This, like all other actions of a good officer, must also be an inspiration of duty. The coward in war has no place,(24) and when found in an army (which is rare) should be promptly mustered out. There was no such thing in the late war as a regiment of cowards. Inefficient or timid officers may have given their commands a bad name, and caused them to lose confidence in success, and hence to become unsteady or panicky. The average American is not deficient in true courage.

Careful drill and discipline make good soldiers.

The American people were now awake to the realities of a war in which the same race, blood, and kindred were to contend, on the one side for a separate nationality and for a form of government based on the single idea of perpetuating and fostering the institution of domestic slavery and a so-called civilization based thereon, and on the other for the preservation of the integrity of the Union of States, under one Constitution and one flag.

In addition to the 15th of April proclamation for 75,000 volunteers for ninety days' service, the President (May 3d) called into the United States service 42,034 more volunteers to serve for three years, unless sooner discharged. He at the same time directed that eight regiments of infantry, one of cavalry, and one of artillery should be added to the regular army, making a maximum of 22,714 regular officers and enlisted men; he also called for 18,000 seamen for the naval service.

All these calls for enlistment were responded to by the loyal States with the greatest promptness, and the numbers called for were more then furnished, notwithstanding the failure of some of the Southern non-seceding States to promptly fill their assigned quotas.

Governor Burton of Delaware (April 26th) issued a proclamation for the formation of volunteer companies to protect lives and property in the State, not to be subject to be ordered into the United States service, the Governor, however, to have the option of offering them to the general government for the defence of the Capital and the support of its Constitution and laws.

Governor Hicks of Maryland (May 14th) called for four regiments to serve within the limits of the State, or for the defence of the Capital of the United States.

Governor Letcher of Virginia (April 16th) spitefully denied the constitutionality of the call for troops "to subjugate the Southern States."

Governor Ellis of North Carolina (April 15th) dispatched that he regarded the levy of troops "for the purpose of subjugating the States of the South as in violation of the Constitution and a usurpation of power."

Governor Magoffin of Kentucky (April 15th) wired:

"Your dispatch is received. In answer I say emphatically, Kentucky will furnish no troops for the wicked purpose of subduing her sister Southern States."

Governor Harris of Tennessee (April 18th) replied:

"Your requisition, in my judgment, is illegal, unconstitutional, and revolutionary in its objects, inhuman and diabolical, and can not be complied with."

Governor Rector of Arkansas (April 22d) responded:

"None will be furnished. The demand is only adding insult to injury."(25)

Four of the slave-holding States thus responding to the President's call, to wit: Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina, soon joined the Confederate States; Maryland, Missouri, Kentucky, and Delaware remained in the Union, and, later, filled their quotas under the several calls for troops for the United States service, though from each many also enlisted in the Confederate Army.

The Union volunteers were either hastened, unprepared by complete organization or drill, to Washington, D. C., to stand in its defence against an anticipated attack from Beauregard's already large organized army, or they were assembled in drill camps, selected for convenience of concentration and dispersion, to the scenes of campaigns soon to be entered upon.

Arms in the North were neither of good quality nor abundant. Some were hastily bought abroad—Enfield rifles from England, Austrian rifles from Austria; each country furnishing its poorest in point of manufacture. But there were soon in operation establishments in the North where the best of guns then known in warfare were made. The old flint-lock musket had theretofore been superseded by the percussion-lock musket, but some of the guns supplied to the troops were old, and altered from the flint-lock. These muskets were muzzle-loaders, smooth bores, firing only buck and ball cartridges—.69 calibre. They were in the process of supersession by the .58 calibre rifle for infantry, or the rifle-carbine for cavalry, generally of a smaller calibre. The English Enfield rifle was of .58 calibre, and the Springfield rifle, which soon came into common use, was of like calibre. The Austrian rifle of .54 calibre proved to be of poor construction, and was generally condemned.(26) A rifle for infantry of .58 calibre was adopted, manufactured and used in the Confederacy. The steel rifled cannon for field artillery also came to take the place, in general, of the smooth-bore brass gun, though many kinds of cannon of various calibres and construction were in use in both armies throughout the war.

The general desire of new volunteers was to be possessed of an abundance of arms, such as guns, pistols, and knives. The two latter weapons were even worse than useless for the infantry soldier —mere incumbrances. An officer even had little use for a pistol; only sometimes in a melee. The cavalry resorted, under some officers, to the pistol instead of the sword. In the South, at the opening of the wr, shot-guns and squirrel rifles were gathered together for arms, and long files were forged in large quantities by common blacksmiths into knives or a sort of cutlass (or machete) for use in battle.(27) These were never used by regularly-organized troops. Guerillas, acting in independent, small bands, were, however, often armed with such unusual weapons. The North had no such soldiers. The South had many bands of them, the leaders of which gained much notoriety, but they contributed little towards general results. Guerillas were, at best, irregular soldiers, who in general masqueraded as peaceful citizens, only taking up arms to make raids and to attack small, exposed parties, trains, etc. This sort of warfare simply tended to irritate the North and intensify hatred for the time.

Not in the matter of arms alone was there much to learn by experience. McClellan and others had visited the armies of Europe and made reports thereon; Halleck had written on the Art of War; General Scott and others had practical experience in active campaigns, but nobody seemed to know what supplies an army required to render it most effective on the march or in battle.

When the volunteers first took the field the transportation trains occupied on the march more than four times the space covered by the troops. Large details had, as a consequence, to be made to manage the trains and drive the teams; large detachments, under officers, to go with them as guards. To supply forage for the immense number of horses and mules was not only a great tax upon the roads but a needless expense to the government. Excessive provision of tents for headquarters and officers as well as the soldiers was also made. Officers as well as private soldiers carried too much worse than useless personal clothing, including boots (wholly worthless to a footman) and other baggage; each officer as a rule had one or more trunks and a mess-chest, with other supplies. McClellan, in July, 1861, had about fifteen four- horse or six-mule teams to carry the personal outfit of the General and his staff; brigade headquarters (there were no corps or divisions) had only a proportionately smaller number of teams; and for the field and staff of a regimental headquarters not less than six such teams were required, including one each for the adjutant and the regimental quartermaster and commissary; and the surgeon of the regiment and his assistants required two more.

Each company was assigned one team. A single regiment—ten companies —would seldom have less than eighteen large teams to enable it to move from its camp. Something was, however, due to the care of new and unseasoned troops, but in the light of future experience, the extreme folly of thus trying to make war seems ridiculous. A great change, however, occurred during the later years of the war. When I was on active campaigns with a brigade of seven regiments, one team was allowed for brigade headquarters, and one for each regiment. In this arrangement each soldier carried his own half- ten (dog-tent) rolled on his knapsack, and the quartermaster, commissary, medical and ordnance supplies were carried in general trains. This applied to all the armies of the Union. The Confederates had even less transportation with moving troops.

But we must not tarry longer with these details. Henceforth we shall briefly try to tell the story of such of the campaigns, events, and scenes of the conflict as in the ensuing four years of war came under our observation or were connected with movements in which we participated, interweaving some personal history.

( 1) His resignation was accepted December 29, 1860. Howell Cobb, of Georgia, Buchanan's Secretary of the Treasury, resigned December 8, 1860, and was, on February 4, 1861, chosen the presiding officer of the first Confederate Congress. He left the United States Treasury empty. Jacob Thompson of Mississippi, Buchanan's Secretary of the Interior, resigned January 8, 1861. He had corresponded with secessionists South, and while yet in the Cabinet had been appointed a commissioner by his State to urge North Carolina to secede. He became an aid to Beauregard, but attained no military distinction. In 1864 he went to Canada, and there promoted a plan to release prisoners at Camp Douglas, Chicago, and to seize the city, and was charged with instigating plots to burn New York and other Northern cities.

( 2) Am. Cyclopedia, 1861 (Appleton), pp. 430, 431.

It is interesting to note that Louisiana, jointly with the Confederate States, issued in April and May, 1861, made from captured United States bullion, on United States dies of 1861, gold coin, $254,820 in double eagles, and silver coin, $1,101,316.50 in half dollars. In May, 1861, the remaining bullion was transferred to A. J. Guizot, Assistant Treasurer Confederate States of America, who at once destroyed the United States dies and had a Confederate States die for silver half dollars engraved by the coiner, A. H. M. Peterson. From this die four pieces only were struck on a screw press, the die being of such high relief that its use was impracticable. These four coins composed the entire coinage of the Confederate States. Its design, Obverse: Goddess of Liberty (same as United States coins) with arc of thirteen stars (representing original States), date, "1861." Reverse: American shield beneath a "Liberty Cap"; union of shield and seven stars (representing original seceded States), surrounded by a wreath, to the left (cotton in bloom), to the right (sugar cane). Legend: "Confederate States of America," exergue, "Half Dol."—U. S.(Townsend), p. 427.

( 3) Am. Cyclop., 1861, p. 123.

( 4) P. G. T. Beauregard resigned, February 20, 1861, a captaincy in the United States army while holding the appointment of Superintendent of West Point.

( 5) Life of Beauregard (Roman), vol. i., p. 25.

( 6) Hist. Reg. U. S. A. (Heitman), pp. 836-845.

( 7) Scharf's Hist. C. S. N., p. 14.

( 8) President Lincoln's Message, July, 1861.

