History of The Middle New River Settlements - Chapter VII Part D



Chapter VII Part D

During the months of July, August, September, and October, the regiments
and brigades of Pickett's Division were frequently shifted along the line
it was holding , and which has been described. Frequent combats,m in the
shape of sharpshooting, took place, and occasionally the Confederate
skirmishers, and twice in larger body, made sallies against the enemy's
rifle pits, gathering in large numbers of prisoners. On one of these
expeditions they swept the Federal picket line for several hundred yards,
bringing away without loss more than one hundred prisoners, including the
Federal officers in command of the line. For the most part of the period
between June, 1864, and March 5th, 1865, the pickets of the combatants on
this line were on friendly terms; so much so, that the Confederate
officers had to require the picket firing to be resumed in order to break
up these friendly relations, which had been carried to the extent of
regular traffic between the pickets in the way of barter and exchange of
newspapers, tobacco, coffee and other articles. In many places along the
line the pickets were near enough to each other that they could carry on
conversation in any ordinary tone of voice.

The cold winter winds began to be felt in the close of the November days,
and the men, in addition to their bomb proofs and mud houses in the earth,
began to improve them as far as possible, in view of the approaching cold
weather, by building flues or chimneys, and closing up all openings. The
men were not only thinly clad, but some, at least, had but little clothing
of any kind, and a large number were without shoes; and when the first
blasts of winter came numbers could be seen shivering over the small fires
they were allowed to kindle. Famine stared them in the face the ration
being from one-eight to one pound of bacon and one pint of unseived corn
meal per day, and occasionally a few beans or peas. With empty stomachs,
naked bodies, and frozen fingers, these men clutched their guns with an
aim so steady and deadly that the men on the other side were exceedingly
cautious how they lifted their heads from behinds their sheltered places.

This was not altogether the worst part of the situation, for many a good
brave Confederate soldier heard in his rear the cries of distress of a
mother, wife, or children at home, whose needs were as great for bread as
his. What could he do? What should he do? This, with his own pitiable
condition, was enough to break the strongest heart. It was too much for
some, who broke away to look after the suffering ones at home. "How could
the Government do any better?" was often said. Whatever food it had for
the army was mostly in the far-off South, and could not be brought
forward, either for lack of transportation or by reason of the enemy
having cut or destroyed the lines of communication.

The private soldier received $11.00 per month for his services--about
enough to buy his tobacco. Confederate money had become worthless, and the
price of provisions--that is, where any could be found for sale--was
beyond the reach of the poor soldier. Flour was selling for $1500.00 per
barrel; bacon $20.00 per pound, beef $15.00 a pound, butter at $20.00 a
pound; one chicken could be had for $50.00, soda $12.00 per pound, common
calico $12.00 per yard; and at the date, January and February, 1865, it
took $100.00 in the currency to buy one dollar in gold. But this currency
was all we had, good, bad or indifferent--it was use that or nothing--and
the soldier had but little of it, and did not have this little long. Some
one wrote on the back of $500.00 Confederate note, about, or just after
the surrender at Appomattox, the following lines:

"Representing nothing on God's earth now,
And naught in water below it,
As a pledge of a nation that's dead and gone,
Keep it, dear captain, and show it.
Show it to those that will lend an ear
To the tale this paper can tell
Of liberty born, of the patriot's dream,
Of a storm-cradled nation that fell.

Too poor to possess the precious ore,
And too much a stranger to borrow,
We issue today our "promise to pay,"
And hope to redeem on the morrow.
Days roll by, and weeks became years,
But our coffers were empty still;
Coin was so rare that the treasury quaked
If a dollar should drop in the till.

But the faith that was in us was strong indeed,
And our poverty well we discerned,
And these little checks represented the pay
That our suffering Veterans earned.
We knew it had hardly a value in gold,
Yet as gold the soldiers received it;
It gazed in our eyes with a promise to pay,
And each patriot soldier believed it.

But our boys thought little of price or pay,
Or of bills that were over-due;
We knew if it brought our bread today
'Twas the best our country could do.
Keep it! It tells all our history over,
From the birth of the dream to its last;
Modest, and born of the Angel Hope,
Like our hope of success, it passed."

