In September of 1862, Major J.W. Merrill, provost marshal of the Cairo District of Illinois, wrote to the commanding officer of the Alton Military Prison to turn over Captain Hayne Klinck. The provost marshal, an armed forces officer in charge of the military police, claimed that Klinck had been found aiding and abetting the rebels and assisting a guerrilla band in Union Town, KY.
When our existing paper trail last saw Klinck, he was serving in his elected role as captain of the Day Police for the Memphis Police Department. In a Daily Appeal article dated 15 April 1862, Klinck traveled out to Lafayette County to confiscate a British flag that had been displayed on several bales of cotton. Only two months later, on 6 June, the city of Memphis fell to the Union army. Although it’s unclear what role Klinck played in the Battle of Memphis or in the ensuing governmental takeover that included the police force, two things do seem clear: he did not continue with the force for long and he did not muster in to any official branch of the Confederate armed forces.
Instead, this letter indicates that Klinck joined up with one of the many guerrilla forces that patrolled the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. These bands, which operated independently of the Confederate army, were known for bloody attacks, city raids, and psychological warfare. In April of 1862, the Confederate Congress passed the Partisan Ranger Act, which promised the same pay and benefits to guerrilla soldiers as “regular” soldiers.
Local newspapers reported that the 200-250 guerillas overtook the 43rd Indiana Regiment of only 150 men. Two union soldiers were killed and 19 men were captured. It seems only one rebel was killed. After gaining control, the rebels sacked the town, destroying “everything of a public nature they could find.” In addition to capturing at least 200 muskets, a steamer was captured (see sidebar). Reportedly, the rebels unloaded 200 bales of cotton from the steamer, then set them on fire on the shore! While they did not injure the ship itself, the rebels did enjoy their supper on board and later, “confiscated the contents of the bar.”
Sidebar: The Steamer Henry?
We believe the letter's note about Klinck "delivering up the Steamer Henry" was simply a mistake. All of the articles and sources we found about this particular Union Town skirmish says that it was the Steamer Exchange that was captured. There was a Steamer Fort Henry, but it operated primarily along the East Coast. |
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| Memphis Daily Appeal, 10Sep1862 (The point of view of this is tricky. The opening paragraph seems to have been added by an Appeal writer, whereas the rest is written from the Union point of view, presumably from a Chicago Tribune writer.) |
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| According to the Illinois State Journal, the Union Town skirmish was led by Captain Adam Johnson. Johnson, a Kentucky-born Texan, returned to his birth state at the beginning of the war and began commanding guerrilla forces deep within union lines in Kentucky. A few months earlier, in July of 1862, his band captured Newburgh, Indiana with only twelve men. Outnumbered and under-armed, Johnson secured two stovepipes to the running gear of a wagon, disguising it to the distant union forces as a canon. When the ruse worked, Newburgh became the first Northern city to fall to the Confederates. The exploit was reported as far away as Europe and earned him the nickname “Stovepipe Johnson.” |
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| Illinois State Journal, Springfield, 9Sep1862 |
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Klinck’s capture and transfer to Alton Military Prison was a most unfortunate turn of events. Although not as notorious as Camp Douglas (Union, Illinois) or Andersonville (CSA, Georgia), Alton was nonetheless awful. Originally the first Illinois State Prison, the facility was closed in 1857 due largely to overcrowding and denouncement as unsanitary from the infamous
Dorthea Lynde Dix. Only four years later, Union inspectors deemed it fit for military prisoners and it reopened. Overcrowding, poor nutrition, harsh weather, and inadequate clothing led to dysentery, pneumonia, small pox, and rubella.
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Located at the juncture of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers,
Cairo was a strategic union supply base.This map looks south toward Memphis and shows how the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers converge at Cairo. Map courtesy of The Civil War Project (city call-outs added by Dixie Roots).
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Although it’s unknown how Klinck made it out, escapes were fairly common. Prisoner trades were less common, but did occur. Either way, his stint at Alton marks the beginning of his Civil War story, not the end. Visit next week when Klinck is officially assigned as a special service agent.
Part 2: Assigned to Elzey
Sources:
Stovepipe Johnson
Alton Military Prison
The Partisan Ranger Act
Alton Military Prison