( 9) Am. Cyclop., 1861, p. 431.

(10) This is the only instance where Buchanan issued such an order, hence we give it.

"March 1, 1861. "By direction of the President, etc., it is ordered that Brig.-Gen. David E. Twiggs, Major-General by brevet, be, and is hereby dismissed from the army of the United States for his treachery to the flag of his country, in having surrendered on the 18th of February, 1861, on demand of the authorities of Texas, the military posts and other property of the United States in his department and under his charge.

"J. Holt, Secretary of War. "S. Cooper, Adjutant-General."

(11) Lieutenant Frank C. Armstrong (First Cavalry), pending his resignation, fought at Bull Run (July, 1861) for the Union, then went into the Confederacy and became a Brigadier-General.

(12) "Treasury Department, Jan. 29, 1861. "W. Hemphill Jones, New Orleans:

"Tell Lieutenant Caldwell to arrest Captain Breshwood, assume command of the cutter and obey the order through you. If Captain Breshwood, after arrest, undertakes to interfere with the command of the cutter, tell Lieutenant Caldwell to consider him a mutineer, and treat him accordingly.

"If any one attempts to haul down the American flag, Shoot him on the Spot.

"John A. Dix, Secretary of the Treasury."

(13) Sherman's Memoirs, vol. i, p. 163.

(14) Manassas to Appomattox (Longstreet), pp. 29-30.

(15) John Wilkes, British Par., 1780 (Pat. Reader, p. 135).

(16) In 1861 an army officer was not required (as now) to take an oath of office on receiving promotion. The following is a copy of the last oath taken by Robert E. Lee as a United States Army officer, and it shows the form of oath then taken by other army officers.

"I, Robert E. Lee, appointed Lieutenant-Colonel of the Second Regiment of Cavalry in the Army of the United States, do solemnly swear that I will bear true allegiance to the United States of America, and that I will serve them honestly and faithfully against all their enemies or opposers whatsoever; and observe and obey the orders of the President of the United States, and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to the Rules and Articles for the government of the Armies of the United States.

"R. E. Lee, Bt.-Col., U. S. A.

"Sworn to and subscribed before me at West Point, N. Y., this 15th day of March, 1855.

"Wm. H. Carpenter, Justice of the Peace."

(17) Letter of Adjutant-General Thomas to Garfield. Army of Cumberland Society Proceedings (Cleveland), 1870, p. 94.

(18) War Records, vol. i., pp. 11-13.

It is worthy of note that at high noon, exactly four years later (1865) the identical flag lowered in dishonor was "raised in glory" over Fort Sumter, Robert Anderson participating.

(19) Crawford, p. 421.

(20) Life of Toombs (Stovall), p. 226.

(21) One man was killed on each side by accident.

(22) Letter to Greeley, August 22, 1862, Lincoln's Com. Works, vol. ii., p. 227; also same sentiment, letter to Robinson, August 17, 1864, p. 563.

(23) General Benjamin Lincoln, of the Revolution, affords a striking example. He was brave, skillful, often held high command, and always possessed Washington's confidence, yet he never won a battle. To compensate him somewhat for his misfortunes Washington designated him to receive the surrender at Yorktown, October 19, 1781.— Washington and His Generals (Headley), vol. ii., pp. 104, 121.

(24) Euripides said, more than two thousand years ago: "Cowards do no count in battle; they are there, but not in it."

(25) Hist. of Rebellion (McPherson), pp. 114, 115.

(26) Ordnance and inspecting officers during the War of the Rebellion contended that the .58 calibre rifle was the smallest practicable. In 1863 I purchased for special use a small number of Martini-Henry repeating rifles, calibre .44, and on applying for ammunition, the ordnance officer protested against supplying it on the ground that the ball used was too small for effective use. This, I demonstrated at the time, was a mistake. And now (1896), after years of most careful experiments and tests by the most skilled boards of officers, English, German, French, Austrian, Swedish, United States, etc., it has been ascertained that a steel- jacket, leaden ball fired from a rifle of .30 calibre has the highest velocity and greatest penetrating power.

The armies of all these countries are now, or are fast being, armed with this superior, small-calibre rifle.

(27) As late as April, 1862, Jeff. Davis, though a soldier by training and experience, attached importance to "pikes and knives" as war-weapons.—War Records, vol. x., pt. 2., p. 413.

CHAPTER III Personal Mention—Occupancy of Western Virginia under McClellan (1861)—Campaign and Battle of Rich Mountain, and Incidents

Events leading, as we have seen, to the secession of States; to the organization of the Confederate States of America; to the assembling of Confederate forces in large numbers; to the firing on Fort Sumter and its subsequent capitulation, and to the summons to arms of seventy-five thousand volunteer United States troops, ended all thoughts of peace through means other than war.

President Lincoln and his advisers did not delude themselves with the notion that three months would end the war. He and they knew too well how deep-seated the purpose was to consummate secession, hence before the war had progressed far the first three years' call was made.

By common judgment, South as well as North, Virginia was soon the be the scene of early battle. Its proximity to Washington, the Capital, made it necessary to occupy the south side of the Potomac. The western part of the State was not largely interested in slaves or slave labor, and it was known to have many citizens loyal to the Union. These it was important to protect and recognize. The neutral and doubtful attitude Kentucky at first assumed made its occupation a very delicate matter.

While many volunteer troops were hastened to the defense of Washington, large numbers were gathered in camps throughout the North for instruction, organization, and equipment.

When Lincoln's first call for troops was made I was at Springfield, Ohio, enjoying a fairly lucrative law practice as things then went, but with competition acutely sharp for future great success.

I had, in November, 1856, come from the common labor of a farm to a small city, to there complete a course of law reading, commenced years before and prosecuted at irregular intervals. After my removal to Springfield I finished a preparatory course, and January 12, 1858, when not yet twenty-two years of age, I was admitted to practice law by the Supreme Court of Ohio, and settled in Springfield, where I had the good fortune to enjoy a satisfactory share of the clientage. I had from youth a desire to learn as much as possible of war and military campaigns, but, save a little volunteer militia training of a poor kind, obtained as a member of a uniformed military company, and a little duty on a militia general's staff, I had no education or preparation for the responsible duties of a soldier— certainly none for the important duties of an officer of any considerable command.

Thus situated and unprepared, on the first call for volunteers I enlisted as a private soldier in a Springfield company, and went with it to Camp Jackson, now Goodale Park, Columbus, Ohio.( 1)

The first volunteers were allowed to elect their own company and field officers. I was elected Major of the 3d Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and commissioned, April 27, 1861, by Governor William Dennison.

A few days subsequently, my regiment was sent to Camp Dennison, near Cincinnati, to begin its work of preparation for the field. Here I saw and came to know in some sense Major-General George B. McClellan, also Wm. S. Rosecrans, Jacob D. Cox, Gordon Granger, and others who afterward became Major-Generals. I also met many others, whom in the campaigns and battles of the succeeding four years I knew and appreciated as accomplished officers. But many I met there fell by the way, not alone by the accidents of battle but because of unfitness for command or general inefficiency.

The Colonel of my regiment (Marrow) so magnified a Mexican war experience as to make the unsophisticated citizen-soldier look upon him with awe, yet he never afterwards witnessed a real battle. John Beatty, who became later a Colonel, then Brigadier-General, was my Lieutenant-Colonel; he did not, I think, even possess the equivalent of my poor pretense of military training. He was, however, a typical volunteer Union soldier; brainy, brave, terribly in earnest, always truthful, and what he did not know he made no pretense of knowing, but set about learning. He had by nature the spirit of a good soldier; as the war progressed the true spirit of the warrior became an inspiration to him; and at Perryville, Stone's River, Chickamauga, and on other fields he won just renown, not alone for personal gallantry but for skill in handling and personally fighting his command.

The 3d Ohio and most of the three-months' regiments at Camp Dennison were promptly re-enlisted under the President's May 3d call for three years' volunteers, and I was again (June 12, 1861) commissioned its Major.

In early June, McClellan, who commanded the Department of Ohio, including Western Virginia, crossed the Ohio and assembled an army, mainly at and in the vicinity of Grafton.

He had issued, May 26th, 1861, from his headquarters at Cincinnati, a somewhat bombastic proclamation to the people of Western Virginia, relating in part to the recent vote on secession, saying his invasion was delayed to avoid the appearance of influencing the result. It promised protection to loyal men against armed rebels, and indignantly disclaimed any disposition to interfere with slaves or slavery, promising to crush an attempted insurrection "with an iron hand."

The proclamation closed thus:

"Notwithstanding all that has been said by the traitors to induce you to believe that our advent among you will be signalized with interference with your slaves, understand one thing clearly—not only will we abstain from all such interference, but we will, on the contrary, with an iron hand, crush any attempt at insurrection on their part. Now that we are in your midst, I call upon you to fly to arms and support the General Government.

"Sever the connection that binds you to traitors. Proclaim to the world that the faith and loyalty so long boasted by the Old Dominion are still preserved in Western Virginia, and that you remain true to the Stars and Stripes."( 2)

This proclamation won no friends for the Union in the mountains of Western Virginia, where slaves were few and slavery was detested. The mountaineers were naturally for the Union, and such an appeal was likely to do more harm than good.

The proclamation, however, was in harmony with the then policy of the Administration at Washington and with public sentiment generally in the North.