Notwithstanding all these things, these heroic men, who loved their cause
better than life, stood to their posts, and defied the enemy to the last.
The enemy, by general orders and circular letters which they managed to
send and scatter among the Confederate soldiers, offered all manner of
inducements to have them desert their country; but, as a rule, such offers
were indignantly spurned. The consecration of the Southern women to the
cause for which their husbands, sons, brothers, and sweethearts struggled
and suffered, is beyond the power of pen to describe. The hardships of
these women were equal to, and often greater than that of the shivering,
freezing, starving soldier in the field. They had not only given these men
to the cause, but, in fact, themselves, too; for they remained at home and
labored in the fields, went to mill, the blacksmith shops, lived on corn
bread and sorghum molasses, and gave practically every pound of meat,
flour and all the vegetables they could raise to the men in the army, whom
they encouraged to duty in every possible way. They manufactured largely
their own clothing, out of material that they had produced with their own
hands; and would have scorned any woman who would wear northern
manufactured goods; and the thought, sentiment, and action is well
expressed in lines written during the war:

"Now northern goods are out of date,
And since old Abe's blockade,
We Southern girls can be content,
With goods that's Southern made;
We send our sweethearts to the war,
But girls ne'er you mind--
Your soldier lover will not forget
The girl he left behind.

"An now young man, a word to you:
If you would win the fair,
Go to the field where honor calls
And win your lady there;
Remember that our brightest smiles
Are for the true and brave,
And that our tears are all for those
Who fill the soldier's grave."

Through this long, cold, dreary winter, Pickett's Division--less than five
thousand strong--held the line which, in length, was not less than four
miles; being not many beyond one thousand men to the mile; only a good
skirmish line; over which the enemy, by a bold, determined charge, could
at any time have gone. It is certain that if the Federal line in front of
Pickett's men had been as weak, and held by as few men as that of Pickett,
they would have either been prisoner before the 1st day of January, 1865,
or have been driven into the James and drowned.

Every effort was being put forth by the Confederate authorities to bring
every available man to the field; the men from the division on detail or
detached service were required to report to their respective regiments,
and their places to be filled with those unable for active field service.
This order gave great concern to many who had been out in good and easy
places. Sergeant Charles T. Loehr in his "History of the 1st Virginia
Regiment," tells of a Mr. Stegar, of Company D or that regiment, who did
not relish his return to his company, and who wrote:

"With all my heart I hate to part,
For I'm not happy to be free,
And it will surely break my heart
To send me back to Company D.

We had a snug detail together,
But Uncle Bob has clipped our wings,
And spring will be but gloomy weather
If doomed to fight Old Grant in spring.

Farewell, and when some sickly fellow
Shall claim this bomb-proof I resign,
And three miles in the rear discover
What ease and safety once were mine."

The new year was approaching; it was to bring nothing to cheer our aching
hearts, but much to depress them. No hope for peace, nor settlement, or
relief from our unfortunate situation. The men who were Christians prayed
earnestly every day for the return of peace to our distracted country; and
in the dead hour of the night, often could be seen men on their knees,
engaged in earnest appeals to God for our country and for peace. Finally
in the latter part of January, 1865, there was a rift in the dark clouds
which overhung our sky, when it was announced that Confederate
Commissioners were on their way to meet the Federal President, to attempt
to adjust the unhappy differences. This was known throughout the army, and
the men gathered in groups with faces all aglow with intense interest, to
discuss the grave question. The one unanimous voice was, settle it, if
possible on any terms that are fair and honorable. The return of these
Commissioners with the report that no settlement could be made other than
downright submission cast a deep and heavy gloom over the faces of the
men, who, but a few days before, had been happy in the hope of a peaceful
and honorable termination of hostilities. Gloom and despair were plainly
depicted on the faces of some of the men, while grim determination was to
be seen on the faces of others. The situation is probably better expressed
by telling first of an incident that happened with one of the men of the
7th Virginia Regiment, and then the action taken by a large part of the
soldiers in the way of meetings and resolutions. this man of the 7th
Regiment seemed very much dejected and downcast, when he heard of the
failure of the Commissioners to make an adjustment of our troubles, and
one of his comrades inquiring of him as to what was his trouble, he
replied: "Well, the Peace Conference is a failure, Lincoln has called for
more men, and President Davis says, 'war to the knife' ; what shall we do?"

