[
519]
Chapter 22: the War on the Potomac and in Western Virginia.
- Insurgents at Harper's Ferry, 519.
-- Union troops advancing on Harper's Ferry, 520.
-- evacuation of Harper's Ferry
-- Generals Scott and Patterson, 521.
-- Patterson crosses into Virginia
-- he withdraws, 522.
-- dangers.
Hanging over the Capital
-- a gunpowder plot considered
-- Patterson's plan, 523.
-- battle at Falling Waters, 524.
-- Union troops at Martinsburg
-- the insurgents near Washington, 525.
-- a skirmish at Vienna, 526.
-- insurgents at Matthias Point, 527.
-- skirmish at Matthias Point
-- death of Captain Ward
-- torpedo, 528.
-- events in the vicinity of Cumberland, 529.
-- Exploits of Indiana troops, 530.
-- McClellan in Western Virginia
-- expedition against the insurgents, 531.
-- battle of rich mountain
-- flight and pursuit of the insurgents, 533.
-- battle at Carrick's Ford, 534.
-- General McClellan's dispatches, 535.
-- Union triumph in Western Virginia, 536.
-- events in the Kanawha Valley, 537.
The fulfillment of the prediction, that “Poor old
Virginia will have to bear the brunt of battle,”
1 had now commenced.
The clash of arms had been heard and felt within her borders.
The expectations of her conspirators concerning the seizure of the
National Capital had been disappointed; and thousands of armed men were marching from all parts of the Free-labor States, to contend for nationality upon her soil with herself and her allies whom she had invited to her aid.
Since the 19th of April, the important post of
Harper's Ferry, on the
Upper Potomac, had been occupied by a body of insurgents,
2 composed chiefly of
Virginia and Kentucky riflemen.
A regiment of the latter, under
Colonel Blanton Duncan, took position on
Maryland Hights, opposite the
Ferry, where they constructed a stockade and established a fortified camp.
Early in June,
the number of troops at and near the confluence of the
Potomac and
Shenandoah Rivers was full twelve thousand, composed of infantry, artillery, and cavalry.
On the 23d of May,
Joseph E. Johnston took the command of the insurgent forces at
Harper's Ferry and in the Shenandoah Valley.
He was a veteran soldier and meritorious officer, having the rank of captain of
Topographical Engineers under the flag of his country, which he had lately abandoned.
He now bore the commission of brigadier in the service of the conspirators, and was charged with the duty of holding
Harper's Ferry (which was the
[
520]
key to the Shenandoah Valley, in its relation to the Free-labor States), and opposing the advance of National troops, both from
Northwestern Virginia and from
Pennsylvania, by whom it was threatened.
Major-General McClellan was throwing
Indiana and
Ohio troops into that portion of
Virginia; and
Major-General Robert Patterson, a veteran of two wars, then at the head of the Department of Pennsylvania,
3 was rapidly gathering a large force of volunteers at
Chambersburg, in that State, under
General W. H. Keim.
4
General Patterson took command at
Chambersburg, in person, on the 3d of June.
His troops consisted mostly of
Pennsylvania militia, who had cheerfully responded to the call of the
President, and were eager for duty in the field.
The General had proposed an attack on the insurgents on
Maryland Hights, and his plan was approved by
General Scott.
He was about to
 |
|
First Pennsylvania Regiment. |
move forward for the purpose, when the cautious General-in-chief ordered him
to wait for re-enforcements.
These were soon in readiness to join him, when
Scott sent
Patterson a letter of instruction,
in which he informed him what re-enforcements had been sent, and that he was organizing, for a diversion in his favor, “a small side expedition, under
Colonel Stone,” of about two thousand five hundred men, including cavalry and artillery, who would take post on the
Potomac, opposite
Leesburg, and threaten
Johnston's rear.
He directed
Patterson to take his measures with circumspection.
“We must sustain no reverses,” he said.
“But this is not enough,” he continued; “a check or a drawn battle would be a victory to the enemy, filling his heart with joy, his ranks with men, and his magazines with voluntary contributions. . . . Attempt nothing without a clear prospect of success, as you will find the enemy strongly posted, and not inferior to you in numbers.”
5
Patterson advanced from
Chambersburg with about fifteen thousand men. Already the insurgents, as we have seen, had been smitten at
Philippi,
and, just as this movement had fairly
[
521]
the blow struck by
Wallace at
Romney had filled them with alarm.
Johnston clearly perceived that he could not safely remain at
Harper's Ferry, and he took the responsibility of abandoning that post.
He withdrew his troops from
Maryland Hights,
and blocked up the railway and canal near the
Ferry, by casting down by gunpowder
 |
|
Bolman's Rock. |
blasts immense masses of stone that overhung them, including the famous Bolman's Rock, which always attracted the attention of tourists and of travelers on that road.
At five o'clock the next morning, with fire and gunpowder, he destroyed the great bridge of the Baltimore and Ohio Railway Company at the
Ferry, a thousand feet in length, and much other property belonging to that corporation and the
National Government.
Then he spiked the heavy guns that could not be taken away, burned another Potomac bridge a few miles above, and, on the 15th, marched up the
Valley toward
Winchester, and encamped near
Charlestown.