Colonel George A. Porterfield, on May 4th, was ordered by Robert E. Lee, then in command of the Virginia forces, to repair to Grafton, the junction of two branches of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and there assemble the Confederate troops with a view to holding that part of the State of Virginia; in case, however, he failed in this and was unable permanently to hold that railroad, he was instructed to cut it.

On June 8th, General R. S. Garnett was assigned by Lee to the command of the Confederate troops of Northwestern Virginia.

The Union forces under Col. B. F. Kelley, 1st Virginia Volunteers, occupied Grafton May 30th, the forces under Porterfield having retired without a fight to Philippi, about sixteen miles distant on a turnpike road leading from Webster (four miles from Grafton) over Laurel Hill to Beverly. As roads are few in Western Virginia, and as this road proved to be one of great importance in the campaign upon which we are just entering, it may be well to say that it continues through Huttonville, across Tygart's Valley River, through Cheat Mountain Pass over the summit of Cheat Mountain, thence through Greenbrier to Staunton at the head of the Shenandoah Valley. At Beverly it is intersected by another turnpike from Clarksburg, through Buchannon via Middle Fork Bridge, Roaring Creek (west of Rich Mountain), Rich Mountain Summit, etc. From Huttonville a road leads southward up the Tygart's Valley River, crossing the mouth of Elk Water about seven miles from Huttonville, thence past Big Springs on Valley Mountain to Huntersville, Virginia. The region through which these roads pass is mountainous.

Ohio and Indiana volunteers made up the body of the army under McClellan. These troops assembled first in the vicinity of Grafton. The first camp the 3d Ohio occupied was at Fetterman, two miles west of Grafton. Porterfield made a halt at Philippi, where he gathered together about eight hundred poorly-armed and disciplined men. Detachments under Col. B. F. Kelley and Col. E. Dumont of Indiana, surprised him, June 3d, by a night march, and captured a part of his command, much of his supplies, and caused him to retreat with his forces disorganized and in disgrace. There Colonel Kelley was seriously wounded by a pistol shot. General Garnett, soon after the affair at Philippi, collected about four thousand men at Laurel Hill, on the road leading to Beverly. This position was naturally a strong one, and was soon made formidable with earthworks and artillery. He took command there in person. At the foot of Rich Mountain (western side), on the road leading from Clarksville through Buchannon to Beverly, a Confederate force of about two thousand, with considerable artillery, was strongly fortified, commanded by Colonel John Pegram, late of the U.S.A. Beverly was made the base of supplies for both commands. Great activity was displayed to recruit and equip a large Confederate force to hold Western Virginia. They had troops on the Kanawha under Gen. Henry A. Wise and Gen. J. B. Floyd. The latter was but recently President Buchanan's Secretary of War.

Brig.-Gen. Thomas A. Morris of Indiana was given about 4000 men after the affair at Philippi to hold and watch Garnett at Laurel Hill. McClellan having concentrated a force at Clarksburg on the Parkersburg stem of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, moved it thence on the Beverly road, via Buchannon, to the front of Pegram's position.

His army on this road numbered about 10,000.

Gen. Wm. S. Rosecrans, the second in command, led a brigade; Gen. N. Schleich, a three-months' general from Ohio, and Col. Robert L. McCook (9th O.V.I.), also in some temporary way commanded brigades.

The 3d Ohio Infantry was of Schleich's brigade.

While the troops were encamped at Buchannon, Schleich, on July 6th, without the knowledge of McClellan, sent two companies under Captain Lawson of the 3d Ohio on a reconnoitring expedition to ascertain the position of the enemy. Lawson found the enemy's advance pickets at Middle Fork Bridge, and a spirited fight occurred in which he lost one man killed and inflicted some loss on the enemy. This unauthorized expedition caused McClellan to censure Schleich, who was only to be excused on the score of inexperience.

By the evening of July 9th the Union army reached and camped on Roaring Creek, near the base of Rich Mountain, about one and a half miles from the front of Pegram's fortified position.

General Morris was ordered at this time to take up a position immediately confronting Garnett's entrenched position at Laurel Hill, to watch his movements, and, if he attempted to retreat, to attack and pursue him.

On the 10th of July the 4th and 9th Ohio Regiments with Capt. C. O. Loomis' battery (Cold Water, Mich.), under the direction of Lieut. O. M. Poe of the engineers, made a reconnoissance on the enemy's front, which served to lead McClellan to believe the enemy's "intrenchments were held by a large force, with several guns in position to command the front approaches, and that a direct assault would result in heavy and unnecessary loss of life."

This belief, he says, determined him to make an effort to turn the enemy's flank and attack him in the rear.

Rosecrans, however, has the honor of submitting, about 10 P.M. of the night of July 10th, a plan for turning the enemy's position, which, with some reluctance, McClellan directed him to carry out.

Rosecrans' brigade consisted of the 8th, 10th, and 13th Indiana, 19th Ohio and Burdsell's company of cavalry, numbering in all 1917 men.

The plan proposed by Rosecrans and approved by McClellan was first suggested by a young man by the name of Hart, whose father's house stood on the pike near the summit of Rich Mountain, two miles in the rear of Pegram's position. Young Hart had been driven from home by the presence of Confederates, and was eager to do what he could for the Union cause. He sought Rosecrans, and proposed to lead him by an unfrequented route around the enemy's left, and under cover of the dense timber, by a considerable circuit, to the crest of Rich Mountain, thence to the road at his old home in the enemy's rear. He so impressed himself on Rosecrans and those around him as to secure their confidence in him and his plan. In arranging details it was ordered that Rosecrans, guided by Hart, should, at daylight of the 11th, leave the main road about one mile in front of the enemy's fortifications, keep under cover of the declivities of the mountain spurs, avoid using an axe or anything to make a noise, reach the road at the mountain summit, establish himself there as firmly as possible, and from thence attack the enemy's rear by the main road. While Rosecrans was doing this McClellan was to move the body of the army close under the enemy's guns and be in readiness to assault the front on its being known that Rosecrans was ready to attack in the rear.

The whole distance the flanking column would have to make was estimated to be five miles, but it proved to be much greater. The mountain was not only steep, but extremely rocky and rugged. Pegram, after inspection, had regarded a movement by his left flank to his rear as absolutely impossible.( 3)

His right flank, however, was not so well protected by nature, and to avoid surprise from this direction he kept pickets and scouts well out to his right. Hart regarded a movement around the enemy's right as certain of discovery, and hence not likely to be successful.

Promptly at day-dawn Rosecrans passed into the mountain fastness, whither the adventurous hunter only had rarely penetrated, accompanied by Col. F. W. Lander, a volunteer aide-de-camp of McClellan's staff —a man of much frontier experience in the West. In a rain lasting five hours the column slowly struggled through the dense timber, up the mountain, crossing and recrossing ravines by tortuous ways, and by 1 P.M. it had arrived near the mountain top, but yet some distance to the southward of where the Beverly road led through a depression, over the summit. After a brief rest, when, on nearing the road at Hart's house, it was discovered and fired on unexpectedly by the enemy.

To understand how it turned out that the enemy was found near the summit where he was not expected, it is necessary to recur to what McClellan was doing in the enemy's front. Hart had assured Rosecrans there was no hostile force on the summit of the mountain, and on encountering the Confederates there, Rosecrans for the time suspected his guide of treachery.

But first an incident occurred in the 3d Ohio Regiment worth mentioning. I. H. Marrow, its Colonel, who professed to be in confidential relations with McClellan, returned from headquarters about midnight of the 10th, and assuming to be possessed of the plans for the next day, and pregnant with the great events to follow, called out the regiment, and solemnly addressed it in substance as follows:

"Soldiers of the Third: The assault on the enemy's works will be made in the early morning. The Third will lead the column. The secessionists have ten thousand men and forty rifled cannon. They are strongly fortified. They have more man and more cannon than we have. They will cut us to pieces. Marching to attack such an enemy, so intrenched and so armed, is marching to a butcher-shop, rather than to a battle. There is bloody work ahead. Many of you, boys, will go out who will never come back again."( 4)

This speech, thus delivered to soldiers unused to battle was calculated to cause the credulous to think of friends, home—death, and it certainly had no tendency to inspire the untried volunteers with hope and confidence. The speech was, of course, the wild, silly vaporings of a weak man.

I was sent with a detachment of the 3d Ohio to picket the road in front of the enemy and in advance of the point from whence Rosecrans had left it to ascend the mountain. My small force took up a position less than one half mile from the enemy's fortified position, driving back his pickets at the dawn of day through the dense timber on each side of the road. About 9 A.M. a mounted orderly from McClellan came galloping from camp carrying a message for Rosecrans, said to be a countermand of former orders, and requiring him to halt until another and better plan of movement could be made. The messenger was, as he stoutly insisted, directed to overtake Rosecrans by pursuing a route to the enemy's right, whereas Rosecrans had gone to our right and the enemy's left. Of this the orderly was not only informed by me, but he was warned of the proximity of the Confederate pickets. He persisted, however, in the error, and presented the authority of the commanding General to pass all Union pickets. This was reluctantly respected, and the ill-fated orderly galloped on in search of a route to his left. In a moment or two the sharp crack of a rifle was heard, and almost immediately the horse of the orderly came dashing into our picket lines, wounded and riderless. The story was told. The dispatch, with its bearer, dead or alive, was in the enemy's hands. The orderly was, however, not killed, but had been seriously hurt by a rifle ball. He and his dispatch for Rosecrans gave Pegram his first knowledge of the movements of the column to the mountain summit.

