles of miscellaneous caliber, &c., there being only 315 Enfield rifles in the four regiments.
    This new position was entirely exposed, not being protected by any intrenchments whatever; and besides the open space between my left and the bayou, the latter was fordable along almost its entire length, thus leaving my rear also exposed.
    As the enemy did not immediately follow us up we commenced at once to throw up such slight fortifications as circumstances would permit. The log huts of the Nineteenth Arkansas Regiment stood immediately in front of the right of my line, and I had them torn down in order to destroy the cover that they would otherwise afford to the enemy; the logs were used in making breastworks. The general line of defense being indicated by the general, I pushed on the work as fast as possible during the entire night, as on the previous night we were very much delayed by the scarcity of intrenching tools; we were compelled to use pieces of board for shovels, &c. About dusk the enemy opened a very heavy fire at close range upon the fort from their gunboats, which was kept up for about two hours. There were no casualties in my brigade from this fire, though a great many shell and shot passed near us. Fortunately the range of fire was such that most of the shot passed behind our line, and many of the shell did not explode until they had passed us some distance.
    By daybreak on Sunday morning, the 11th, we had finished our breastworks, so that it would resist anything short of an artillery fire

at close range; but owing to the fact that my line terminated in open ground my left flank was entirely exposed, and as we had not a single company in reserve I felt very uneasy about that flank. There being heavy timber and a swamp within rifle-range on my left, I tried to guard the trench from being enfiladed from that quarter by constructing traverses at intervals of about a company front, and by making a wing of about 40 to 45 feet at the left extremity of the trench.
    About sunrise I could see the enemy's columns in motion in the vicinity of Garland's brigade camp. They were moving apparently around my left flank, and also seemed to threaten an advance upon Garland's brigade upon my right; however, the heavy growth of timber and brush prevented me from gaining anything but occasional glimpses of their columns. A few minutes after sunrise we could distinctly see what appeared to be several battalions of the enemy marching by a flank through the swamp beyond the bayou, and thus gaining the rear of my left flank. Wishing to meet this movement, and having no reserve, I was forced to wesken my line by detaching two companies from each regiment, which I deployed as a line of skirmishers along the bayou, commencing where the prolongation of my line intersected it and extending down the bayou. Lieutenant-Colonel Noble, Seventeenth Texas Dismounted Cavalry, commanded this line of skirmishers.
    Having reported this movement of the enemy to General Churchill be ordered Capt. Alf. Johnson's Texas Cavalry Spy Company, also Denson's and Nutt's Louisiana cavalry companies, all under command of Capt. Alf. Johnson, and numbering about 120 men, to report to me. I then had cavalry pickets posted along the bayou from the left of my line of infantry skirmishers to where the bayou joined the river and also had a few pickets thrown out a few hundred yards beyond the bayou and opposite to where the line of cavalry pickets and infantry skirmishers joined, thus preventing the enemy from coming in rear of my left without my knowledge; at the same time General Churchill also directed Lieut. Col. A. S. Hutchinson, commanding the Nineteenth Arkansas Infantry, to report to me with six companies of his regiment. I placed this battalion in reserve immediately in rear of the Fifteenth Texas and close to the trench, so as to shelter them as much as possible.
    One section of 6-pounders and a section of 10-pounder Parrotts from Hart's Arkansas Battery, under command of Lieut. E. A. Du Bose and W. T. Tiller, were placed in position in the left center of my brigade, the right piece being on the right of the Tenth Texas Infantry. They were placed in line with the brigade with their proper intervals, the latter being filled up by the infantry. During the morning these pieces fired upon the enemy from time to time as their columns showed themselves momentarily through openings in the timber and with marked effect. There was also a little desultory picket skirmishing in front of my line, but there was no demonstration in force on the part of the enemy until a few minutes after 12 m., when the gunboats came up the river to within close range and opened a very heavy fire upon the fort; as on the previous evening, however, most of the shot and shell passed in rear of our line. About 1 p.m. the enemy opened fire upon my line from a number of field batteries posted on some slightly rising ground in my front near Garland's brigade camp. This fire was kept up quite rapidly and continuously, but with scarcely any effect excepting the killing and wounding of some of our artillery horses. How many batteries they had playing upon my line I could not tell owing to the intervening brush and timber, and they seemed to shift their positions frequently;

