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

---

[375] were two characters not very well calculated to harmonize. The former, proud of the services he had rendered to the pro-slavery faction by disorganizing the Federal army during his administration of the War Department, made Wise feel the weight of his authority, while the latter resisted him, believing that he was better acquainted with the country, with its inhabitants and the mode of making war there. The remnants of Pegram's and Garnett's forces, as we have stated above, had been reinforced and placed under command of General Lee, who was destined at a later period to play so conspicuous a part in the war. As he had no intention of disputing the northern part of Western Virginia with his adversaries, he fell back towards the south, leaving only a few detachments around Romney, and took a position in front of the central passes of the great ridge occupied by the Federals. His small army, collected in the valley of the Greenbrier, was in August about sixteen thousand strong.

The Federals had, in front of Floyd and Wise, the independent brigade of Cox, from two to three thousand strong. The latter, following the retreat of Wise at a distance, had occupied the whole valley of the Kanawha as far as the summits of Sewell's Mountain. More to the north, the forces commanded by McClellan until the end of July were now under the orders of Rosecrans, an officer whom we shall see invested with important commands in the course of the war. Although he may have been to blame for his dilatory movements at Rich Mountain, he was a distinguished soldier, who knew what he could exact from his troops, and was beloved by them. If he was not gifted with great quickness of perception, he possessed the art of combining his operations judiciously, and his adversaries rendered justice both to his talents and to his humanity towards the vanquished. The greater part of his forces had been brought back to Clarksburg, upon the Baltimore Railroad; and thanks to the reinforcements he had received in the month of August, he had now about ten thousand men at his disposal, forming three brigades, under the orders of General Benham and Colonels McCook and Seammon. A few troops were watching the Confederate partisans near the sources of the Potomac, while Reynolds's brigade occupied Cheat Summit and Elk Water, in front of Lee's advanced posts.