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Buckhannon was occupied on the 30th by General Rosecrans, and a regiment was sent to take possession of Weston.
General McClellan and staff and General Schleich's brigade reached Buckhannon on the 2d of July.
Before advancing on the enemy, General McClellan had to give directions regarding an independent portion of his department.
Generals Wise and Floyd had invaded the country south of the Little Kanawha River with a large force.
To meet these, General McClellan directed Brigadier-General J. Dolson Cox to proceed thither from Ohio with five regiments, and assigned to him the district between the Great and Little Kanawha Rivers.
On the 9th, the main column of the army reached Roaring Fork, beyond Buckhannon, and two miles from Colonel Pegram's intrenchments.
A bridge which had been destroyed had to be rebuilt.
On the 10th, Lieutenant Poe was sent out with a detachment to reconnoitre the enemy's position.
This reconnoissance was pushed within two hundred yards of the enemy's works.
Colonel Pegram, it was found, was strongly intrenched near the foot of Rich Mountain and on the west side of it. The position was surrounded by dense forests, and its natural strength had been increased by rough intrenchments and by felling trees.
As an attack in front would be followed by a serious loss of life, and its success with raw troops, to say the least, was doubtful, General McClellan's plan was to turn Colonel Pegram's position to the south endeavor to cut off his retreat, and, should he succeed
Philadelphia. Lippincott & Co. 1864.
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