I think it probable, however, that there were five or six batteries in my front.
    After this fire had been kept up for about an hour the enemy pushed forward a column of attack of several battalions against that part of my line occupied by the Tenth Texas. Their artillery fire appeared to have been concentrated against the right of that regiment, where our artillery was posted. We did not open fire upon this column with small-arms until its head was within 80 to 100 yards from our line; then we gave them a very deadly fire, firing by file and with marked effect, as after the first volley those who were not killed or wounded fell back in great confusion to the shelter of the timber, from whence they kept up a very heavy skirmishing fire.
    Immediately after this repulse the enemy pushed another strong column against the left of my line, occupied by the Fifteenth Texas. Here we met them in the same way, allowing them to come up within 80 to 100 yards before opening fire on them, and with the same result as before. Seeing that they were continually pressing toward my left flank, evidently with the intention of passing around it through the interval between it and the bayou, I placed Lieutenant-Colonel Hutchinson, with his six companies of the Nineteenth Arkansas, his left resting on the bayou and his line being nearly parallel to the prolongation of my line, but retired somewhat so as to give him as much protection as possible by sweeping with a flank fire from my left the ground over which the enemy would have to pass in order to reach him. This battalion had no intrenchments whatever, though sheltered in a measure by a pretty heavy growth of timber. Even after this disposition was made there was still an unoccupied and comparatively open space of about 100 to 125 yards between the left of my trench and the right of the Arkansas battalion. The enemy made two more attacks upon the left of my line in heavy force, but were driven back each time, as at first, with great loss. They also pushed forward several columns against my line farther to the center and right, but with the same result, never receiving more than one or two volleys at close range before they would be compelled to fall back to the cover of the timber, from whence, however, they kept up a very heavy and unremitting fire with long-range rifles upon us. We also kept up a slow and deliberate but effective fire from our sharpshooters along the line and with marked effect.
    Seeing that the enemy were determined to turn my left flank, from the large force being massed against it and extending for some distance beyond it to my left, I sent a request to Colonel Garland for re-enforcements, if he could spare me any. He very promptly ordered twelve companies of the Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth Texas Dismounted Cavalry and the Sixth Texas Infantry to report to me, under command of Lieut. Cols. P. H. Swearingen and W. M. Neyland and Maj. A. H. Phillips. These companies had to pass through a very galling fire almost the entire length of the line, as it was on my extreme left that I wanted them, and it was necessary to crawl on all fours in our shallow trench the whole distance.
    Before these re-enforcements reached me, however, as there was a temporary cessation in the attack on my left, I passed up the line to the extreme right and found everything going on well, my men in good spirits, &c.; but the four pieces of artillery had been silenced some time before, as the enemy concealed in the timber along the front of the line kept up such an unremitting and intensely hot skirmishing fire that it was almost impossible for a man to show himself without being struck. Out of the horses belonging to the four pieces and their caissons only one or two escaped being either killed or wounded.

    After passing along my line to its extreme right I started to return toward the left, and had gotten as far as the right of my second regiment, when my volunteer aide-de-camp, Mr. R. B. Carlee, called my attention to several small white flags, as he thought, which were displayed in the left regiment of Garland's brigade. I looked and saw the flags, but I could not believe them to be white flags, and supposed that they were small company flags, such as are frequently carried by volunteer companies. They did have a dingy white color, but I supposed that to be owing to the peculiar light in which they were with reference to the sun and to the fact that they were probably faded; moreover, although I knew that our heavy battery at the fort had been completely silenced, and that one or more gunboats had passed up the river, still everything had gone on so well on the left wing, and as far as I knew in Garland's brigade also, and knowing that it was General Churchill's determination to fight to desperation, I did not think it possible that a surrender could be intended, and accordingly paid no attention to these flags; but immediately afterward the enemy ceased firing, and a mounted officer bearing a white flag was seen advancing toward our line. I then ordered my sharpshooters to cease firing.
    After the firing ceased the enemy showed themselves in immense force in three or four distinct and apparently parallel lines of battle and extending along my entire front and as far to the right and left as I could see. They were evidently bringing up very heavy reserves, but besides these a great many got up from where they had previously been hidden behind trees, logs, &c., in the timber to avoid our fire. The whole space in my front, as far as I could see through the timber, seemed almost black with their forces.
    As several Federal officers rode out from their lines toward our breastworks as soon as we ceased firing, I went out to meet them and demanded of one of them [General Steele, I believe], who commanded a division, what the white flag meant; he replied that our entire force had surrendered, and in proof thereof pointed to the white flags displayed along our entire line to the right of my brigade and to their flag which surmounted the fort on our extreme right, which I could now see from my position in front of my line though from our line it was not visible. I required the Federal officer to keep his troops back until I could hear from General Churchill, as I had not received from him any order relative to the surrender. After some delay I received a message from the general to the effect that though he had not surrendered the forces it had been done by some unauthorized person and the act was now accomplished.
    I was very much surprised when the firing ceased, as everything had gone on so well in my front. I knew that our heavy battery had been completely silenced some little time before and that one or more gunboats had passed up the river, but I hoped that we would be able to hold out until night and then cut our way out.
    The battle ceased about 4.30 p. m. The loss in my brigade was surprisingly slight considering the heavy fire to which it was exposed, for besides the incessant and very heavy skirmishing fire from the enemy's infantry which was posted all along our front, concealed in the timber at distances from our line varying from, say, 80 to 200 yards, there was a very heavy fire of artillery from a number of field batteries in our front, and this fire was kept up constantly excepting when they had to cease in order to let their assaulting columns advance. The gunboats also had at times an enfilading fire upon my line; fortunately the greater part of their fire passed behind us. It was in their power,