The Federal soldier was as anxious for peace as the Confederate could
possibly be. About the time of the return of the Peace Commissioners it is
told of a Federal soldier, that. in the presence of one of his officers,
he remarked that he was anxious for the war to close and for the return of
peace, and that he knew of a plan by which Richmond could be captured, and
that would end the war and bring peace. His officer insisted upon his
telling what the plan was that he had for the capture of Richmond; that
General Grant ought to know of the plan if feasible. the soldier said he
felt not only some hesitancy, but a delicacy instating it, but if the
officer insisted he would tell him. Finally, the officer prevailed on the
soldier to divulge his plan, which was this: "Swap Generals; bring General
Lee over here and put him in command of this army, and he will have
Richmond in twenty-four hours."

As already stated, on the return of the Peace Commissioners with their
report of the failure to settle matters, meetings of the soldiers were
held in many of the companies and regiments throughout the army, to
discuss the situation, in which resolutions were adopted expressive of
their views. Among the companies which held such meetings was that of
Captain David A. French, the minutes of which meeting are as follows:

"Darby Town road, February 6, 1865.

At a meeting convened in the stonewall Detachment, Corporal Charles E.
Pack was called to the chair, O. F. Jordan appointed secretary, and the
following preamble and resolutions were adopted:

Whereas, we believe that the Confederate authorities have taken
appropriate measures to bring about an honorable peace to the Confederacy;

And whereas, said measures have failed to bring about this most desirable
result, owing to obstinacy and tyrannical disposition of the Federal
authorities; in this, that they refuse all offers of peace, and will
listen to nothing save an humble submission on the part of the
Confederates:

We, the members of the Stonewall Detachment, Captain D. A. French's
Battery, do resolve: that we will listen to no terms the least degrading
to brave men and free men. That come weal or woe, we will now fight it out
at the cost of every drop of blood that flows in our veins; that there is
no sacrifice too dear, no danger too hazardous, no suffering too great,
that we will not endure for our country and cause; and we pledge ourselves
anew to stand by our flag and guns while the one waves, and there is room
to work the other."

C. E. Pack, Chairman.

O. F. Jordan, Secretary.

During the fall of 1864, and the early part of the winter of that year,
the country had reached such a condition that starvation was not only
staring the army in the face, threatening its disintegration and
disbanding, but the people at home, in many localities, were suffering for
the very necessaries of life, and good people among them, some of even the
leading men, had reached the conclusion that the contest could not longer
be maintained; they, therefore, were for peace on any terms, and if the
Confederate authorities were not willing to take immediate steps to that
end, that the people would be placed in position to discourage the
continuance of the contest by every means within their power.

The Federal authorities, including the commanding officers of their
armies, as well as their spies, emissaries, and scouts, encouraged the
peace feeling by holding out all manner of inducements to the people, and
to the soldiers in the army and by secret orders and organizations among
our people and soldiers, sought to influence the people to withdraw their
support from the armies, and to encourage the soldiers to abandon the
cause for which we had fought for nearly four years. Organizations were
found to exist in Southwestern and Western Virginia, known by the names
of: "Heroes of America," Red String," and "White String Party," which had
regular signs and pass-words. Into these were drawn, as reported, some of
the prominent and leading citizens, and had even partly permeated the
army, particularly the 22nd and 54th Virginia Regiments of Infantry. How
far they affected these organizations, and how far their influence
reached, it is difficult to say; but it alarmed the Confederate
authorities and was made the subject of investigation by the Secretary of
War, Mr. Seddon. For a full history of this matter with the names
disclosed of persons connected therewith, the reader is referred to
Rebellion Records, Series IV, Vol. 3, pp. 804-16

Returning to affairs in Western and Southwestern Virginia, and resuming
the narrative of events at the close of 1863, we find that in December of
that year, the 16th Virginia Cavalry, commanded by Colonel Milton J.
Ferguson, spent the latter part of December, and a part of the following
two months, in the Valley of the Sandy, penetrating to the Kanawha River,
where a detachment of that regiment, in February of 1864, captured a steam
boat on which was Brigadier General Scammon, of the Federal Army, who was
also captured, brought out and sent to Richmond in charge of Lieutenant E.
G. Vertigan, his captor.

On January 3rd, 1863, Brigadier General William E. Jones with his cavalry
command, in which, at the time, was the 8th Virginia Regiment, partly made
up of Tazewell and Mercer County men, attacked a Federal force at
Jonesville, Virginia, which he defeated, capturing 385 prisoners, killing
10, wounding 45, taking three pieces of artillery and a number of wagons.
The 8th Virginia lost Lieutenant A. H. Samuels and four men killed and 7
wounded.