For reasons already stated, Pegram entertained no fear of an attack on his left and rear, but was somewhat apprehensive that his right was not equally secure, and hence, early on the 11th, he had sent a small picket to near Hart's house and taken the further precaution to have his right vigilantly watched. The message found on the captured orderly informed Pegram that Rosecrans was leading a column to his rear.( 5) The latter thereupon sent a strong reinforcement under Captain Julius A. De Lagnel to the picket already on the mountain summit. By reason of the expected approach of a force around the right, breastworks were hastily thrown up and two pieces of artillery put in position to repel an attack from that direction. Pegram, in his uncertainty, concluded that Rosecrans might take a still wider circuit around his right and thus pass over the mountain by a pathway or road leading into the turnpike one and a half miles from Beverly; and to guard against this he ordered Col. Wm. C. Scott, with the 44th Virginia, then at Beverly, to take position with two pieces of artillery at the junction of the roads mentioned, and to scout well the flanking road.( 6)

The unexpected presence of the enemy at the summit of the mountain is thus explained, and the reliability and faithfulness of the guide vindicated. Captain De Lagnel, as well as Rosecrans, was doomed also to a surprise.

Rosecrans' command debouched from the wooded mountain and along its crest upon the rear of De Lagnel's position, and new dispositions of the Confederate force had to be made to meet the attack.

The position of De Lagnel's force was on and near the line of the turnpike as it passed over the mountain, and hence Rosecrans' column, in its approach from the southward, having gained the heights some distance from the road, was from a greater elevation.

The 10th Indiana, under Colonel Manson, was in advance and received the first fire of the enemy.

After a delay of some forty minutes, during which time the enemy was receiving reinforcements, and both sides rectifying their positions to the real situation, the order to advance and attack was given by Rosecrans, and though the troops were new and little drilled, they were well led and responded gallantly. The battle proper did not last beyond fifteen minutes. The Confederates made a brave resistance, but they were not exceeding 800 strong, and though they had the advantage of artillery, they were not advantageously posted, consequently were soon overthrown, their commander being shot down, and 21 prisoners, about 50 stand of arms, 2 pieces of artillery, and some supplies taken. The Union loss was 12 killed and 69 wounded, and the Confederate loss probably about the same.

Captain De Lagnel was, by both sides, reported killed, and his gallantry was highly lauded.( 7) General McClellan and others of the regular army officers assumed next day to recognize his body and to know him, and to deplore his early death. He had been shortly before, as we have seen, captured as a Union officer at Fayetteville, N. C., and had at a still later date resigned from the U.S.A. His alleged death, being generally reported through the Confederacy, was made the occasion of many funeral sermons and orations, eulogizing his Southern loyalty and glorious sacrifice of life "on the heights of Rich Mountain" in the cause of human slavery, called Southern rights, or Southern freedom.

But we shall hear of De Lagnel again.

Pegram, learning of the disaster on the mountain in his rear, called his best troops around him and in person started to attack and dislodge Rosecrans. He reached the proximity of the battlefield about 6 P.M., but being advised by his officers that his men were demoralized, and could not be relied on, desisted from attacking, and returned to his main camp and position.( 8)

Of the dispersed Confederate forces some escaped towards Beverly, joining Scott's 44th Virginia on the way, and some were driven back to the fortified camp and to join Pegram.

While Rosecrans was operating on the enemy's rear, McClellan was inactive in front. McClellan claimed he was to receive hourly word from Rosecrans during his progress through and up the rugged mountain, and not thus often hearing from him, he, in the presence of his officers, denounced the movement, and put upon Rosecrans the responsibility of its then predicted certain failure.

The only information received from Rosecrans during the day was a message announcing the successful progress of the column at 11 A.M. on the 11th; it was then approaching Hart's house, and about one and a half miles distant from it.( 9)

The arrangement made in advance was that on Rosecrans gaining a position on the mountain he was to move down it upon Pegram's rear, and McClellan with the main army was to attack from the front. It was not contemplated that Pegram should be fully advised of the plan before it could be, in considerable part, executed. Rosecrans' men, being much exhausted by the laborious ascent of the precipitous mountain, and having to fight an unexpected battle, did not advance to attack the enemy's intrenchments in the rear, but awaited the sound of McClellan's guns on the front. The day was too far spent the communicate the situation by messenger, and McClellan remained for the day and succeeding night in total ignorance of the real result of the battle; and though its smoke could be plainly seen, and the sound of musketry and artillery distinctly heard from his position, from circumstances which appeared to be occurring in the enemy's camp after the sound of the battle had ceased, McClellan reached the conclusion that Rosecrans was defeated, if not captured and destroyed, and this led McClellan and certain members of his staff to industriously announce that Rosecrans had disobeyed orders and would be held responsible for the disaster which had occurred. McClellan remained with the main body of his army quietly in camp on Roaring Creek until about midday when, he states in his report, "I moved up all my available force to the front and remained in person just in rear of the advance pickets, ready to assault when the indicated movement arrived."

While the troops were waiting for the "indicated movement," the enemy had drawn in his skirmishers in expectation of an assault. I was on the front with the skirmishers, and in my eagerness and inexperience naturally desired to see the real situation of the enemy's fortifications and guns. With two or three fearless soldiers following closely, and without orders, by a little detour through brush and timber to the left of the principal road, I came out in front of the fortifications close under some of the guns and obtained a good survey of them. The enemy, apprehending an assault, opened fire on us with a single discharge from one piece of artillery,(10) which he was not able to depress sufficiently to do us any harm. We, however, withdrew precipitately, and I attempted at once to report to McClellan the situation and location of the guns of the enemy and the strength and position of his fortified camp, but, instead of thanks for the information, I received a fierce rebuke, and was sharply told that my conduct might have resulted in bringing on a general battle before the General was ready. I never sinned in that way again while in McClellan's command.

Late in the afternoon of the 11th, when the sound of the battle on the mountain had ceased, an officer was seen to gallop into the camp of the enemy on the mountain side; he made a vehement address to the troops there, and the loud cheers with which they responded were distinctly heard in our camp.

This proceeding being reported to McClellan, at once settled him and others about him in the belief that Rosecrans had been defeated. A little later Confederate troops were seen moving to the rear and up the mountain. This, instead of being as reinforcements for defeated troops, as it really was, was taken as a possible aggressive movement which, in some occult way, must assail and overthrow the main army in front. As the day wore away, Poe, of the engineers, was sent to our right to find a position on the immediate left of the enemy where artillery could be used. I was detailed with two companies of the 3d Ohio to accompany him. We climbed a mountain spur and soon reached a position within rifle-musket range of the enemy which completely commanded his guns and fortifications. So near was my command that I desired permission to open fire without awaiting the arrival of artillery, but this not being given by Poe, of the headquarters staff, and being fresh from a rebuke from that quarter, I gave a peremptory order not to fire unless attacked. On discovering us in his rear, the enemy turned his guns and fired a few artillery shots at us, doing no harm, but affording a plausible excuse for a discharge of musketry that seemed to silence the enemy's guns, as their firing at once ceased.

Poe was a young officer of fine personal appearance, superb physique, a West Point graduate, and a grandson of one of the celebrated Indian fighters, especially noted for killing the Wyandot Chief, Big Foot, on the Ohio River in 1782.

Poe was on staff duty throughout the war; became a Brevet-Brigadier, corps of engineers, and died as a Colonel in the United States army at Detroit, Michigan, October 2, 1895.

My acquaintance with him commenced on the spur of Rich Mountain under the circumstances mentioned.

McClellan, in his report, says:

"I sent Lieutenant Poe to find such a position for our artillery as would enable us to command the works. Late in the afternoon I received his report that he had found such a place. I immediately detailed a party to cut a road to it for our guns, but it was too late to get them into position before dark, and as I had received no intelligence whatever of General Rosecrans' movements, I finally determined to return to camp, leaving merely sufficient force to cover the working party. Orders were then given to move up the guns with the entire available infantry at daybreak the following morning. As the troops were much fatigued, some delay occurred in moving from camp, and just as the guns were starting intelligence was received that the enemy had evacuated their works and fled over the mountains, leaving all their guns, means of transportation, ammunition, tents, and baggage behind.

"Then for the first time since 11 o'clock the previous day, I received a communication from General Rosecrans, giving me the first intimation that he had taken the enemy's position at Hart's farm."(11)

Here was a commanding general in the peculiar situation that he could almost see and could plainly hear a battle raging, but did not learn its successful result until fifteen hours after it ceased.

I remained on the mountain spur in command of a few companies of infantry with orders to keep the men standing in line of battle, without fires, during the entire night. It rained most of the time, and the weather becoming cold the men suffered intensely. The rest of the army retired to its camp a mile and a half distant.

Pegram gathered his demoralized forces together, and with such as were supposed able to make a long march, started about midnight to escape by a mountain path around to the westward of the Hart farm, hoping to gain the main road and join Garnett's forces, still supposed to be at Laurel Hill.