On that day
Patterson, who had received intimations from the
General-in-chief that he was expected to cross the
Potomac after driving
Johnston from the
Ferry, was at
Hagerstown, in Maryland, a few miles from that stream.
He pushed his columns forward, and on the following day (Sunday) and the next,
about nine thousand of his troops crossed the river, by fording, at
Williamsport, twenty-six miles above
Johnston's late encampment.
These troops consisted of two brigades (the First and Fourth), led by
Brigadier-General George Cadwalader, at the head of five companies of cavalry.
The Potomac had been slightly swollen by recent rains, and the foot-soldiers were often breast-deep in the flood.
Eye-witnesses described the scene as most exciting.
The soldiers took to the water in high glee, singing popular songs, in the chorus of which the voices of whole regiments were heard.
6
While this movement was going on,
General Patterson received from
General Scott three dispatches by telegraph in quick succession, which surprised and embarrassed him. The first inquired what movement in pursuit of the fugitives from
Harper's Ferry he contemplated, and if none (and he recommended none), then “send to me,” he said, “at once, all the regular troops, horse and foot, with you, and the
Rhode Island [Burnside's] Regiment.”
Patterson replied, that on that day and the next, nine thousand of his troops would be on the
Virginia side of the
Potomac, there to await transportation, and to be sent forward toward
Winchester in detachments, well sustained, as soon as possible.
He requested that the Regulars might remain; and he expressed a desire to make
Harper's Ferry his base of operations; to open and maintain a free communication along the Baltimore and Ohio Railway; to hold, at
Harper's Ferry,
Martinsburg, and
[
522]
Charlestown a strong force, gradually and securely advancing a portion of them toward
Winchester, and with a column from that point, operate toward
Woodstock, thus cutting off all the communication of the insurgents with
Northwestern Virginia, and force them to retire and leave that region in the possession of the loyal people.
By that means he expected to keep open a free communication with the great
West, by the Baltimore and Ohio Railway.
The
General-in-chief disapproved the plan; repeated the order to send to
Washington the designated troops; told
Patterson that
McClellan had been ordered to send nothing across the mountains to support him, and directed him to remain where he was until he could satisfy his Chief that he ought to go forward.
This was followed by another, saying: “You tell me you arrived last night at
Hagerstown, and
McClellan writes that you are checked at
Harper's Ferry.
Where are you?”
Early the next morning
the
Chief telegraphed again, saying:--“We are pressed here.
Send the troops I have twice called for, without delay.”
This order was imperative, and was instantly obeyed.
The troops were sent, and
Patterson was left without a single piece of available artillery, with only one troop of raw cavalry, and a total force of not more than ten thousand men, the most of them undisciplined.
A larger portion of them were on the
Virginia side of the
Potomac, exposed to much peril.
Cadwalader had marched down toward
Harper's Ferry as far as
Falling Waters, to cover the fords; and
Johnston, with full fifteen thousand well-drilled troops, including a considerable force of cavalry and twenty cannon, was lying only a few miles off.
7 Patterson had only the alternative of exposing the greater part of his army to destruction, or to recall them.
He chose the latter, mortifying as it was, and they re-crossed the river at
Williamsport, with the loss of only one man.
Patterson was severely censured by the public, who did not know the circumstances, for not pushing on against the insurgents; but the welfare of the cause compelled him to keep silence and bear the blame.
8
At that time there was an indescribable state of feverish anxiety in
Washington City.
It was shared by the
Government and the
General-in-chief.
Exaggerated accounts of immense forces of insurgents at
Manassas were continually reaching the
Capital.
It was known that
General Beauregard, whose success at
Charleston had made him famous, had been placed in command of the troops at
Manassas at the beginning of June; and there was a general
[
523]
belief that, under instructions from
Davis, he would attempt the seizure of
Washington City before Congress should meet there, on the 4th of July.
9 It was well known that the secessionists, then swarming in the
Capital, were in ,continual communication with
Beauregard, and it was believed that they were ready to act in concert with him in any scheme for overturning the ,Government.
The consequence was, that credence was given to the wildest rumors, and the
Government and the
General-in-chief were frequently much alarmed for the safety of the
Capital.
It was during one of these paroxysms of doubt and dread that
General Scott was constrained to telegraph to
Patterson :--“, We are pressed here.
Send the troops I have twice called for, without delay.”
The danger was, indeed, imminent.
It is now known that, at about that time, a proposition was made to
L. P. Walker, the so-called
Secretary of War of the conspirators, to blow up the
National Capitol with gunpowder, some time between the 4th and 6th of July, at a time when both Houses of Congress should be in session therein, and when
Mr. Lincoln, it was hoped, would be present.
This infernal proposition to murder several hundred men and women (for on such occasions the galleries of the halls of Congress were generally filled with spectators of both sexes) so pleased the conspirators, that directions were given for a conference between the assassin and
Judah P. Benjamin, the so-called
Attorney-General of the “Confederacy.”
10 Thus early in the conflict, the plotters against their Government were ready to employ agencies in their wicked work such as none but the most depraved criminals would use. The records of the war show that
Jefferson Davis, and his immediate accomplices in the Great Crime of the Ages, were participants in plans and deeds of wickedness which every right-minded man and woman who was misled into an adhesion to their cause should be eager to disavow, and, by genuine loyalty to their beneficent Government, to atone for.
