Major-General Leonidas Polk, CSA, Report on the Battle at Belmont, November 7, 1861

    Source citation
    Reprinted in  Frank Moore, ed., The Rebellion Record: A Diary of American Events, with Documents, Narratives, Illustrative Incidents, Poetry, Etc. (New York: G.P.Putnam, 1861), III: 287.
    Type
    Military record
    Date Certainty
    Exact
    Transcriber
    John Osborne
    Transcription date
    The following text is presented here in complete form, as it originally appeared in print. Spelling and typographical errors have been preserved as in the original.
    Head-Quarters, First Div.West.Dep't 
    Columbus, KY., Nov. 7, 1861.
     
    To General Head-quarters, through General A. S. Johnson : 
     
    The enemy came down on the opposite side of the river, Belmont, to-day, about seven thousand five hundred strong, landed under cover of gunboats, and attacked Col. Tappan's camp. I sent over three regiments under Gen. Pillow to his relief, then at intervals three others, then Gen. Cheatham.
    I then took over two others in person, to support a flank movement which I had directed. It was a hard-fought battle, lasting from half-past ten a. m. to five p. m. They took Beltzhoover's battery, four pieces of which were re-captured. The enemy were thoroughly routed. We pursued them to their boats seven miles, then drove their boats before us. The road was strewn with their dead and wonnded, guns, ammunition, and equipments. Our loss considerable; theirs heavy.
    L. Polk,
    Major-General Commanding.
    How to Cite This Page: "Major-General Leonidas Polk, CSA, Report on the Battle at Belmont, November 7, 1861," House Divided: The Civil War Research Engine at Dickinson College, https://hd.housedivided.dickinson.edu/node/38190.