Comte de Paris, History of the Civil War in America. Vol. 1.
Henry Coppee , LL.D., Ed.

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[372] Small steamers can ascend this river nearly to the point where it is formed, by the junction of Gauley River and New River, on the boundaries of the mountain region. An army resting upon the other portions of Virginia would, on the contrary, encounter great obstacles among the successive ridges of the Alleghanies, across which it would be difficult to carry provisions. On this side, therefore, the Federals had a great advantage over their adversaries.

The crest of the Alleghanies forms a line somewhat sinuous in its details, but generally following a uniform direction, which separates the Atlantic basin from that of the Mexican gulf. The secondary chains detached from the main ridge are nearly all parallel to the general direction, and enclose long valleys, the waters of which escape through gaps occurring at long intervals. The longest range extends from Carricksford, at the north, to the gorges of New River, at the south, and at nearly an equal distance from these two points an elevated cone called High Knob rises from the crest of the ridge, marking an important elevation, the centre of a sort of cross in that system of mountains. North of High Nob the chain bears the name of Greenbrier Mountain; at the south it is called Cheat Mountain, as far as the point where it slopes down abruptly to the westward to form the mass called Sewell's Mountain, which flanks the remainder of the chain like a bastion. A perpendicular branch connects with the ridge of the Alleghenies to the eastward, separating the waters of Cheat River, an affluent of the Monongahela, from those of Greenbrier River, a tributary of New River. Lastly, at the west a small spur called Rich Mountain detaches itself, and soon takes the same direction as the other chains to enclose the elevated valley of the Tygart.

McClellan's campaign has already familiarized the reader with some of these names. He will remember that Garnett, driven southward by the Federals, who had crossed Rich Mountain, was unable to find any practicable road at Cheat Mountain by which to escape to the east, and was obliged to follow that impassable barrier by descending in a northerly direction as far as Carricksford. The road which McClellan had thus barred against him to the south is the most important in all that region. Reascending