General Patterson was compelled to remain on the
Maryland side of the
Potomac until the beginning of July.
In the mean time the
General-in-chief had asked him
to propose to him a plan of operations, without delay.
He did so. He proposed to fortify
Maryland Hights, and occupy them with about two thousand troops, provisioned for twenty days; to remove all of his supplies to
Frederick, and threaten with :a force to open a route through
Harper's Ferry; and to send all available forces to cross the
Potomac near the
Point of Rocks, and, uniting with
Colonel Stone at
Leesburg, be in a position to operate against the foe in the :Shenandoah Valley, or to aid
General McDowell when he should make his proposed march, with the main army near
Washington, on the insurgents at
Manassas.
This would have placed him in a better position to prevent
Johnston, at
Winchester, from joining
Beauregard at
Manassas, than if stationed between
Williamsport and
Winchester.
These suggestions were not heeded ; and a few days afterward, while
Patterson was begging earnestly for cannon and transportation, to enable him to well guard the fords of the river, and take position on the
Virginia side, he received a dispatch from the
General-in-chief,
directing him to remain “in front of the enemy, between
Winchester and the
Potomac,” and if his (
Patterson's)
[
524]
force was “superior or equal” to that of
Johnston, he might “cross and offer him battle.”
The conditions would not warrant a movement then, and the disabilities were laid before the
Chief.
Two days afterward,
Scott telegraphed to
Patterson that he expected he was “crossing the river that day in pursuit of the enemy.”
Patterson was eager to advance, notwithstanding his foe was greatly his superior in numbers and equipment; and when, on the 29th,
harness for artillery horses arrived, he made instant preparations to go forward.
11 A reconnoissance in force was made on the 1st of July,
and on the 2d the whole army crossed the
Potomac, at the
Williamsport Ford, and took the road toward
Martinsburg, nineteen miles northwest of
Harper's Ferry.
Near Falling Waters, five miles from the ford, the advance-guard, under
Colonel John J. Abercrombie, which had crossed the river at four o'clock in the morning, fell in with
Johnston's advance, consisting of about three thousand five hundred infantry, with cannon (
Pendleton's battery of field artillery), and a large force of cavalry, under
Colonel J. E. B. Stuart, the whole under the command of the heroic leader afterward known as “
Stonewall”
Jackson.
Abercrombie immediately deployed his regiments (First Wisconsin and Eleventh Pennsylvania) on each side of the road; placed
Hudson's section of
Perkins's battery, supported by the First Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry, in the highway, and advanced to the attack, in the face of a warm fire of musketry and artillery.
A severe contest ensued, in which
McMullen's Philadelphia company of Independent Rangers participated.
It lasted less than half an hour, when
Lieutenant Hudson's cannon had silenced those of the insurgents, and
Colonel George H. Thomas's brigade was coming up to the support of
Abercrombie.
Perceiving this,
Jackson fled, hotly pursued about five miles, to the hamlet of
Hainesville, where the chase was abandoned.
Having been reenforced by the arrival of
General Bee and
Colonel Elzy, and the Ninth Georgia Regiment,
Johnston had sent a heavy force out to the support of
Jackson, and the Unionists thought it prudent not to pursue further.
Jackson halted and encamped at
Bunker's Hill, on the road between
Martinsburg and
Winchester.
The skirmish (which is known as the
Battle of Falling Waters) and the chase occupied about two hours. It was a brilliant little affair, for the insurgents considerably outnumbered the
Union troops, and were sheltered by a wood in a chosen position; but by greater operations, that soon followed, it was almost totally obscured.
On the following day,
General Patterson and his army entered
Martinsburg, where he was joined on the 8th by the Nineteenth
[
525]
and Twenty-eighth New York Regiments, under
Colonel Stone, and on the following day by the Fifth and Twelfth New York Regiments, under
General Sandford.
Thus strengthened,
Patterson immediately issued orders for an advance on
Winchester, when it was found that the troops of
Stone were too weary and footsore to be of efficient service.
The order was countermanded, and on the following morning
Patterson held a council of officers at his quarters, a small house in the village, when he was advised not to advance at the present.
12 The wisdom of that advice will be apparent hereafter.
Patterson acted in accordance with it, and remained almost a fortnight at
Martinsburg, waiting for re-enforcement, supplies, and means for transportation.
While these movements were in progress in the vicinity of
Harper's Ferry, others equally important were occurring elsewhere, and at points far distant from each other.
In
Missouri, the fires of civil war were blazing out; and in
Western Virginia the opposing forces were carrying on quite an active campaign.
Nearer
Washington City blood began to flow.
From their grand encampment at
Manassas Junction the insurgents were continually sending out reconnoitering parties, all having reference to the seizure of the
Capital.
These were frequently seen along the line of the
Potomac from
Leesburg to the
Chain Bridge, within five or six miles of
Washington City; while others were establishing batteries below
Alexandria for the blockade of the river.
At the middle of June the insurgents were hovering along the line of the railway between
Alexandria and
Leesburg, and on the 16th they fired upon a train of cars on that road, at the little village of
Vienna, fifteen miles from
Alexandria.
General McDowell immediately ordered the First Ohio Regiment,
Colonel A. McD.
McCook, to picket and guard the road.