Echols' Brigade, with part of Jenkins' Cavalry, spent the winter in Monroe
and Greenbrier Counties. McCausland's Brigade, with the 17th Cavalry,
wintered at the Narrows and at Princeton; while Wharton's Brigade was in
East Tennessee and about Saltville.

The enemy in the Kanawha Valley, early in the spring, began to assemble a
force of infantry, cavalry, and artillery, under Brigadier General George
Crook, for the purpose of an advance towards the Virginia and Tennessee
Railroad; and at the same time a large force of the enemy was preparing to
march up the Valley of Virginia to Staunton.

Major General Breckenridge, on the 5th of March, 1864, had relieved
General Jones, in command of the department of Southwestern Virginia. In
the latter part of April and the first days of May, these Federal
Divisions from the Kanawha, and in the Valley of Virginia, commenced their
advance. General Breckenridge was called to the Virginia Valley, drawing
to him the Brigade of Echols and Wharton. McCausland's Brigade had also
been ordered to the Valley, but the advance of General Crook's column held
him at Dublin, with Jenkins' Cavalry Brigade at Narrows, with Bryan's
Battery, Ringgold, and Botetourt Artillery, under the command of Brigadier
General Jenkins.

The Federal Cavalry leader in Western Virginia, Brigadier General Averill,
with 2479 officers and men, left the Kanawha River above Charleston on the
1st of May, by way of Logan and Wyoming Court Houses, to Abb's Valley in
Tazewell County, and from thence on the road to Wytheville, near which, on
the 10th day of May, he encountered a Confederate force under General
William E. Jones, and was defeated. In this battle was the 16th Virginia
Cavalry Regiment in part composed of Tazewell County men. The loss of
General Averill was 100 in killed and wounded, himself among the wounded.
He drew off his troops and passed down Walker's Creek by Shannon's and to
Pepper's Ferry, where he crossed New River and from thence proceeded to
Blacksburg and Christiansburg; turning northward in an effort to follow
General Crook, he encountered at Gap Mountain, near Newport in Giles
County, Jenkins' Cavalry Brigade, and part of the troops of Colonel
William L. Jackson, all under the command of Colonel William H. French, of
Mercer, by whom he was driven back, and forced to retreat by a bridle path
over the mountains into Monroe County, where he joined General Crook, who
was closely followed by Jackson's command; Colonel French's troops
returning to the Narrows.

General Crook left the Kanawha River on the second day of May, with eleven
regiments of infantry, a part of two regiments of cavalry, and two
battalions of artillery, aggregating 6,155 men. The march was made by way
of Fayetteville, Raleigh Court House, Princeton, Rocky Gap, and Shannon's,
to Cloyd's farm on Back Creek in Pulaski County where on the 9th day of
May he found the command of General Jenkins, consisting of the 36th, 45th
and 60th Virginia Regiments and 45th Battalion of Virginia Infantry, with
Bryan's, Ringgold's and Douthat's Virginia Batteries, drawn up in line of
battle to meet him; with an aggregate force, then and that of Major Smith,
who joined after the retreat began, of less than 3,000 men. The battle was
a fierce and bloody one, and lasted for several hours, and the men who
fought this battle on the Confederate side were largely from the Middle
New River Valley and from the upper Clinch waters; they were from
Tazewell, Wythe, Pulaski, Bland, Montgomery, Giles, Monroe, Greenbrier,
Fayette, Raleigh, Mercer, Boone, Logan, Putnam, Cabell, Wayne, and perhaps
some from other Southern West Virginia Counties. General Jenkins was
mortally wounded and his command outflanked and driven from the field,
with a loss of 76 killed, 262 wounded, and 200 missing. the loss was
inconsiderable in comparison with the value of the slain, among whom were
some of the bravest and most daring soldiers in the army. Lieutenant
Colonel Edwin H. Harman, a brave young officer of great promise, and
Captain Robert R. Crockett, of the 45th Regiment were killed. Lieutenant
Colonel George W. Hammond, Major Jacob N. Taylor, and Captain Moses
McClintic, of the 60th Virginia, were killed, and Captain Rufus A. Hale,
S. S., Dews, Lieutenants Larue, Austin, Bailey, and Stevenson, together
with a number of others of the 60th and 36th Virginia were wounded, as was
Major Thomas L. Brown, Post Quartermaster at Dublin, dangerously. (Note:
Rev. Mr. Hickman, a Presbyterian minister, was killed on this field. Judge
E. Ward and Hon. William Prince accompanied the Confederate soldiers to
this field and were under the enemy's fire. Prince, while acting as
special messenger and courier, had his horse shot under him.) In this
battle, in the 60th Virginia Regiment, were two companies of Giles County
men, one of which was commanded by that brave, fearless Irishman, Captain
Andrew Gott, now of Mercer County. The men of Tazewell County in the 45th
Regiment suffered heavy loss in this battle, losing not only the gallant
Lieutenant Colonel Harman, but numbers of others killed or wounded, among
the latter the brave Captain C. A. Fudge. Bland County was also
represented on this field as above stated; and her sons distinguished
themselves in this fight, losing many of their best and bravest killed and
wounded, among the latter that tall and heroic youth, the flag bearer of
the 45th, Andrew Jackson Stowers. there also fell on this field, near
which was once the home of their ancestor, three remote cousins, viz:
Lieutenant A. W. Hoge and his brother M. J. Hoge of the Ringgold Virginia
Battery, and George D. Pearis of Bryan's Virginia Battery.

