Chariton's Leonidas Crawford --- and Grierson's Raid

When Leonidas Crawford passed in Chariton on the 28th of December 1907, age 78, the facts of his life were stated sparely in The Leader of Jan. 2, 1908:

"Born in Des Moines county, Iowa, October 5, 1830. Died at Chariton, Iowa, December 18, 1907. He was therefore 78 years, 2 months and 23 days old at the time of his death.

"He was united in marriage to Margaret Lane Anson, in Chariton, July 20, 1874, continuing this association until March 19, 1905, when she was called by death. They had no children of their own, but one son by adoption, Harry Lee Crawford, now residing in Omaha, Nebraska.

"He served during the Civil War as a volunteer in Co. H, 7th Illinois Cavalry. His vocations during life's activities were those of a carpenter and harness maker. At all times he was a good citizen."

A tribute to his character by the Rev. Webster Hakes, vicar at St. Andrew's Church, followed, and then concluded --- "Soldier rest, thy warfare's o'er."

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Crawford has been an honored member of Iseminger Post No. 18, Grand Army of the Republic, and members of that post --- somewhat diminished by the passing of the years --- were in charge of his funeral and interment.

At the time it was assumed that neither the Civil War nor its veterans would fade from memory and that notable engagements of the struggle that old soldiers had engaged in would be long remembered, including Grierson's Raid, in which Leonidas had participated as a cavalry trooper.

A brief story elsewhere on the front page of The Jan. 2 Leader made the connection under the headline, "Another of the Brave Has Fallen:"

"There is not a person who is acquainted with war history but what remembers Grierson's raid. This brave cavalry commander, with but two regiments, the 7th and 8th Illinois, made a brilliant dash through the heart of the confederacy, striking consternation and terror wherever they went, laying waste military supplies and driving confederates to the rear. Gen. Grierson had the dash and courage of a soldier and these regiments responded to a man. They swept through Mississippi, thence through Louisiana and came out at the Gulf near the mouth of the great river. The loyalists of these States flocked to them for protection and the slaves hailed them as the pageant of freedom. There were larger expeditions during the progress of the war, but none with greater daring or achievement.

"The late Leonidas Crawford was a member of the 7th. Channing Smith, of the city, who belonged to the 19th Army corps, was at Baton Rouge when they reached that point and he says they fell into camp almost exhausted. Night and day they had been in the saddle --- here and there pell mell until nature was well nigh routed. Here they rested and Comrade Smith said he will never forget the first night of their arrival. Many fell apparently exhausted and he among the rest in the camp worked with them and boiled coffee and ministered to the brave comrades of Grierson's raid almost the entire night.

"Four score years have passed since then and while the majority have answered to the final roll call yet the history of Grierson's raid will remain as long as the annals of warfare are read."

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Nearly 120 years have passed since Leonidas Crawford's death and few if any remember him. And Grierson's Raid is unfamiliar territory for most, too.

The raid, from April 17 to May 2, 1863, played a major role in distracting Confederate forces from countering Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's main attack plan on Vicksburg, Mississippi, which fell on July 4 of that year.

It was led by Col. Benjamin Grierson, a former music teacher who didn't like horses --- despite his role as a cavalry commander.

Here's a Wikipedia paragraph describing the raid: "Grierson and his 1,700 horse troopers, some in Confederate uniforms serving as scouts for the main force, rode over 600 miles through hostile territory (from southern Tennessee through the State of Mississippi and into Union-held Baton Rouge, Louisiana, over routes no Union soldier had traveled before. They tore up railroads and burned crossties, freed slaves, burned Confederate storehouses, destroyed locomotives and commissary stores, ripped up bridges and trestles, burned buildings, and inflicted ten times the casualties they received, all while detachments of his troops made feints confusing the Confederates as to his actual whereabouts, intent and direction. Total casualties for Grierson's Brigade during the raid were three killed, seven wounded, and nine missing. Five sick and wounded men were left behind along the route, too ill to continue. Greirson reported to have killed and wounded 100 Confederates, captured 500, destroyed between 50 and 60 miles of railroad, destroyed over 3,000 stand of arms, and captured 1,000 horses and mules."

Here's a link to the entire Grierson's Raid entry at Wikipedia, just in case you'd like to add some Civil War information to your mental database this morning. Grierson went on, after the war, to organize and lead the Buffalo Soldiers of the 10th Cavalry Regiment, so there's a good deal of information out there about that, too.