These troops left their encampment near
Alexandria on the 17th, accompanied by
Brigadier-General Robert C. Schenck, and proceeded cautiously in cars and on trucks in the direction of
Vienna.
Detachments were left at different points along the road, one of which was the village of
Falls Church, which became a famous locality during the earlier years of the war. When the train approached
Vienna, only four companies, comprising less than three hundred men, were on the train, and these were on open platforms or trucks.
In the mean time a detachment of
Beauregard's army was waiting for them in ambush.
These consisted of six hundred South Carolina infantry, a company of artillery, and two companies of cavalry, under
Colonel Maxcy Gregg.
13 They had been on a reconnoissance up the
Potomac region as far
[
526]
as
Dranesville, and, having come down to
Vienna, had just torn up some of the railway and destroyed a water-tank, and were departing, when they heard the whistle of a locomotive engine below the village.
They hastened to the curve of the railway, in a deep cut a quarter of a mile from the village, and there planted two cannon so as to sweep the road, and masked them.
Unsuspicious of.danger,
McCook and his men entered the deep cut. Contrary to orders, the engineer had run up to that point quite rapidly, and there had been no opportunity for reconnoitering.
The engine was behind the train, and was pushing it .up.
When the whole train was fairly exposed to the masked cannon, they opened fire, and swept it from front to rear with
grape and canister shot.
Fortunately, the shot went high, and most of the soldiers were sitting.
The frightened engineer, instead of drawing the whole train out of the peril, uncoupled the engine and one passenger-car, and fled with all possible speed toward
Alexandria.
The troops leaped from the train, fell back along the railway, and rallied in a grove near by, where they maintained so bold a front under a shower of shell and other missiles, that the assailants believed them to be the advance of a heavier force near.
With that belief they soon retired, and hastened to Fairfax Court House, leaving the handful of
Ohio troops, whom they might have captured with ease, to make their way leisurely back, carrying their dead and wounded companions on litters and in blankets.
The Union loss was five killed, six wounded, and thirteen missing.
14 That of the insurgents is unknown.
The latter destroyed the portion of the train that was left in the deep cut, and captured a quantity of stores.
When they ascertained that the
National troops were not in force in that vicinity, they returned and took possession of
Vienna and
Falls Church Village.
On that occasion, the flag of the “Sovereign
State of South Carolina”
15 was displayed, for the first time, in the presence of National troops out of that State.
We have observed that the insurgents were endeavoring to blockade the
Potomac.
Ten days after the affair at
Vienna, there were some stirring scenes connected with that blockade at Matthias Point, a bold promontory in King George's County, Virginia, jutting out into the river, and giving it a short sharp turn.
That point was covered with woods, and there the insurgents commenced erecting a battery which might completely destroy the
[
527]
water communication with the
Capital.
Captain Ward, of the
Potomac flotilla, was with the
Freeborn, his flagship, below this point, when information of the presence of an insurgent force on the promontory reached him.
He determined to drive them off, and on the evening of the 26th of June,
he requested
Commander Rowan, of the
Pawnee, then lying near
Acquia Creek, to send to him, during the night, two boatloads of marines, well equipped, with a competent leader.
They were accordingly sent in charge of
Lieutenant Chaplin Ward's plan was to land, drive off the insurgents, and denude the
Point of trees, so that there might be no shelter for the aggressors from the observation of cruisers on the river.
On the morning of the 27th,
the
Freeborn, with the boats from the
Pawnee, went up to Matthias Point, when the former commenced firing shot and shell into the woods.
Under cover of this fire,
Lieutenant Chaplin and his party, with others from the
Freeborn, landed at about ten o'clock.
Captain Ward accompanied them.
Skirmishers were thrown out, and these soon encountered the pickets of the insurgents, who fired and fled.
Just then a body of four or five hundred of the foe were seen coming over a hill.
Ward hastened back to their
Freeborn, to renew the shelling, while
Chaplin and his men took to their boats.
The insurgents were checked, and, in the course of fifteen minutes,
Chaplin was again ordered to land, and to throw up a breastwork of sand-bags.
This was nearly ready for the guns that were to be sent ashore to arm them when a signal was given for him to retire, for the insurgents were too many for them.
Before the men could reach their boats, the foe fired upon them with muskets.
They safely embarked.
Chaplin was the last to leave.
The boats
[
528]
had drifted away.
Unwilling to call the men back to an exposed position, the
Lieutenant swam out to the nearest one, carrying on his back a soldier (and his musket) who could not swim.
Only one man of the party who landed was injured; but a sad event
occurred on the deck of the
Freeborn. The gunner was wounded in the thigh, when
Captain Ward took charge of the piece.
While sighting it, a well-aimed Minie ball came from the shore and mortally wounded him by entering the abdomen.
As he fell he was caught by one arm of
Harry Churchill, the boatswain's mate, who used his other hand with the string to fire the well-aimed cannon, whose round shot struck plump among the insurgents.
Ward lived only forty-five minutes. The ball had passed through the intestines and liver.
His was the only life sacrificed on the occasion, on the
Union side.
17
This attack on the works of the insurgents on Matthias Point, and those on the batteries at
Sewell's and
Pig Point, and at
Acquia Creek, convinced the
Government that little could be done by armed vessels, without an accompanying land force, competent to meet the foe in fair battle.