The Federal loss in this battle, in killed and wounded, was 688. The
Confederates under the command of Colonel John McCausland, who succeeded
to the command on the wounding of General Jenkins, retreated by way of the
railroad bridge to the East bank of New River, and upon the crossing of
the Federals at Pepper's Ferry, and their advance to Christiansburg, he
continued his retreat to the head waters of the Roanoke. General Crook
took fright, and fled across Salt Pond Mountain into Monroe County.

No braver or better fight was ever put up in an open field by a body of
men so largely outnumbered. (Note: The Federal General Crook , in his
report, says: "The enemy remained behind their works until battered away
by our men.") The coolness and bravery of Colonel McCausland, and the
skillful manner in which he conducted the retreat, with the timely arrival
of Major Smith's troops on the field, saved the command from capture or
destruction. Colonel McCausland was at once, and deservedly so, made a
Brigadier General, and placed in command of Jenkins' Cavalry Brigade.

General Breckenridge hurried down the Valley of Virginia, with the
Brigades of Echols and Wharton (Note: Mostly New River Valley men.) and
other troops, to New Market, where, on the 15th day of May, he met a
Federal Army some 6,500 strong, under General Sigel, and with less than 5,
000 men defeated it with a loss of 831; the Confederate loss being 522.
Sigel retreated, and Breckenridge, with his division, moved to Hanover
Junction and joined General Lee, leaving General Imboden in command in the
Valley, who was shortly thereafter superseded by Brigadier General William
E. Jones, who took with him from Southwest Virginia, McCausland's old
brigade of infantry, by which his forces were augmented to about 5,000,
including, however, some local bodies of militia, with which to meet about
8,500 Federal troops under the command of Major General David Hunter, who
had displaced General Sigel.

At Piedmont in the Valley, on the 5th day of June, Hunter's forces
attacked the Confederates, and after a severe and bloody battle of more
than five hours the Confederates were badly defeated with heavy loss, and
compelled to retreat in much disorder, closely followed by the large body
of the enemy's cavalry. General Jones was killed on the field, and the
loss in his command in killed and wounded was about 500, besides 1,000 men
and several guns captured. (Note: The Federal loss was about 500.) In this
battle the men from the New River Valley were engaged and suffered
fearfully. While the Confederates were engaged in this contest, Generals
Crook and Averill, with 8,000 to 10,000 men, were rapidly approaching
Staunton from Buffalo Gap on the West, opposed by General McCausland with
his brigade and that of Colonel William L. Jackson, who on the occupation
of Staunton by Hunter's forces, were compelled to retire. General Imboden
assumed command of the Confederates after the fall of General Jones, and
retired to Waynesboro. In this unfortunate engagement the men from
Tazewell, Bland, Giles and Mercer Counties were heavily engaged, and it is
to be regretted that the names of those who fell, killed or wounded, have
not been preserved. Here fell the brave and manly Colonel William Henry
Brown, of Tazewell, at the head of the 45th Virginia Regiment. The cause
claimed no nobler sacrifice than this. He was born in Tazewell County, and
had distinguished himself in the many battles in which his regiment had
been engaged. The loss of the enemy in this battle was 500 in killed and
wounded. In the Giles companies in the 36th Virginia Regiment, there were,
among others, killed in the battle of Piedmont, W. S. Echols, B. Newton
Snidow, Hamilton Hare, G. B. Chandler; wounded, J. C. Stump, John Kerr,
John H. Williams; James W. Hale lost an arm. Lieutenant Thomas G. Jarrell,
of a Boone County company, a Mercer County man originally, the son of Mr.
George Washington Jarrell, was slain in this battle.