On the morning of the 12th of July we found a few broken-down men in Pegram's late camp, and a considerable number of mere boys— students from William and Mary and Hamden-Sidney colleges—too young yet for war.

McClellan and his staff, with dazzling display, rode through the deserted works, viewed the captured guns, gazed on the dejected prisoners, and then wired the War Department: "In possession of all the enemy's works up to a point in sight of Beverly. Have taken all his guns. . . . Behavior of troops in action and towards prisoners admirable."

The army moved up the mountain to the battle-field, and halted a few moments to view it. The sight of men with gunshot wounds was the first for the new volunteers, and they were deeply impressed by it; all looked upon those who had participated in the battle as veritable heroes.

Late on the 12th the troops reached Beverly, the junction of the turnpike roads far in the rear of Laurel Hill, and there bivouacked.

Garnett, learning of Pegram's disaster at Rich Mountain, abandoned his intrenchments at Laurel Hill, and leaving his tents and other property hastily retreated towards Beverly, pursued rather timidly by Morris' command. Had Garnett pushed his army rapidly through Beverly he could have passed in safety on the afternoon of the 12th, but being falsely informed that it was occupied in the morning of that day by McClellan's troops, he turned off at Leadsville Church, about five miles from Beverly, and retreated up the Leading Creek road, a very rough and difficult one to travel. A portion of Morris' command, led by Captain Benham of the regular army, followed in close pursuit, while other went quietly into camp under Morris' orders.

Pegram, with his fleeing men, succeeded in finding a way over the mountain, and at 7 P.M. of the 12th reached Tygart's Valley River, near the Beverly and Laurel Hill road, about three miles from Leadsville Church. They had travelled without road or path about twelve miles, and were broken down and starving. Pegram here learned from inhabitants of Garnett's retreat, the Union pursuit, and of the Union occupancy of Beverly. All hope of escape in a body was gone, and though distant six miles from Beverly, he dispatched a note to the commanding officer of the Union forces, saying:

"Owing to the reduced and almost famished condition of the force now here under my command, I am compelled to offer to surrender them to you as prisoners of war. I have only to ask that they receive at your hands such treatment as Northern prisoners have invariably received from the South."

McClellan sent staff officers to Pegram's camp to conduct him and his starving soldiers to Beverly, they numbering 30 officers and 525 men.(12) Others escaped.

The prisoners were paroled and sent South on July 15th, save such of the officers, including Colonel Pegram, as had recently left the United States army to join the Confederate States army; these were retained and sent to Fort McHenry.(13)

Garnett retreated through Tucker County to Kalea's Ford on Cheat River, where he camped on the night of the 12th. His rear was overtaken on the 13th at Carrick's Ford, and a lively engagement took place, with loss on both sides; during a skirmish at another ford about a mile from Carrick's, Garnett, while engaged in covering his retreat and directing skirmishers, was killed by a rifle ball.(14)

Garnett had been early selected for promotion in the Confederate army, and he promised to become a distinguished leader. His army, now much demoralized and disorganized, continued its retreat via Horse-Shoe Run and Red House, Maryland, to Monterey, Virginia. General C. W. Hill, through timidity or inexperience, permitted the broken Confederate troops to pass him unmolested at Red House, where, as ordered, he should have concentrated a superior force.

McClellan, July 14th, moved his army over the road leading through Huttonville to Cheat Mountain Pass, and a portion of it pursued a small force of the enemy to and beyond the summit of Cheat Mountain, on the Staunton pike, but no enemy was overtaken, and the campaign was at an end.

It was the first campaign; it had the appearance of success, and McClellan, by his dispatches, gathered to himself all the glory of it. He received the commendation of General Scott, the President, and his Cabinet.(15)

From Beverly, July 16, 1861, McClellan issued a painfully vain, congratulatory address to the "Soldiers of the Army of the West."(16)

As early as July 21, 1861, he dispatched his wife that he did not "feel sure that the men would fight very well under any one but himself"; and that it was absolutely necessary for him to go in person to the Kanawha to attack General Wise. Thus far he had led no troops in battle. The Union defeat, on this date, at Bull Run, however, turned attention to McClellan, as he alone, apparently, had achieved success, though a success, as we have seen, mainly, if not wholly, due to Rosecrans.

On July 22, 1861, he was summoned to Washington, and on the 24th left his "Army of the West" to assume other and more responsible military duties, of which we will not here speak. In dismissing him from this narrative, I desire to say that I wrote to a friend in July, 1861, an opinion as to the capacity and character of McClellan as a military leader, which I have not since felt called on to revise, and one now generally accepted by the thoughtful men of this country. McClellan was kind and generous, but weak, and so inordinately vain that he thought it unnecessary to accept the judgment of men of higher attainments and stronger character. Even now strong men shudder when they recall the fact that George B. McClellan apparently had, for a time, in his keeping the destiny of the Republic.

To indicate the state of his mind, and likewise the immensity of his vanity, I here give an extract from a letter, of August 9, 1861, to his wife, leaving the reader to make his own comment and draw his own conclusions.

"General Scott is the great obstacle. He will not comprehend the danger. I have to fight my way against him. To-morrow the question will probably be decided by giving me absolute control independently of him. . . . The people call on me to save the country. I must save it, and cannot respect anything that is in the way.

"I receive letter after letter, have conversation after conversation, calling on me to save the nation, alluding to the presidency, dictatorship, etc. . . . I would cheerfully take the dictatorship and agree to lay down my life when the country is saved," etc.(17)

General McClellan was not disloyal, nor did he lack a technical military education. He was a good husband, an indulgent father, a kind and devoted friend, of pure life, but unfortunately he was for a time mistaken for a great soldier, and this mistake he never himself discovered.

He had about him, while holding high command, many real and professed friends, most of whom partook of his habits of thought and possessed only his characteristics. President Lincoln did not fail to understand him, but sustained and long stood by him for want of a known better leader for the Eastern army, and because he had many adherents among military officers.

Greeley, in the first volume of his American Conflict, written at the beginning of the war, has a page containing the portraits of twelve of the then most distinguished "Union Generals." Scott is the central figure, and around him are McClellan, Butler, McDowell, Wool, Fremont, Halleck, Burnside, Hunter, Hooker, Buell, and Anderson. All survived the war, and not one of them was at its close a distinguished commander in the field. One or two at most had maintained only creditable standing as officers; the others (Scott excepted, who retired on account of great age) having proved, for one cause or another, failures.

In Greeley's second volume, published at the close of the war, is another group of "Union Generals." Grant is the central figure, and around him are Sherman, Sheridan, Thomas, Meade, Hancock, Blair, Howard, Terry, Curtis, Banks, and Gilmore—not one of the first twelve; and he did not even then exhaust the list of great soldiers who fairly won eternal renown.

The true Chieftains had to be evolved in the flame of battle, amid the exigencies of the long, bloody war, and they had to win their promotions on the field.

( 1) For a summary life of the writer before and after the war, see Appendix A.

( 2) War Records, vol. ii., p. 48.

( 3) Colonel Pegram's Rep., War Records, vol. ii., p. 267.

( 4) Citizen Soldier (John Beatty), p. 22.

( 5) It seems that this orderly did decline to say which flank Rosecrans was turning, as he must have had doubts after what had transpired as to his instructions; nevertheless Pegram decided Rosecrans was passing around his right, and so notified Garnett.— War Records, vol. ii., pp. 256, 260, 272.

( 6) Ibid., vol. ii., p. 275.

( 7) War Records, vol. ii., p. 245.

( 8) Ibid., (Pegram's Report), vol. ii., p. 265.

( 9) War Records (McClellan's Report), vol. ii., p. 206.

(10) Citizen Soldier (Beatty), p. 24.

(11) War Records, vol. ii., p. 206.

(12) War Records (Pegram's Report), vol. ii., p. 267.

(13) At Beverly lived a sister of Thomas J. Jackson (Stonewall), Mrs. Arnold, who, though her husband was also disloyal, was a pronounced Union woman and remained devoted to the Union cause throughout the war.

(14) War Records, vol. ii., p. 287.

(15) Ibid., p. 204.

(16) Ibid., p. 236.

(17) McClellan's Own Story, p. 84.

CHAPTER IV Repulse of General Lee and Affairs of Cheat Mountain and in Tygart's Valley (September, 1861)—Killing of John A. Washington, and Incidents, and Formation of State of West Virginia

General Rosecrans, from headquarters at Grafton, July 25, 1861, assumed command of the "Army of Occupation in Western Virginia." He subsequently removed his headquarters to the field on the Kanawha and there actively participated in campaigns.

Brigadier-General Joseph J. Reynolds, of Indiana, a regular officer, was assigned to the first brigade and to command the troops in the Cheat Mountain region.

Many of the troops who served under McClellan were three-months' men who responded to President Lincoln's first call and, as their terms of service expired, were mustered out, thus materially reducing the strength of the army in Western Virginia, and as the danger apprehended at Washington was great, new regiments, as rapidly as they could be organized, were sent there.

Already a movement at Wheeling had commenced to repudiate the secession of Virginia, and to organize a state government, and subsequently a new State.

Great efforts were put forth at Richmond by Governor Letcher and the Confederate authorities to regain possession of Western Virginia and to suppress this loyal political movement.