While these events were transpiring in the region of the
Potomac, others equally stirring and important were occurring in
Northwestern Virginia.
For a month after the dash on
Romney,
Colonel Wallace and his regiment were placed in an important and perilous position at
Cumberland, in
Western Maryland.
When the insurgents recovered from the panic produced by that dash, which made them flee sixteen miles without halting, and found that
Wallace had fallen back to
Cumberland, they took heart, advanced to
Romney, four thousand strong, under
Colonel McDonald-infantry, cavalry, and artillery — and, pushing on to New
[
529]
Creek, destroyed the bridge of the Baltimore and Ohio Railway at that place.
Then they passed on to
Piedmont, five miles farther westward, where they cut the telegraph-wires, and destroyed all communication between
Cumberland and
Grafton.
Fortunately, the advance of the insurgents upon
Piedmont was known in time to send all the rolling stock of the railway there to
Grafton, and save it from seizure.
Wallace was now completely isolated, and expected an immediate attack upon his camp at
Cumberland.
He had no cannon, no cavalry, and very little ammunition.
For twenty-one days his men had only ten rounds of cartridges apiece.
He could not hold
Cumberland against the overwhelming force of the insurgents, so he prepared for a retreat, if necessary, to
Bedford, in Pennsylvania.
He sent his sick and baggage in that direction, and after advising the
Union people in
Cumberland to keep within their houses, he led his regiment out upon the same road, to the dismay of the loyal inhabitants and the chagrin of his men, who did not comprehend his design.
It was soon made apparent.
He halted, changed front, and prepared for battle.
Believing that when the insurgents should enter
Cumberland they would scatter in search of plunder, he prepared to rush in, attack them in the streets, and defeat them in detail.
When the insurgents under
McDonald reached
Frostburg, only six miles from
Cumberland, they were informed of
Wallace's bold stand, and ventured no farther, but remained at that place until evening, when they turned southward and hastened to
Romney.
Wallace returned to
Cumberland, and was joyfully received.
He appealed to both
Morris and
McClellan at
Grafton, and to
Patterson at
Hagerstown, for re-enforcements and supplies, but neither of them had any to spare.
There was danger at all points and weakness at all points.
Only the
Governor of
Pennsylvania could afford relief.
He sent
Wallace some ammunition, and ordered two regiments of the Pennsylvania Reserves,
18 under
Colonel Charles J. Biddle, with a field-battery under
Captain Campbell, to take post on the frontier of
Maryland, but not to step over the line unless the Indianians should be attacked.
19 That frontier line was only five or six miles from
Cumberland.
During that month of peril, while the
Indiana regiment was engaged in independent duty, and successfully guarding the railway for about a hundred miles each way from
Cumberland, it was subjected to the most trying and exhausting services.
Wallace succeeded in impressing thirteen horses into his service, and on these scouts were mounted, whose performances, night and day, crowded that month's history of the Zouaves with the most exciting events.
The insurgents felt a wholesome dread of these Zouaves; and their appearance created many a sudden flight of a much superior force.
The foot-soldiers of the Eleventh were equally active.
The Potomac was everywhere fordable, and both parties crossed and re-crossed it at their pleasure,
[
530]
and often engaged in little skirmishes.
Finally, on the 26th,
a spirited affair occurred near
Frankfort, on the road between
Cumberland and
Romney, in which thirteen picked men of the regiment, mounted on the thirteen impressed horses, were engaged.
They were sent on a scout, led by
Corporal D. B. Hay, one of their number.
They boldly attacked forty-one mounted insurgents, killing eight of them, chasing the remainder two miles, and capturing seventeen of their horses.
The leader of the scouts was severely wounded, but was saved.
On their way back, they were attacked by seventy-five mounted men of the command of the afterward famous
Ashby, near the mouth of
Patterson's Creek.
They fell back across a portion of the stream to
Kelley's Island, at the mouth of the creek, where; they had a terrible hand-to-hand fight with their assailants, that ceased only with the daylight.
It ended at nightfall, with a loss to the Zouaves of only one man killed.
The remainder made their way back to camp in the darkness.
20 Their bravery elicited the highest praise of both
Patterson and
McClellan.
The former, in general orders,
21 commended their example to his troops; and the latter thanked them for their noble services, and said to
Colonel Wallace:
--“I more than ever regret that you are not under my command.
I have urged
General Scott to send up the
Pennsylvania regiments.
I begin to doubt whether the Eleventh Indiana needs re-enforcements.”
22
On the 8th of July, by order of
General Patterson,
Wallace's regiment broke camp at
Cumberland, and joined the forces under their chief at
Martinsburg; and they were engaged on duty in that vicinity until after the
battle of Bull's Run,
notwithstanding the term of their three months enlistment had expired.
For his eminent services in this.
three months campaign,
Wallace was rewarded with the commission of a brigadier.
Whilst the Baltimore and Ohio Railway--the great line of communication with the
West--was thus held by the
National troops, attempts were made by the insurgents to occupy the country in
Western Virginia south of it. We have observed that
Colonel Porterfield had notified the authorities at
Richmond that a large force must be immediately sent into that region, or it would be lost to the “Confederacy.”