The defeat of General Jones' command left the Valley to Staunton, in fact
through, to, and South of the James River, open to the march of General
Hunter's Army, now numbering near 20,000 effective men. Hunter did not
delay, but pushed on toward Lynchburg, with nothing to oppose save
McCausland's Cavalry command, which fought him closely and manfully all
along the route, and so delayed him that it took him more than a week to
march over a good road from Staunton at the front of Lynchburg. It is true
that he, Hunter, stopped along the route at Lexington and other points to
repeat his acts of vandalism; having in the lower Valley caused the
properties of some of his relatives to be burned and destroyed; and after
the close of the war it is said, he attempted to conciliate them, but they
treated him with scorn and contempt as he deserved, for when his
relatives, the females, plead with him to spare their homes he turned a
deaf ear:

"As well might you plead with the tiger to pause
When his victim lies writhing and clenched in his claws."

It was these acts of General Hunter, contrary as they were, to usages of
civilized warfare, that caused the burning of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania,
in July of that year.

In November, 1863, a straggling camp follower, or marauding Federal
soldier entered the home of Mr. David Creigh near Lewisburg, West
Virginia, and attempted by force to enter the room of his daughter, when
Mr. Creigh interposed and attempted to eject him; he sought the life of
Mr. Creigh, who believing himself in great danger killed the man. General
Averill in the spring of 1864, on his retreat with Crook from Cloyd's
farm, had Mr. Creigh arrested and tried by a drumhead court martial, which
sentenced Mr. Creigh to be hanged, which sentence was approved by General
Hunter. See Averill's Report, Vol. 37, Part 1, Rebellion Records, p. 145.
The wife of General W. H. Smith has beautifully and fully told this story
of the martyr Creigh in verse, which is as follows:

"He lived the life of an upright man,
And the people loved him well;
Many a wayfarer came to his door,
His sorrow or need to tell.
A pitying heart and an open hand,
Gave succor ready and free;
For kind and true to his fellowman
And a Christian was David Creigh.

But o'er his threshold a shadow passed,
With a step of a ruffian foe:
While in silent words and brutal threats
A purpose of darkness show;
And a daughter's wild imploring cry
Called her father to her side--
His hand was nerved by the burning wrong,
And there the offender died.

The glory of Autumn had gone from earth,
The winter had passed away.
And the glad springtime was merging fast
Into summer's ardent ray,
When a good man from his home was torn--
Days of toilsome travel to see--
And far from his loved a crown was worn,
And the martyr was David Creigh.

Here where he lived, let the end be told,
Of a tale of bitter wrong;
Here let our famishing thousands learn,
To whom vengeance doth belong.
Short grace was given the dying man,
E'er led to the fatal tree,
And short the grace to our starving hosts,
Since the murder of David Creigh.

The beast of the desert shields its young,
With an instinct fierce and wild,
And lives there a man with the heart of a man
Who would not defend his child?
So woe to those who call evil good--
That woe shall not come to me--
War hath no record of fouler deed
than the murder of David Creigh.

As has already been noted, General Breckenridge with his division had, on
the 10th of June, left Richmond to meet Hunter's forces and prevent their
passage through the gaps of the Blue Ridge towards Charlottesville and
Richmond. General Breckenridge, finding Hunter's advance directed toward
Lynchburg, instead of Eastward of the ridge, therefore pushed his division
to the defense of that city, reaching there in advance of Hunter's Army,
and holding the Federals at bay by severe fighting until the arrival of
General Early with a portion of the 2nd Corps of the Army of Northern
Virginia, on the 18th. Hunter ascertaining that Early had arrived, took
fright and on the night of the 18th beat a hasty retreat by way of Liberty
and Salem, and across the mountains into Western Virginia. At Hanging
Rock, a Gap in the North Mountain, on the Salem and Sweet Springs
turnpike, a portion of Early's Cavalry struck the flank of Hunter's
retreating army, capturing a portion of his train. In this encounter
George Kahle, a brave young soldier from Mercer County, in a hand to hand
conflict with a Federal soldier, was killed, and the latter slain on the
spot by James O. Cassady, who was also a Mercer man. Hunter's Army now
sent in disastrous retreat across the mountains to the Kanawha, and the
Valley free from the enemy, General Early directed the head of his column
on the 23rd day of June towards Staunton, which he reached on the 26th.
With Early was his own corps, to which was added Breckenridge's Division,
in which were the New River Valley men, not only in the infantry, but as
well in the cavalry and artillery. Crook's retreat from the New River
section had left the Confederate lines along the Western and Southwestern
Virginia border free from any considerable body of the enemy, and events
in the East and in the Valley required the presence of nearly all the
forces that had theretofore operated in Virginia Westward of the
Alleghanies.