had they known our exact position, to have taken such positions in the river as to have completely enfiladed our line. Toward the close of the action, after the gunboats had passed the fort, their shot took us in reverse, and I noticed some of their shell pass over our line and fall among their own men in our front. My loss was 3 killed and 17 wounded; for the names, companies, and regiments I refer you to the regimental reports herewith inclosed. This loss was in my brigade proper. Several men were wounded in that portion of Hart's battery serving with me, and there were also a small number of casualties in the six companies of the Nineteenth Arkansas and in the companies of Garland's brigade which were sent to re-enforce me; also in the cavalry companies of Capt. Alf. Johnson's command, but these are all taken up in the reports of the brigades to which they properly belong.
    The loss of the enemy of course it is impossible to give correctly, as I had no opportunity after the battle to examine the ground, but it certainly was very heavy. I think it would be a moderate estimate to place their killed and wounded in my immediate front at from 1,000 to 1,200; I think this an under rather than an over estimate. They made seven or eight distinct charges against my line and were driven back with heavy loss each time. I allowed them to get up to within 80 to 125 yards before opening on them with small-arms, and as both officers and men were cool and self-possessed the fire was very effective. In these attacks the enemy did not charge along my whole brigade front at any one time, but in each case pushed forward a column of several regiments. The principal efforts were directed against my left. On the day after the battle some of the Federal surgeons told my acting brigade surgeon, who was with them upon their hospital boats, that up to that time 1,500 of their wounded had been brought in to them; from this and other items which the Federals admitted I believe that their entire loss in killed and wounded was not less than 2,000.
    As to the force of the enemy I can only give an approximate estimate. From what Federal officers told me and from my own observation after the battle, I am satisfied that they had not less than 50,000 to 60,000 men, with nine or ten gunboats and rams carrying probably about 100 guns. They had nearly 80 transports, most of them the large Mississippi River steamers.
    Where all performed their duty faithfully it is very difficult to mention individuals without seeming to make an invidious distinction. Suffice it to say that all the members of my brigade--officers and men--did their full duty with zeal and alacrity. They deserve great praise for the patience with which they worked for two entire nights upon our fortifications, without a single regular meal from the time that they were first called out on the 9th until the 12th, and also for their cool and steady bearing under fire, which enabled them to deliver a deliberate and most deadly fire throughout the action. With the exception of a few individuals the brigade had never been under fire before, and they deserve much credit for the calmness with which they took the terrific shelling to which they were subjected on both days. In the repeated charges made by the enemy his ranks seemed actually to wither under our fire. I feel proud to command such men.
    Lieutenant-Colonel Hutchinson with six companies of his regiment, Nineteenth Arkansas Infantry [Dawson's], had to take up a new position on my extreme left after the action commenced, and in order to do so had to pass through a hot fire over open ground. They took the position assigned them promptly and maintained it handsomely during the action, though without any shelter other than the timber afforded.

and the protection of the cross-fire from the left of my trench, which swept the ground in their front.
    My thanks are due to the members of my personal staff who were present with me. My acting assistant adjutant-general, First Lieut. J. T. Hearne, and my volunteer aide-de-camp, Mr. R. B. Carlee, were invaluable to me in carrying orders, &c., through the hottest fire. My ordnance officer also, Lieut. George B. Jewell, was of great service to me until unfortunately captured on the 10th, when we withdrew from the lower line of rifle-pits, while bringing up the rear of his ammunition train over some boggy ground.
    Painful as the reflection is, I am forced to believe that the enemy's gunboats fired upon our division hospital, though our hospital flag was displayed from it. My reasons for thinking so are that I saw the mark of shot upon the building evidently too large to have been fired from my field battery, and the position of the hospital building was such that it does not seem possible to me that it could have been in range of the gunboats if firing at the fort. Assistant Surgeon Wynkoop, Fifteenth Texas Dismounted Cavalry, was mortally wounded by a piece of shell while attending to the wounded in this hospital, and has since died. The field batteries also repeatedly struck this hospital, as it was in their range, and Dr. Wynkoop may have been killed by a shot from one of these.
        Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
                                               JAMES DESHLER,
Colonel, Commanding Second Brigade, Churchill's Division.

    Capt. B. S. JOHNSON,
        Assistant Adjutant-General.

Source:

United States. War Dept., United States. Record and Pension Office., United States. War Records Office., et al., "Corinth," The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Prepared Under the Direction of the Secretary of War, by Lieut. Col. Robert N. Scott, Third U. S. Artillery, And Published Pursuant to Act of Congress Approved June 16, 1880. Series I-Volume XVII-In Two Parts. Part I-Reports. Washington: Government Printing Office. 1886. pp. 790-796.

    The "Assistant Surgeon Wynkoop, Fifteenth Texas Dismounted Cavalry," mentioned in Col. James Deshler's report is Nathan H. Wynkoop, of Company F, 15th Texas Cavalry, C.S.A., who enlisted as a Private and rose to the rank of Asst. Surgeon before his unfortunate death during the engagement at Arkansas Post sometime between the 9th and 11th of January, 1863. Additional information on Nathan, whose ancestry I know nothing about at the moment, may be found on National Archives Microfilm Number M227, roll 40.

    If you know anything at all about Nathan and his family, please don't hesitate to contact me at [email protected].

    Many thanks,

    Chris