23 A plan of campaign in that direction was immediately formed and put in execution.
Porterfield was succeeded in command in
Northwestern Virginia by
General Robert S. Garnett, a meritorious officer, who served on the staff of
General Taylor, in
Mexico, and was breveted a major for gallantry in the
battle of Buena Vista.
He made his Headquarters at
Beverly, in Randolph County, a pleasant village on a plain, traversed by
Tygart's Valley River.
It was an important point in operations to prevent
McClellan pushing through the gaps of the mountain ranges into the Shenandoah Valley.
Garnett proceeded at once to fortify places on the roads leading from
Beverly through these mountain passes.
[
531]
He collected a considerable force at that place, and had outlying detachments at Bealington,
Buckhannon,
Romney, and
Philippi.
Ex-Governor Henry A. Wise, with a brigadier's commission, had been organizing a brigade in the
Great Kanawha Valley, beyond the
Greenbrier Mountains, for the purpose of holding in subjection the loyal inhabitants of the fertile regions of that river.
He was now ordered to cross the intervening mountains around the head-waters of the
Gauley River, and co-operate with
Garnett; and every measure within the means of the “Confederates” was used for the purpose of checking the advance of
McClellan's forces, and preventing their junction with those of
Patterson in the Shenandoah Valley.
General McClellan took command of his troops in person, at
Grafton, on the 23d of June, and on that day he issued a proclamation to the inhabitants of
Western Virginia, similar in tenor to the one sent forth from
Cincinnati a month earlier.
He severely condemned the guerrilla warfare in which the insurgents were engaged, and threatened the offenders with punishment, “according to the severest rules of military law.”
He also told the disloyal people of that section that all who should be found acting in hostility to the
Government, either by bearing arms or in giving aid and comfort to its enemies, should be arrested.
To his soldiers he issued an address two days afterward, reminding them that they were in the country of friends, and not of enemies, and conjuring them to behave accordingly.
He denounced the insurgents as outlaws, who, without cause, had rebelled, and seized public property, and “outraged the persons of Northern men merely because they came from the North, and Southern men merely because they loved the
Union ;” and he exhorted his soldiers to pursue a different course.
He concluded by saying :--“I now fear but one thing — that you will not find foemen worthy of your steel.”
The entire force of
Ohio,
Indiana, and
Virginia troops, now under the command of
McClellan, numbered full twenty thousand men, and he resolved to advance.
He sent a detachment, under
General J. D. Cox, into the
Kanawha Valley, to meet
Wise and keep him in check, while his main body, about ten thousand strong, led by himself, advanced from
Clarksburg, on the Baltimore and Ohio Railway, twenty-two miles west of
Grafton, in the direction of
Buckhannon, to attack
Garnett at
Laurel Hill, near
Beverly.
At the same time a detachment of about four thousand men,
24 under
General Morris, moved from
Grafton toward
Beverly, by way of
Philippi; and another body, commanded by
General Hill, was sent to West Union, eastward of
Philippi, toward
St. George, in Tucker County, to prevent the escape of the insurgents by that way over the
Alleghany Mountains, to join
Johnston at
Winchester.
Morris was instructed not to attack
Garnett, but to thoroughly reconnoiter the country, make such feints as would deceive the insurgents with the belief that they might expect the main attack from that officer, and to keep them employed until
McClellan should gain their rear.
Morris carried out the plan faithfully.
He advanced to Bealington, within a mile of
Garnett's camp, which was on a wooded slope on the eastern side of the
Laurel
[
532]
Hill range of mountains, between
Leedsville and
Beverly, where he had about eight thousand men strongly intrenched.
25 These were chiefly East Virginians, Georgians, Tennesseans, and some Carolinians.
26 In front of these intrenchments continual and heavy skirmishing was carried on daily, chiefly by the Seventh and Ninth Indiana Regiments, commanded respectively by
Colonels E. Dumont and
Robert H. Milroy.
The troops were so eager for conflict that
Morris found it difficult to restrain them.
The scouting parties were so earnest, vigilant, and bold, that when
McClellan approached
Beverly, each position of the insurgents and their works in all that region was perfectly known.
A thousand deeds of daring, worthy of record, were performed during those few days.
Those of the Ninth Indiana were so notable that the insurgents gave them the name of “Swamp Devils.”
McClellan reached
Buckhannon on the 7th of July, and advanced to
Roaring Run, on the road to
Beverly.
He ascertained that a large force of insurgents, about fifteen hundred strong, under
Colonel John Pegram, was occupying a heavily intrenched position in the rear of
Garnett, in Rich Mountain Gap, of the
Laurel Hill Range, about four miles from
Beverly, where his forces commanded the important road over the mountains to
Staunton, and the chief highway to
Southern Virginia.
Pegram boasted that his position could not be turned, because of the precipitous hills on his flanks; but he was mistaken.
McClellan sent the Eighth, Tenth, and Thirteenth Indiana Regiments, and the Sixteenth Ohio Regiment, with
Burdsall's troop of cavalry, all in light marching order, under the command of
Colonel (afterward General)
W. S. Rosecrans, to do what
Pegram thought impossible.
They were accompanied by
Colonel Lander, who was with
Dumont at
Philippi,
27 and were piloted by a young man named
Hart, son of the owner of the mountain farm on which
Pegram was encamped.