John B. Floyd and Henry A. Wise, both in the Confederate service, and others were active on the Kanawha and in Southwestern Virginia, but as the line from Staunton across Cheat Mountain led to Buchannon and Clarksburg, and also via Laurel Hill to Webster and Grafton, striking the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad at two points, it was regarded at Richmond as the gateway to Western Virginia which, if opened, would insure its permanent recovery.

General R. E. Lee, from the first a favorite of the Confederate authorities, who had thus far won no particular renown, not even participating in the Bull Run battle and campaign, was now (about August 1st) sent to Western Virginia "to strike a decisive blow at the enemy in that quarter."( 1)

He established his headquarters at Staunton, but we find him, in August, with his main army at Valley Mountain (Big Springs), on the Huntersville road, and about twelve miles south of the Union camp at Elk Water on the Tygart's Valley River. General W. W. Loring, late of the United States Army, an officer who won some fame in the Mexican War, was in immediate command of the Confederate troops at Valley Mountain. Brigadier-General H. R. Jackson—not Stonewall Jackson, as so often stated—commanded the Confederate forces, subject to the orders of Loring, on the Greenbrier, on the Staunton road leading over Cheat Mountain to Huttonville. On these two lines Lee soon had above 11,000 effective soldiers present for duty, and he could draw others from Floyd and Wise in the Kanawha country.( 2)

Confronting Lee's army was the command of General Reynolds, with headquarters at Cheat Mountain Pass,( 3) three miles from Huttonville on the Staunton pike. Here Colonel Sullivan's 13th Indiana, part of Loomis' battery, and Bracken's Indiana Cavalry were camped. On Cheat Mountain, at the middle mountain-top, about nine miles to the southeast of Huttonville on the Staunton pike, were the 14th Indiana, 24th and 25th Ohio, and parts of the same battery and cavalry, Colonel Nathan Kimball of the 14th in command. At Camp Elk Water, about one mile north of the mouth of Elk Water in the Tygart's River Valley, and about seven miles southward from Huttonville on the Huntersville pike, the 15th and 17th Indiana and the 3d and 6th Ohio Infantry, and still another part of Loomis' battery, were posted. Reynolds' entire command did not exceed 4000 available men, and in consequence of almost incessant rains the roads became so bad that it was difficult to supply it with food and forage. The troops being new and unseasoned to camp life, suffered much from sickness. The service for them was hard in consequence of the necessarily great amount of scouting required on the numerous paths leading though the precipitous spurs of the ranges of both Rich and Cheat Mountains, which closely shut in the valley of the Tygart's.

The writer was often engaged leading scouting parties through the mountains.

(The accompanying map will give some idea of the location of the troops and the physical surroundings.)

Whole companies were sometimes posted at somewhat remote and inaccessible places for observation and picket duty.

Scouts and spies constantly reported large accessions to the enemy. Reynolds, therefore, called loudly for reinforcements, but only a few came. On August 26th five companies of the 9th Ohio (Bob McCook's German regiment) and five companies of the 23d Ohio (Col. E. P. Scammon) reached Camp Elk Water. These companies numbered, present for duty, about eight hundred.

The two regiments later became famous. Robert L. McCook and August Willich were then of the 9th, and both afterwards achieved distinction as soldiers.

The 23d was originally commanded by Colonel Wm. S. Rosecrans; then by Colonel E. P. Scammon, who became a Brigadier-General; then by Colonel Stanley Matthews, who became a United States Senator from Ohio, and a Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States; then by Colonel Rutherford B. Hayes, who became a Brigadier-General and Brevet Major-General, and distinguished himself in many battles; he subsequently became a Representative in Congress, was thrice Governor of Ohio, and then President of the United States. Its last commander was Colonel James M. Comly, a brilliant soldier who, after the war, became a distinguished journalist, and later honorably represented his country as Minister at Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands. Lieutenant Robert P. Kennedy was of this regiment, and not only became a Captain and Assistant Adjutant-General, but was brevetted a Brigadier-General, and since the war has been Lieutenant-Governor of Ohio and four years in Congress. Wm. McKinley was also of this regiment, serving as a private, Commissary Sergeant, became a Second and First Lieutenant, then a Captain and Brevet Major, and, since the war, has served four terms as Representative in Congress, has been twice Governor of Ohio, and (as I write) the indications are that he will be nominated in June, 1896, for President, with a certainty of election the following November.( 4)

On August 14, 1861, while Captain Henry E. Cunard, of the 3d Ohio, with part of his company, was on advanced picket on the Brady's Gate road, privates Vincent and Watson, under Corporal Stiner, discovered a man stealthily passing around them through the woods, whom they halted and proceeded to interrogate.

"He professed to be a farm hand; said his employer had a mountain farm not far away, where he pastured cattle; that a two-year-old steer had strayed away, and he was looking for him. His clothes were fearfully torn by brush and briars. His hands and face were scratched by thorns. He had taken off his boots to relieve his swollen feet, and was carrying them in his hands. Imitating the language and manners of an uneducated West Virginian, he asked the sentinel if he 'had seed anything of a red steer.' The sentinel had not. After continuing the conversation for a time he finally said: 'Well, I must be a-going, it is a-gettin' late and I'm durned feared I won't get back to the farm afore night. Good-day.' 'Hold on,' said the sentinel; 'better go and see the Captain.' 'O, no, don't want to trouble him, it is not likely he has seed the steer, and it's a-gettin' late.' 'Come right along,' replied the sentinel, bringing down his gun; 'the Captain will not mind being troubled; in fact, I am instructed to take such as you to him.'"( 5)

The boots were discovered by the keen instinct of the inquiring Yankee to be too neatly made and elegant for a Western Virginian mountaineer employed at twelve dollars a month in caring for cattle in the hackings. When asked the price paid for the boots, the answer was fifteen dollars. The suspect was a highly educated gentleman, wholly incapable of acting his assumed character. He had touched the higher education and civilization of men of learning, and his tongue could not be attuned to lie and deceive in the guise of one to the manor born. Though at first Captain Cunard hesitated, he told the gentleman he would take him for further examination to camp. Finding the Captain, in his almost timid native modesty, was nevertheless obdurate, the now prisoner, knowing hope of escape was gone, declared himself to be Captain Julius A. De Lagnel, late commander of the Confederates in the battle of Rich Mountain, where he was reported killed. His tell-tale boots were made in Washington. He was severely wounded July 11th, and had succeeded in reaching a friendly secluded house near the battle-field, where he remained and was cared for until his wound healed and he was able to travel. He had been in the mountains five days and four nights, and just as he was passing the last and most advanced Union picket he was taken.

His little stock of provisions, consisting of a small sack of biscuits, was about exhausted, and what remained was spoiled. He was taken to camp, wet, shivering, and exhausted from starvation, cold, and exposure. It is needless to say his wants of all kinds were supplied at once by the Union officers. After remaining a few days in our camp, and meeting General Reynolds, who knew him in the United States Army, he was sent to join Pegram at Fort McHenry. Both these officers were soon exchanged, and served through the war, neither rising to great eminence. Pegram became a Major-General, and died, February 6, 1865, of wounds received at Hatcher's Run. De Lagnel became a Brigadier-General, and survived the war. He had the misfortune of being twice captured, as we have seen,( 6) once as a Union and once as a Confederate officer; neither capture, however, occurred through any fault of his.

The 3d Ohio was encamped on the banks of Tygart's Valley River, usually an innocent, pleasantly-flowing mountain stream, but, as it proved, capable of a sudden rise to a dangerous height, as most streams are that are located to catch the waters from many rivulets, gulches, and ravines leading from the adjacent mountain sides and spurs.

Illustrating the exigencies of camp life, an incident is given of this river suddenly rising (August 20th) so as to threaten to sweep away in the flood the 3d Ohio hospital, located by Surgeon McMeans for health and safety on a small island, ordinarily easy of access. The hospital tent contained two wounded and a dozen or more sick. The tents and inmates were at the first alarm removed to the highest ground on the island by men who swam out thither for the purpose. By seven in the evening, however, it became apparent that the whole island would soon be submerged; and logs, driftwood, green trees, etc., were sweeping down the river at a tremendous speed. To rescue the wounded, sick, and attendants at the hospital seemed impossible. Various suggestions were made; a raft was proposed, but this was decided impracticable as, if made and launched, it would in such a current be uncontrollable.

Lieutenant-Colonel John Beatty, of the 3d Ohio, with that Scotch- Irish will and heroic determination which characterized him in all things, especially in fighting the enemy, met the emergency. He got into an army wagon and compelled the teamster to drive into the rushing stream above the island so that he could move, in part, with the current. Thus, by swimming the horses, he, with a few others, escaped the floating timbers and reached the imperiled hospital. He found at once that it was impossible to carry back the occupants or even to return with the wagon. He promptly ordered the driver to unhitch the horses and swim them to shore, and to return in like manner with two or three more wagons. Two more wagons reached Beatty, but one team was carried down the stream and drowned. He placed the three wagons on the highest ground, though all the island was soon overflowed, chained and tied them securely together and to stakes or trees. On the wagon boxes the hospital tent was rolled, and the sick and wounded were placed thereon with some of the hospital supplies. He, with those accompanying him, decided to remain and share their fate, and he, with some who could not get into the wagon, climbed into the trees. The river at 10 P.M. had reached the hubs of the wagons and threatened to submerge them, but soon after it commenced to recede slowly, though a rain again set in, lasting through the night. Morning found the river fast resuming its normal state, and the Colonel and his rescuing party, with the hospital occupants, were all brought safely to the shore.