Resuming his march on the 28th General Early, with his troops, reached and
passed through Winchester on July 3rd. General McCausland, with his
brigade of cavalry, attacked on July 4th, North Mountain depot on the
Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, capturing 200 prisoners. A portion of Early's
infantry under General Gordon, having crossed the Potomac on the 5th,
McCausland's Cavalry Brigade advanced to Shepherdstown, and on the 6th to
the Antietam, in front of Sharpsburg, and on the 9th advanced to Frederick
City, where he had a skirmish with the enemy. General Early's troops being
fully up on the 9th, he attacked and defeated, after a fierce and bloody
battle, a Federal Army of 10,000 men at the Monocacy under General Lew
Wallace. In this bloody engagement General McCausland's Cavalry Brigade
performed prodigies of valor and suffered severe loss. The Confederate
loss was about 700; that of the Federals reported at 1968. In the 17th
Virginia Cavalry were three companies from Mercer County, commanded by
Captains Graybeal, Gore, and Straley, respectively. This regiment, as
already heretofore stated, belonged to McCausland's Brigade and was in the
thickest of the fight at the Monocacy and suffered severe loss, Lieutenant
Colonel Tavener of the 17th Virginia being mortally wounded.

Mr. Floyd A. Bolen has furnished to the author an itinerary of Company A
of the 17th Regiment, as well as of that regiment from the earliest
organization of said company and regiment, down to the close of the battle
at Monocacy, where Mr. Bolen was wounded so severely as to disable him
from further service in the army. This itinerary is as follows: "Field
officers of the regiment, William H. French, Colonel; W. C. Tavener,
Lieutenant Colonel; Fred Smith, Major; H. B. Barbor, Adjutant; with Doctor
Isaiah Bee for a while as Regimental Surgeon, but afterwards promoted to
Brigade Surgeon. Three companies from Mercer County belonged to this
regiment: Companies A, which was the first company of cavalry organized in
Mercer County, had as its first officer William H. French, Captain; Philip
Thompson, Robert Gore and William B. Crump, Lieutenants. At the
reorganization of the company J. W. Graybeal was elected Captain and
LaFayette Gore and Albert Austin Lieutenants. When Captain William H.
French was promoted to the rank of Colonel, Captain J. W. Graybeal became
Captain of Company A and Judson Ellison and W. A. Reed became Lieutenants,
together with Edward McClaugherty, in the place of Ellison resigned. The
officers of Company D were Robert Gore, Captain; Erastus Meador, Albert
White, and William R. Carr, Lieutenants. The officers of Company E were
Jacob C. Straley, Captain; William L. Bridges, Kinzie Rowland, and Ambrose
Oney, Lieutenants. Company A was organized and entered the Confederate
service about the 1st of June, 1861, and remained in the Counties of
Mercer and Giles until about the 1st of the following October, when it
marched with other troops to Guyandotte. This march was conducted through
the Counties of Raleigh, Wyoming, Logan and Cabell. On the return of the
company from this expedition it went into camp on Flat Top Mountain on the
Miller farm, where it remained two or three weeks, then marched by way of
Princeton and Jeffersonville into Russell County, going into camp near
Lebanon, where it remained two or three weeks, and then moved over to the
Holstein and went into camp. Here it remained about one month, and then
moved Southwestward through Abingdon, Bristol and into Tennessee as far as
Union Station, and then returned to Mercer County, going into camp at
Princeton, where it spent the winter. Early in the spring of 1862, the
company , in connection with other troops, met the enemy at Clark's house,
on the Flat Top, in which a severe skirmish ensued, resulting in the
repulse of the Confederates, and in a loss to said company of Cornelius
Brown and G. H. Bryson, killed, and several wounded. The retreat continued
by way of Princeton to Bland Court House, where the company remained for a
few days and then was sent back to Rocky Gap, and a few days thereafter to
the Cross Roads in Mercer County. A few days after reaching Cross Roads
this company led the advance of Wharton's command against the enemy at
Princeton, and on the 17th of May was engaged in the battle of Pigeon
Roost Hill, with Wharton's command. These three Mercer companies
accompanied General Loring on his march to the Kanawha Valley, in
September, 1862. On reaching Charleston this company, with Gore's Company