They started at three o'clock in the morning,
made a wide
detour through the mountains in a heavy rain-storm, along most perilous ways, pathless, slippery, and rough, a distance of about eight miles, and at noon were on the summit of a ridge of
Rich Mountain, high above
Pegram's camp, and a mile from it. Just as they reached the
Staunton road, near
Hart's, they were furiously assailed by musket and cannon shot, bullets, grape, canister, and shells.
[
533]
Rosecrans supposed his movements were unknown to the insurgents.
He was mistaken.
A courier sent after him by
McClellan had been captured by
Pegram's scouts, and the march of
Rosecrans was revealed.
28 Pegram immediately sent about nine hundred men, with two cannon, up the mountain road in his rear, to meet him. They hastily cast up works of logs and earth near
Hart's, and masked their cannon, and from these came the unexpected volley.
Rosecrans had no cannon, but he had men eager for conflict.
He formed the three
Indiana regiments in battle order, held the
Ohio regiment as a reserve, and sent forward his skirmishers.
They engaged in desperate fighting while the main body lay concealed in the grass, the shot of the insurgents passing over them.
Finally,
Pegram's men came out from their works and charged across the road.
The
Indianians sprang to their feet, and at a given order they fired, fixed their bayonets, and with a wild shout charged upon the foe. A sharp conflict ensued, when the latter gave way and fled in wild confusion down the declivities of the mountain to
Pegram's main camp.
Re-enforcements sent from
Garnett's reserves at
Beverly, then on their way, hearing of the disaster to their friends, fell back.
Rosecrans recalled his men in pursuit of the fugitives, and prepared for another encounter.
This engagement, known as the
battle of rich mountain, commenced at about two o'clock in the afternoon, and occupied less than an hour and a half.
The Union troops in action numbered about eighteen hundred, and those of the insurgents about nine hundred.
The loss of the former was eighteen killed, and about forty wounded. The latter lost about one hundred and forty killed, and a large number wounded and made prisoners.
Their entire loss was more than four hundred, including several officers.
For his gallantry on this occasion,
Rosecrans was commissioned a brigadier-general.
The position of
Rosecrans was now perilous.
Pegram was immediately before him with an overwhelming force, and he was separated from the main army by the rough mountain over which he had passed with the greatest difficulty.
Fortunately for him,
McClellan, who, at his camp at
Roaring Run, had heard the cannonading, advanced that evening to a position directly in front of
Pegram's main camp, and prepared to assail it in the morning with twelve cannon.
Pegram did not wait for the assault, but stole off during the night, and tried to make his way with the remnant of his troops to
Garnett's camp.
This movement exposed
Garnett's rear, and he, too, under cover of the night, abandoned his camp and all in it — cannon, tents, and many wagons — and in light marching order pushed on toward
Beverly, hoping to pass it before
McClellan could reach it, and so escape over the mountains by
Huttonsville, toward
Staunton.
He was too late.
McClellan had moved rapidly on
Beverly, and fugitives from
Pegram's camp informed him that his advance was already there.
Garnett turned back, and taking the road toward
St. George, through a gap near
Leedsville, he plunged into the wild mountain regions of the
Cheat Range, taking with him only one cannon.
His reserves at
Beverly fled over the mountains, by
[
534]
way of
Huttonsville, as far as
Monterey, in Highland County, and the re-enforcements that had been sent to
Pegram, as we have observed, scattered over the
Laurel Hill Range.
Rosecrans entered
Pegram's abandoned camp the next morning; while the latter, with about six hundred followers, weary, worn, and dispirited, were vainly seeking a way of escape.
They had been without food for nearly two days. Seeing no hope of relief,
Pegram offered to surrender to
McClellan; and on Sunday morning, the 14th,
he and his followers were escorted into the camp of the chief at
Beverly by some
Chicago cavalry.
When it was discovered that
Garnett had fled,
McClellan ordered a hot pursuit.
He sent a detachment from his own column, under
Captain H. W. Benham, his
Chief Engineer, to join that of
General Morris, and the united forces started eagerly after the fugitives, who had about twelve hours the start of them.
The recent rains had made the roads very muddy, and swelled the mountain streams.
The fugitives, in their anxiety to escape, left knapsacks, provisions, camp furniture, and every thing that might impede their flight, along the way, and these were continual clews to their route, which frequently deviated from the main road along rough mountain paths.
Broken and abandoned wagons were found in many places, and in narrow gorges the insurgents had felled trees and cast down rocks to obstruct the pursuit.
Both parties rested on the night of the 12th, and resumed the race in the morning.
The pursuers gradually gained on the fugitives; and at about noon, while a driving rain-storm was drenching them, the advance of the former, composed of the Seventh and Ninth Indiana, Fourteenth Ohio, and a section of
Burnett's Ohio Battery, came in sight of the flying insurgents at Kahler's Ford of a branch of the
Cheat River.
They were evidently preparing to make a stand there.
The pursuing infantry dashed into the stream, which was waist deep, and halted under shelter of the bank until the artillery came up. A single cannon-shot set the insurgents in motion, for they were only the rear-guard of
Garnett's force, the main body of which was some distance in advance.
The exciting chase was renewed, and its interest was hightened by a sort of running fight for about four miles to another ford of the same stream, known as
Carrick's, where the banks were high and steep, and the land a rolling bottom about a mile in width between the mountains.