Two diverting incidents occurred in the night. A false alarm led to the long roll being beaten, the noise of which, and of the men rapidly assembling, could just be heard on the island above the roar of the water. Francis Union, of Company A of the 3d, was shot in the dark and killed, without challenge, by a frightened sentinel. This caused the long roll to be beaten.

Beatty mentions an entertainment, not on the bill, to which he and others were treated while clinging to the trees above the flood, and which was furnished by a soldier teamster (Jake Smith) who had swum to the aid of the hospital people, and a hospital attendant, both of whom were so favorably located as to enjoy unrestrained access to the hospital "commissary." They both became intoxicated, and then quarrelled over their relative rank and social standing. The former insisted upon the other addressing him as Mr. Smith, not as "Jake." The Smith family, he asserted, was not only numerous but highly respectable, and, as one of its honored members, no person of rank below a major-general should take the liberty of calling him "Jake;" especially would this not be tolerated from "one who carried out pukes and slop-buckets from a field hospital" —such a one should not even call him "Jacob." This disrespectful allusion to his calling ruffled the temper of the hospital attendant, and, growing profane, he insisted that he was as good as Smith, and better, and at once challenged "the bloviating mule scrubber to get down off his perch and stand up before him like a man." "Jake" was unmoved by this counter-assault, and towards morning, with a strong voice and little melody, sang:( 7)

"Ho, gif glass uf goodt lauger du me, Du mine fader, mine modter, mine vife; Der day's vork vas done, undt we'll see Vot bleasures der vos in dis life.

"Undt ve sit us aroundt mit der table, Undt ve speak of der oldt, oldt time, Ven ve lif un dot house mit der gable, Un der vine-cladt banks of der Rhine," etc.

While at camp at Elk Water my wife and three months' old son, Joseph Warren, Jr., Hon. William White (brother-in-law) and his wife Rachel, and their son, Charles R. White (then twelve years old), visited me for a brief experience in camp with the army. They remained until the morning of September 12th. On the 11th Judge White accompanied me to Reynolds' headquarters, at Cheat Mountain Pass, and while there he was, by the General, invited to visit the camp on Cheat Mountain summit. It was suggested that in doing so I should, with the Judge, join Lieutenant Wm. E. Merrill, of the engineers, at Camp Elk Water the following morning, go by the main road to the summit, thence down the mountain path via the Rosecrans house to camp. This suggestion we were inclined to adopt, but on regaining camp I ascertained that the enemy had been seen nearer our camp than usual, and decided it was safest for the visiting party to depart for home. They accordingly bade us good-by on the next morning and proceeded via Huttonville, Beverly, Laurel Hill, Philippi, Webster, and Grafton, safely to their homes at Springfield, Ohio.

Lieutenant Merrill, with a small escort, departed as arranged, and soon, on the main road, ran into a Confederate force (Anderson's); he and his party were captured and carried with the retreating Confederates to Valley Mountain camp, thence to Richmond, where they remained for a considerable time in Libby Prison. Thus narrowly, Judge White ( 8) and myself escaped the fate of Lieutenant Merrill.

Having disposed of some of the incidents of camp life and spoken of family and friends, I return to the situation, as stated, of the opposing forces of Reynolds and Lee.

At this time Floyd and Wise were actively operating in the Kanawha country, confronting Rosecrans, who was commanding there in person, their special purpose then being to prevent reinforcements going to Reynolds, upon whom the heavy blow was to fall; Lee in person directing it.

Lee was accompanied to Valley Mountain by two aides-de-camp, Colonels John A. Washington and Walter H. Taylor.

General Loring, who retained the immediate command on this line, had the 1st North Carolina and 2d Tennessee, under General Donnelson; a Tennessee brigade, under General Anderson; the 21st and 42d Virginia and an Irish Virginia regiment, under Colonel Wm. Gilham; a brigade under Colonel Burke; a battalion of cavalry under Major W. H. F. Lee; three batteries of artillery, and perhaps other troops. On the Staunton pike at Greenbriar River, about twelve miles in front of Kimball's camp on Cheat Mountain, General Jackson had the 1st and 2d Georgia, 23d, 31st, 37th, and 44th Virginia, the 3d Arkansas, and two battalions of Virginia volunteers; also two batteries of artillery and several companies of cavalry.

Though conscious of superior strength, Lee sought still further to insure success by grand strategy, hence he caused Loring to issue a confidential order detailing a plan of attack, which is so remarkable in its complex details that it is given here.

"(Confidential.)

"Headquarters, Valley Mountain, "September 8, 1861. "(Special Order No. 28.) "1. General H. R. Jackson, commanding Monterey division will detach a column of not more than two thousand men under Colonel Rust, to turn the enemy's position at Cheat Mountain Pass ('summit') at daylight on the 12th inst. (Thursday). General Jackson, having left a suitable guard for his own position, with the rest of his available force, will take post on the Eastern Ridge of Cheat Mountain, occupy the enemy in front, and co-operate in the assault of his attacking column, should circumstances favor. The march of Colonel Rust will be so regulated as to attain his position during the same night, and at the dawn of the appointed day (Thursday, 12th) he will, if possible, surprise the enemy in his trenches and carry them.

"2. The 'Pass' having been carried, General Jackson with his whole fighting force will immediately move forward towards Huttonville, prepared against an attack from the enemy, taking every precaution against firing upon the portion of the army operating west of Cheat Mountain, and ready to co-operate with it against the enemy in Tygart's Valley. The supply wagons of the advancing columns will follow, and the reserve will occupy Cheat Mountain.

"3. General Anderson's brigade will move down Tygart's Valley, following the west slope of Cheat Mountain range, concealing his movements from the enemy. On reaching Wymans (or the vicinity) he will refresh his force unobserved, send forward intelligent officers to make sure his further course, and during the night of the 11th (Wendesday) proceed to the Staunton turnpike, where it intersects the west top of Cheat Mountain, so as to arrive there as soon after daylight on the 12th (Thursday) as possible.

"He will make disposition to hold the turnpike, prevent reinforcements reaching Cheat Mountain Pass (summit), cut the telegraph wire, and be prepared, if necessary, to aid in the assault of the enemy's position on the middle-top (summit) of Cheat Mountain, by General Jackson's division, the result of which he must await. He must particularly keep in mind that the movement of General Jackson is to surprise the enemy in their defences. He must, therefore, not discover his movements nor advance—before Wednesday night— beyond a point where he can conceal his force. Cheat Mountain Pass being carried, he will turn down the mountain and press upon the left and rear of the enemy in Tygart's Valley, either by the new or old turnpike, or the Becky's Run road, according to circumstances.

"4. General Donnelson's brigade will advance on the right of Tygart's Valley River, seizing the paths and avenues leading from that side of the river, and driving back the enemy that may endeavor to retard the advance of the center, along the turnpike, or to turn his right.

"5. Such of the artillery as may not be used upon the flanks will proceed along the Huntersville turnpike, supported by Major Mumford's battalion, followed by the rest of Colonel Gilham's brigade in reserve.

"6. Colonel Burke's brigade will advance on the left of Tygart's Valley River, in supporting distance of the center, and clear that side of the valley of the forces of the enemy that might obstruct the advance of the artillery.

"7. The cavalry under Major Lee will follow, according to the nature of the ground, in rear of the left of Colonel Burke's brigade. It will watch the movements of the enemy in that quarter, give notice of, and prevent if possible, any attempt to turn the left of the line, and be prepared to strike when opportunity offers.

"8. The wagons of each brigade, properly parked and guarded, under the charge of their respective quartermasters—who will personally superintend their movements—will pursue the main turnpike, under the general direction of their chief quartermaster, in rear of the army, and out of cannon-range of the enemy.

"9. Commanders on both lines of operations will particularly see that their corps wear the distinguishing badge, and that both officers and men take every precaution not to fire on our own troops. This is essentially necessary, as the forces on both sides of Cheat Mountain may unite. They will also use every exertion to prevent noise and straggling from the ranks, correct quietly any confusion that may occur, and cause their commands to rapidly execute their movement when in the presence of the enemy.

"By order of General W. W. Loring,

"Carter L. Stevenson, "Assistant Adjutant and Inspector General."

