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| view of Grafton.2 |
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of the war, thus far. If it can cheer him in his last moments, tell him I cannot repair his loss, and that I only regret that I cannot be by his side to thank him in person.
God bless him!”
General Morris also sent to Kelley a cordial recognition of his bravery and valuable services; but when both messages were delivered to him, he was so weak that he could answer only with tears.
A devoted daughter watched over him incessantly, and he recovered; and he soon bore the commission and the insignia of a brigadier-general.1
Colonel Dumont assumed the command of the combined columns after the fall of Kelley, and, assisted by Captain Henry W. Benham, the Engineer-in-chief of McClellan's army, he prepared to secure the approaches to Philippi, with a view of holding that position.
Scouts, chiefly under J. W. Gordon, of the Ninth Indiana, were sent out to observe the position and number of the insurgents among the mountains, with a view to the pursuit
of Porterfield up Tygart's Valley to Beverly.
Guided by information thus obtained, and considering his lack of wagons and other means for transportation, General Morris thought it prudent to recall his troops from Philippi to Grafton, rather than to send them at that moment, and so ill prepared, on a most perilous expedition among the mountains.
For a time Grafton became the Headquarters of the National troops in Northwestern Virginia.
1 his commission as brigadier was dated May 17, 1861, or sixteen days earlier than the battle in which his gallantry won the reward.
2 this village is situated among the hills, with the most picturesque scenery around it. Here the Baltimore and Ohio Railway, leading to Parkersburg, on the Ohio River, and the Northwestern Railway, leading to Wheeling, have a connection. It was an important military strategic point.
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