After crossing the stream
Garnett made a stand.
The Fourteenth Ohio (
Colonel Steedman) of the advance was close upon him, and rushed down to the
Ford in pursuit, when it was met by a volley of musketry and cannon-shot from a single heavy gun, under
Colonel Taliaferro, of the Twenty-third Virginia Regiment.
The Ohio troops stood their ground bravely.
The Seventh and Ninth Indiana and
Burnett's battery hastened to their aid; and
Captain Benham, who was in command of the advance, ordered
Colonel Dumont and a detachment of his regiment to cross the deep and rapid stream above the ford, and gain the rear of the foe. The opposite shore was too precipitous for them to scale, and they were ordered to wade down in the bed of the stream hidden by the bank, and, under cover of fire of cannon and musketry, charge the insurgents in front.
The order was quickly executed, and while the Indianians were struggling up the bank among the
[
535]
laurel bushes, the insurgents broke and fled.
They had fought bravely against great odds, and yielded only when their ammunition was almost exhausted.
Garnett tried to rally them to make another stand, and while trying to do so he was shot dead.
29 A youthful Georgian, who was among the few around the
General at that moment, fell dead at his side.
The insurgents fled to the mountains, and were pursued only about two miles. The
 |
|
Carrick's Ford.30 |
main body of
Morris's force soon came up, and the victors slept near the
Ford that night.
They had lost two killed and ten wounded, two of them mortally.
The insurgents lost thirty men killed, a much larger number wounded, and many who were made prisoners.
They also lost their cannon, many wagons, and forty loads of provisions.
The body of their fallen General fell into the hands of the victors, and was tenderly cared for and sent to his friends.
31 This is known as the battle of Carrick's Ford.
Whilst the stirring events which we have just considered were transpiring,
General McClellan, at
Beverly, sent cheering dispatches to his Government; and, when he heard of the dispersion of
Garnett's forces at Carrick's Ford, he expressed his belief that
General Hill, then at
Rowlesburg, on the
Cheat River, where the Baltimore and Ohio Railway crosses that stream, would certainly intercept the fugitives at West Union or
St. George.
He
[
536]
was so confident of this result, that on the night of the 14th he telegraphed, saying:--“Our success is complete, and I firmly believe that secession is
killed in this section of the country.”
He was disappointed.
The fugitives were rallied by
Colonel Ramsay, and turning short to the right near West Union, they fled over
the Alleghanies and joined “
Stonewall” Jackson at
Monterey, Highland County, Virginia.
On the morning after the conflict at Carrick's Ford,
General Morris returned to his camp at Bealington,
32 while detachments from
McClellan's force pursued the fugitives from
Beverly, under
Major Tyler, to the summit of the
Cheat Mountain Range, on the road toward
Staunton, where the Fourteenth Indiana,
Colonel Kimball, was left.
as an outpost.
A camp was established at the eastern foot of the mountain, an.d detachments were posted at important points along the eastern slopes of
the Alleghanies.
On the 19th,
McClellan issued an address to his troops, from
Huttonsville, telling them that he was “more than satisfied” with their conduct; that they had annihilated two armies well intrenched among mountain fastnesses; recounted the results of the campaign, and praised their courage and endurance without stint.
The campaign
[
537]
had been successful, and
McClellan thus summed up the results in a dispatch to the War Department: “We have completely annihilated the enemy in
Western Virginia.
Our loss is about thirteen killed, and not more than forty wounded; while the enemy's loss is not far from two hundred killed; and the number of prisoners we have taken will amount to at least one thousand.
We have captured seven of the enemy's guns in all.”
General Cox had been successful in the
Kanawha Valley.
He crossed the
Ohio at the mouth of the
Guyandotte River, captured
Barboursville after a slight skirmish, and pushed on to the
Kanawha River.
Wise was then in the valley of that stream, below
Charleston, the capital of
Kanawha County, and had an outpost at Scareytown, composed of a small force under
Captain Patton.
This was attacked by fifteen hundred
Ohio troops under
Colonel Lowe, who were repulsed.
That night, the assailed insurgents fled up the valley to
Wise's camp, and gave him such an alarming.
account of the numbers of the invaders, that the
General at once retreated, first to
Charleston, then to
Gauley Bridge (which he burnt), near the mouth of the
Gauley River,
and did not make a permanent halt until he reached
Lewisburg, the capital of
Greenbrier County.
The news of
Garnett's disaster, and
Wise's own incompetence, had so dispirited his troops, that large numbers had left him. At
Lewisburg, he was re-enforced and outranked by
John B. Floyd, late
Secretary of War, who had a brigadier's commission.
The war in
Western Virginia seemed to have ended with the dispersion of
Garnett's forces, and there was much rejoicing over the result.
It was premature.
The “Confederates” were not disposed to surrender to their enemy the granaries that would be needed to supply the troops in
Eastern Virginia, without a severer struggle.
General Robert E. Lee succeeded
Garnett, and more important men than
Wise and
Floyd took the places of these incompetents.
Rosecrans succeeded
McClellan, who was called to the command of the Army of the Potomac,
and the war in the mountain region of
Virginia was soon renewed, the most prominent events of which will be recorded hereafter.
 |
|
Tail-piece — Cap. |