General Lee, to stimulate his army to great effort, himself, by another special order of same date, exhorted it as follows:

"The forward movement announced to the Army of the Northwest in special order No. 28, from its headquarters, of this date, gives the general commanding the opportunity of exhorting the troops to keep steadily in view the great principles for which they contend, and to manifest to the world their determination to maintain them. The eyes of the country are upon you. The safety of your homes and the lives of all you hold dear depend upon your courage and exertions. Let each man resolve to be victorious, and that the right of self-government, liberty, and peace shall in him find a defender. The progress of this army must be forward."( 9)

The column from Greenbrier under Colonel Albert Rust, of Arkansas, was given the initiative, and on its success the plan detailed pivoted, but the several columns were expected to act at the same time and in concert. Colonel Rust's command, about 2000 strong, by a blind road to the Union right reached its designated position between the Red Bridge and Kimball's fortified position. Here it captured an assistant commissary, and from him received such an exaggerated account of the strength of Kimball's camp and the number of its men that, without awaiting the columns of Donnelson and Anderson, it retired with the one prisoner. Lee's main army moved north from Valley Mountain camp, on the turnpike, Anderson and Donnelson taking their designated routes to the right, the former passing to the head of Becky's Run, thence through the mountains to a position on the road in the rear of Cheat Summit camp, arriving at daylight of the 12th of September. Donnelson, by another path nearer the road which the principal column under Loring pursued, marched to Stuart's Run, then down it to the Simmons house, where, on the 11th, it captured Captain Bense and about sixty men of the 6th Ohio, who were in an exposed position and had not been vigilant. Donnelson then marched to Becky's Run and to a point where, from a nearby elevation, he could see the Union camp at Elk Water, and he was to the eastward of it and partially in its rear. Here, with his command, he remained for the night. General Lee followed and joined Donnelson in the early morning of the 12th, and together they advanced to Andrew Crouch's house, within a mile of Elk Water camp and fairly in its rear. Lee, however, ordered Donnelson to retire his column to Becky's Run at the Rosecrans house. Neither Rust, Anderson, nor Donnelson, though each led a column into the region between the Elk Water and Cheat Mountain camps (distant apart through the mountains about six miles) seemed, at the critical time, to know where the others were, or what they were doing. The presence of Lee with Donnelson on the morning of the 12th did not materially improve the conditions in this respect. Donnelson, before Lee's arrival, contemplated an attack on a body of what he supposed a thousand men (the detachments of the 9th and 23d Ohio) camped in rear of the main Union camp and near Jacob Crouch's house. Colonel Savage of the 16th Tennessee advised against the attempt, and Lee, on his arrival, must have regarded it as too hazardous. Lee wrote Governor Letcher five days later that "it was a tempting sight" to see our tents on Valley River.

Loring, with the principal command, accompanied by all the artillery, forced the Union pickets back to the mouth of Elk Water, where he encountered resistance from a strong grand-guard and the pickets. Here some shots both of infantry and artillery were exchanged, but with little result.

It is due to the truth of history to say that none of the movements of Lee's army were known or anticipated by Reynolds and his officers, and whatever was done to prevent its success was without previous plan or methods. As late as the evening of the 11th, Reynolds was still with his headquarters at Cheat Mountain Pass, six miles distant by the nearest route from either camp. On this day Captain Bense was surprised and his entire company taken where posted some three miles from Camp Elk Water, but this capture was not known until the next day. The proximity of Donnelson's command to this camp was also unknown until after it had withdrawn, and Rust's and Anderson's presence on the Staunton pike in rear of Cheat Summit camp was likewise unknown both to Reynolds and Kimball until about the time they commenced to retreat. True, on the 12th, the presence of some force in the mountain between the Union camps became known. Lieutenant Merrill and his party departed from the valley to the mountain summit on the morning of the 12th entirely ignorant of any movement of the enemy. But both Reynolds and Kimball acted, under the circumstances, with energy and intelligence. General Reynolds moved his headquarters to Camp Elk Water, the better to direct affairs. On the morning of the 12th of September Kimball started a line of wagons from his camp to the pass, for the usual supplies, and it was attacked by Rust's command before it had proceeded a mile. This attack was reported to Kimball, who supposed it was made by a small scouting party, but on going to the scene of it with portions of the 25th Ohio, under Colonel Jones, 24th Ohio, under Lieutenant-Colonel Gilbert, and Captains Brooks and Williamson's companies of the 14th Indiana, a body of the enemy supposed to number 2500 was encountered. Kimball, supposing serious work was at hand, ordered the position held until further dispositions could be made to meet the danger. A sharp skirmish ensued, which ended in Rust's troops precipitately retreating from their position on the road under cover of the timber, and becoming so demoralized that they threw away "guns, clothing, and everything that impeded their progress."(10)

Rust's command continued its retreat through the mountains, and at 10 P.M. of the 13th Rust dispatched General Loring that "The expedition against Cheat Mountain failed." He indulged in some criticism on his men, denouncing some ("not Arkansians") as cowards. At the same time General Jackson reported to Loring that he was in possession of the first summit of Cheat Mountain in front of Kimball's position, but only holding it until he should receive orders, meanwhile hoping something would be done in Tygart's valley. He, however, did nothing more, and soon withdrew to his former camp.(11)

Captain Coons of the 14th Indiana was sent on the evening of the 18th from Cheat Mountain summit with 60 men of the 14th Indiana, 24th and 25th Ohio, on a path leading to Elk Water camp, with instruction to take position at the Rosecrans house on Becky's Run. Kimball, on the 12th, sent 90 men under Captain David J. Higgins, of the 24th Ohio, to relieve Captain Coons. In going thither, when about two miles from where Colonel Rust was attacked, Higgins ran unexpectedly into Colonel Anderson's column from Valley Mountain, and engaged it with great spirit. The enemy was thrown into some confusion by this unexpected encounter, but the loss on either side was slight, and when Major Wm. Harrow of Indiana arrived from Kimball's camp with two more companies, and ascertained that Anderson had a brigade in the vicinity, he ordered the Union troops withdrawn to within about one mile of camp.

Captain Coons, owing to a heavy rain, darkness, and the difficulty in following the mountain path, did not reach the Rosecrans house until after daybreak of the 12th. He passed to the rear of Anderson's brigade as it marched to the pike in rear of Cheat Mountain camp. When Captain Coons reached the Rosecrans house he found evidence of troops having been there recently, and soon discovered smoke and heard the snapping of caps on a mountain spur towards Elk Water camp. He concluded, however, that he was near a Union picket post from that camp, and sent forward five men to ascertain who his neighbors were. As these men ascended the mountain they were fired on and three were shot down, two killed, and the others captured. They were not challenged. This was Donnelson's command, General Lee and his aide, Colonel Taylor, then being with it. Colonel Savage of Tennessee commanded the troops first encountered. The Confederates advanced, firing wildly. Captain Coons' men returned the fire promptly, killed and wounded some, and when they had checked the enemy retired to higher ground to the eastward and took position behind fallen timber. As the enemy approached across the narrow valley, Coons made a most gallant resistance and drove back the large force attacking him, but feeling his complete isolation, he finally retired by a trail towards the pike. He had not gone far, however, until he ran into a bunch of the enemy consisting of surgeons, quartermasters, and negroes, who, on being fired into, fled to a main force nearer the pike. This was Anderson's column, and about the time when Major Harrow and Captain Higgins' men were firing on it from the other side.

Thus the several bodies of the enemy, without special design, seemed to be seriously attacked from many directions and became dismayed. Captain Coons withdrew safely, and later found his way to camp.

Rust had failed, and the two other columns having become entangled in the mountains, and not knowing how soon they would again be assailed, beat a disorderly retreat, and, like Rust's men, threw away overcoats, knapsacks, haversacks, and guns. Lee says he ordered a retreat because the men were short of provisions, as well as on account of Rust's failure. Had Captain Coons reached his destination a few hours earlier he would probably have captured Lee and his escort of ten men, who, in the previous night, having lost their way, had to remain unprotected near the Rosecrans house until daybreak. But few prisoners were taken on either side. The columns of Anderson and Donnelson, broken, disheartened, and disorganized, reached Loring in the Valley. There was then and since much contention among Confederate officers as to the causes of this humiliating failure.

On the morning of the 13th, at 3 A.M., Reynolds dispatched Sullivan from the Pass by the main road, and Colonels Marrow and Moss with parts of the 3d Ohio and 2d Virginia (Union) from Elk Water camp, by the path leading past the Rosecrans house, to cut their way to Cheat Mountain summit, but these columns encountered no enemy, and only found the debris of the three retreating bodies. The real glory of the fighting in the mountains belonged to the intrepid Captain Coons, who afterwards became Colonel of his regiment and fell in the battle of the Wilderness.

Both Lee and Loring, deeply chagrined, were reluctant to give up a campaign so hopefully commenced and so comprehensively planned, but thus far so ingloriously executed.

They decided to look for a position on Reynolds' right from which an attack could be made on Elk Water camp in conjunction with a front attack, and accordingly Colonel John A. Washington, escorted by Major W. H. F. Lee (son of General Lee) with his cavalry command, was dispatched to ascertain the character of the country in that direction.

Early on the 12th of September I was sent with a detachment of four companies of the 3d Ohio, as grand-guard at an outpost and for picket duty as well as scouting, to the point of a spur of Rich Mountain near the mouth and to the north of Elk Water, west of the Huntersville pike, and about one mile and a half in advance of the camp. This position covered the Elk Water road from Brady's Gate, the pike, the there narrow valley of the Tygart's, and afforded a good point of observation up the valley towards the enemy. A portion of the time I had under me a section of artillery and other detachments. Here Reynolds determined to first stubbornly resist the approach of the enemy, and consequently I was ordered to construct temporary works. Another detachment was located east of the river with like instructions. On the 12th the enemy pushed back our skirmishers and pickets in the valley and displayed considerable disposition to fight, but as we exchanged some shots and showed our willingness to give battle, no real attack was made. We noticed that each Confederate officer and soldier had a white patch on his cap or hat. This, as we knew later, was in accordance with Loring's order, to avoid danger of being fired upon by friends. From the badge, however, we argued that raiding parties were abroad.