Episode 44: MAJ James H. Kidd and the 6th Michigan Cavalry at the Battle of Yellow Tavern

At the Battle of Yellow Tavern, 11 May 1864, MAJ James H. Kidd, commander of the 6th Michigan Cavalry faced the Confederate Cavalry under MG J.E.B. Stuart. After a fight that lasted several hours, MG Sheridan, commander of the Union Cavalry Corps, ordered his men to charge.

Sources used for this episode:

Kidd, James H. Personal Recollections of a Cavalryman with Custer’s Michigan Cavalry Brigade in the Civil War. Ionia: Sentinel Printing Company, 1908. https://www.loc.gov/item/09002245/.

Scott, Robert N. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records on the Union and Confederate Armies. ser. 1, vol. 36, pt. 1: Reports. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1891. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo.31924097311744&view=1up&seq=3.

Transcript

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Looking in that direction. We saw the entire fifth cavalry was climbing the fence and starting for a charge across the field. The sixth instantly caught the infection, and before I could say I, yes or no, both regiments were yelling and firing and advancing on the enemy in the opposite woods. hello everyone. My name is Bill Coghlan and welcome to First Person Civil War Podcast, which retells the stories of the soldiers and officers on the ground in the battles of the Civil War. Episode 44 is entitled Major James H. Kidd in the sixth Michigan Cavalry at the Battle of Yellow Tavern, and Relies on his book. Personal recollections of a cavalry man with Custer's Michigan Cavalry Brigade in the Civil War, which he published in 1908. The war cloud that burst upon the country in 1861 was no surprise to Sagacious observers. For many years, it had been visible at times, a mere speck in the sky. Again, growing larger and more angry in appearance, it would disappear. Sanguine Patriots hoped forever. Only to come again full of dire portent and evil menacing. James Harvey Kidd was born in 1840 in iia, Michigan, which is between Lansing and Grand Rapids. By the age of 15, he was an assistant postmaster. And he obtained a subscription to the New York Weekly Tribune, which he claims primed many young men through the 1850s for the Civil War. The boys who read the Tribune in the fifties were being unconsciously molded into the men who a few years later rushed to the rescue of their country's flag. The seed sewn by Horace Greeley, that is the newspaper's owner who helped found the Republican party. And others like him brought forth a rich crop of loyalty, of devotion and self-sacrifice that was garnered in the war A. James Kidd was in his second year at the University of Michigan when the Civil War broke out of the initial regiments of infantry, cavalry, and batteries of artillery, both nine month and three years, A man was hard pressed to find themselves in the ranks as so many rushed to enlist. The state was one vast recruiting station. There was scarcely a town of importance which had not accompanied forming for someone or other of the various regiments that were organizing all through the year. The latter part of the year, 1860, the air was full of threatenings. The country was clearly on the verge of civil war, and the feeling almost as intense as it was in the following April, after the flash of Edmund Ruffin's gun, who was often credited with firing the first shot against Fort Sumpter had fired the Northern heart. It was in the summer of 1862 during the second call for troops that James Kidd volunteered for service. He returned home to Ionia and told his father who had political connections that he desired to be an officer in the cavalry. Shortly thereafter, he received a letter for his appointment. Headquarters, sixth Michigan Cavalry, grand Rapids. August 28th, 1862 to Captain James H. Kidd. You are hereby authorized to raise a company of mounted riflemen for this regiment on condition that you raised them within 15 days from this date. And report with them at the rendezvous in this city. Signed FW Kellogg Colonel Commanding. Captain Kidd recruited 99 men from Ionia in the surrounding area, and in October became troop E of the sixth Michigan Cavalry. By December of 1862. The sixth, Michigan was in Washington, DC and alongside the fifth and seventh Michigan Cavalry Regiments formed the Michigan Brigade. At the outbreak of the Civil War, the antiquated muzzle loading rifle was still the weapon of choice for arming infantry regimens, both north and south. But the cavalry could not rely on this weapon. One of the latest innovations in weaponry on the battlefield was the introduction of repeating rifles and the ordinance department equipped the entire Michigan brigade with the rifle and eventually Carine variant of the Spencer Rifle loaded from the breach. It was an effective tool on the battlefield as James Kidd attested. The Michigan Cavalry Brigade armed as it was with repeating carbine, was never whipped when it had a chance to use them. In arming the infantry, the government was 50 years behind the times. There seemed to also be controversy in the rifle's issuance toward a politician from Maine by the name of James g Blaine, how much truth there may be in the assertion. I don't know. But if Mr. Blaine was instrumental in bringing about the adoption of dispenser for the use of the cavalry, he ought to have a vote of thanks of Congress for a better gun had never been issued. And if the entire army had been supplied with it, the war could not have lasted 90 days, and Mr. Seward would've been a prophet. James Kidd goes on to describe the weapon dispenser was a magazine gun carrying eight cartridges, all of which could be discharged without taking the arm from the shoulder against such arms. The old fashioned muzzle loaders with which the infantry was equipped were ineffective. James Kidd promoted to the rank of major in May of 1863, and it was in late June as the men maneuvered around Gettysburg, Pennsylvania that the Michigan Brigade received. Its new Commander Brigader General George Armstrong Custer. On three July, despite being outnumbered, he led the Michigan DURs in a charge that blunted Jeb Stewart's cavalry advance upon the union rear. In the wake of the battle of the wilderness, in early May, 1864, major general Philip Sheridan, commander of the Army of the Potomacs Cavalry Corps desired to detach from the army and ride south on nine May. Major General Sheridan got his wish and major. James Kidd now commander of the sixth Michigan Cavalry rode in the Michigan Brigade, still commanded by Brigadier General Custer in the first division, commanded by Brigadier General Wesley Merrit of the Cavalry Corps. With the purpose to engage the Confederate supply lines and draw out Jeb Stewart and his cavalry. The movement began at an early hour. The start was made before Daylight general Custer, who was to lead, ordered that the sixth Michigan move out first, and thus it fell to my lot to be in the van at the outset of that historic expedition. As Major Kidd in the sixth Michigan Road South. They encountered detachments of Confederate Cavalry, but the two sides only Skirmished on nine and 10 May. As the Union cavalry continued their ride, Jeb Stewart finally formed a defensive line at Yellow Tavern, approximately six miles north of Richmond. It was on 11 May, 1864 that the lead elements of the Union Cavalry met the Confederates at Yellow Tavern, posted on the left flank of the union advance major kid in the sixth Michigan, along with the fifth dismounted, and formed the front rank of the brigade while the remaining Michigan regimens stayed mounted in reserve. Major. Kidd just received an order from Brigadier General Custer to shift his regiment to the left flank of the fifth when he heard shouting from that regiment. Looking in that direction. We saw the entire fifth cavalry was climbing the fence and starting for a charge across the field. The sixth instantly caught the infection, and before I could say I, yes or no, both regiments were yelling and firing and advancing on the enemy in the opposite woods. There are no Confederate reports for the battle included in the official records volume, but Brigadier General Custer did include his assessment of the defensive line he faced, and there was a reason why he wanted the sixth Michigan to shift its position. The enemy was strongly posted on a bluff in rear of a thin skirt of woods. While they had obtained perfect range of my position, the edge of the woods nearest, my front was held by the enemy's dismounted men who poured a heavy fire into my lines. This flanking fire forced the fifth Michigan to change the front of one of its battalions to deal with this unforeseen threat and the sixth Michigan shifted to the left flank, which successfully dislodged the Confederates from the woods who retreated to their main line. Brigadier. General Custer deployed his entire brigade in line of battle. With the fifth and sixth Michigan on the left and the first and seventh Michigan regiments still mounted on the right. Once a raid, major kid and the sixth Michigan cavalry joined in the attack. As soon as our line appeared in the open. Indeed before it left the woods, the Confederate artillery opened with Shell and Shrapnel. The car beers and Sharpshooters joined with Zest in the fray. And the man who thinks they did not succeed in making that part of the neighborhood around Yellow Tavern, an uncomfortably hot place was not there at the time. It was necessary to take advantage of every chance for shelter. Every Wolverine who exposed himself was made a target of many men were hit by bullets. The artillerist did not time their fuses right, and most of the damage was done in the trees behind us, or they were on too high ground to get the range. As the Michigan Brigade advanced. They discovered and occupied a ditch that paralleled the confederate line that provided a degree of protection from rifle and artillery fire. It was here that major kids, men engaged the Virginians of Lo Max's brigade alongside still more union cavalry forming on his left. After several hours, major General Sheridan ordered an assault upon the Confederate line and placed Brigadier General Custer in tactical command. Major. Kidd noticed the squadrons of the first Michigan preparing for a charge and anticipated what was about to happen. Custer Staff passed the word along for the entire line to advance. There was no hesitation. The fifth and sixth and Chapman's regiments on their left sprang forward with a shout. There was a gallon advance of the slope. Fitz Hu Lee's men held on grimly as long as they could, but there was no check to the charge. During this melee major general Jeb Stewart, who was rallying his men against the fifth Michigan, was shot in the abdomen. He was rushed from the battlefield and eventually to a hospital in Richmond where he died the next day, 12 May, 1864. The Battle of Yellow Tavern was a union victory. But the death of Jeb Stewart, arguably the Confederacy's most capable cavalry commander, was a devastating blow to the Southern war effort. Major General Sheridan continued his ride south, but ultimately shied away from attacking Richmond itself and instead linked up with the army of the James. By late May, the Cavalry Corps returned to the army of the Potomac, where a continued service in the Overland campaign. After the Battle of Yellow Tavern, James Harvey Kidd promoted to the rank of Colonel and commanded the sixth Michigan Cavalry through the end of the war. Following the Grand Review when several Union armies paraded down the streets of Washington DC that included the army of the Potomac, Colonel Kidd and the sixth Michigan Cavalry did not disband, but received orders out west to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. While there in June of 1865, James H. Kidd promoted to the rank of Bret Brigadier General and Mustered out of service on seven November, 1865. James Harvey Kidd published his book in 1908 entitled, personal Recollections of a Cavalryman with Custer's, Michigan Cavalry Brigade in the Civil War, though it took him approximately 20 years to write. James Kidd made it clear that his work would not serve as a brigade history. The narrative contained in the following pages is a story of personal recollections of one of the troopers that rode with Custer and played a part small. It is true, but still a part in the tragedy of the Civil War. As such, it is modestly put forth with the hope that it may prove to be an interesting story to those who read it. The author also trusts that it may contribute something albeit, but a little to giving Custers, Michigan cavalry men the place in the history of their country, which they so rightly earned on so many fields. Thank you for listening to the 44th episode. Links to major kids book and to social media accounts are available on the podcast website. First person Civil War podcast.com. On Facebook, Instagram, x, and LinkedIn. This week you'll find a picture of James H. Kidd sometime after the war. Just a quick note about my source material. Every primary source used for an episode of this podcast are open source and available for free online. The men who wrote these books have just as in-depth perspectives about more battles than I have covered, and I encourage you to take a look. In two weeks time, captain William Valmore, Isla of Company G 25th South Carolina, provides next episode's first person account at the battle. Of Globe Tavern. My name is Bill Coghlan. And thank you for listening to First Person Civil War podcast. I.