D and the Bland Rangers, were thrown together, forming a battalion, and
placed under the command of Major Saliers. This battalion was then
detached from Loring's troops and sent through Jackson County, driving the
enemy across the Ohio. Returning from this expedition this battalion
marched through the Kanawha Valley to Blue Sulphur Springs in Greenbrier,
where the 17th Regiment was finally gotten together with the field
officers hereinbefore stated. Shortly after its organization the regiment
marched to Salem, where it spent the winter of 1862-3. About the 1st of
May, 1863, the regiment broke camp and boarded the cars for Lynchburg, and
from thence to Staunton, where it went into camp and remained waiting for
its horses to be brought forward. As soon as mounted the regiment marched
down the Valley to Berryville, Virginia, where it joined and became a part
of the Cavalry Brigade of Jenkins, which led the advance of General Lee's
Army into Pennsylvania. On this march into Pennsylvania, at a point
northeast of Gettysburg, this brigade of Jenkins encountered a regiment of
the enemy, capturing 200 or more prisoners and a train of wagons. On the
first day at Gettysburg, after the Federal line had been broken, Captain
Robert Gore, of Company D, distinguished himself by dashing in front of
the Federal lines alone, and capturing 150 of the retreating enemy. After
the first day's fight was over the 17th Regiment took charge of and
guarded the 5,000 prisoners captured on that day. On the retreat from
Pennsylvania this brigade of Jenkins had quite a lively fight with the
enemy near Boonesboro, in which Joseph H. McClaughterty of Company A, was
wounded. Jenkins' Brigade of Cavalry covered the retreat of General Lee's
Army southward after it crossed the Potomac on its way from Gettysburg,
and in the skirmishes with the enemy, without any serious loss. Near
Sperryville, in Rappahannock County, a part of the 17th Regiment had a
skirmish with a force of the enemy, in which John R. Newkirk and Jackson
Anderson, of Company A, were captured. Shortly after this the brigade
moved back into the Valley and marched by way of Staunton into the
Greenbrier section, where it remained for a short while, when the 17th
Regiment marched into Abb's Valley, and then remarched to Red Sulphur
Springs and subsequently a part of the regiment marched into Mercer County
and went into camp near Spanishburg, where it wintered in 1863-4. On the
approach of the Federal Army from the Kanawha, in the spring of 1864, the
whole of Jenkins' Brigade took post at the Narrows. While the battle of
Cloyd's farm was about to be, or was being fought, this cavalry brigade,
now under command of Colonel William H. French, crossed New River at
Snidow's Ferry and marched to Gap Mountain, with the view of cutting off
General Crook's retreat; failing in this it succeeded in cutting off
General Averill's command off from that of Crook's, compelling Averill to
escape by the mountain paths. Shortly after this General McCausland took
command of the brigade, and marched it into the Valley of Virginia, where
it skirmished from near Staunton, with Hunter's advance, until it reached
Lynchburg. In a skirmish with the enemy near Lynchburg, Jack Hatcher, of
Company A, was killed. On Hunter's retreat from Lynchburg, McCausland's
Brigade followed closely upon his rear, charging into his wagon train at
Hanging Rock, capturing a number of prisoners and two pieces of artillery.
From here the brigade marched in advance of Early's command to Staunton,
and from thence to the Monocacy, where it engaged in that battle, in which
Company A of the 17th Regiment lost William French, Thomas Thornley, and
A. J. Fanning, killed, and several wounded, among them Mr. Bolen. In the
same company with Mr. Bolen was John H. Robinson, who is now an eminent
dentist of Mercer County, and who was wounded in the battle of Monocacy
and captured and removed to Baltimore to the West Building Hospital, from
which he escaped and finally made his way through Maryland into Virginia.
The thrilling story of the escape of this brave soldier and his
sufferings, is worth relating, but the manuscript furnished by him came
too late to be inserted at length in this volume; but something further
will be said in regard to it in the appendix to this work.

Immediately upon the close of the battle at Monocacy General Early
continued his advance on Washington, McCausland with his Cavalry leading
this advance, and having many severe combats with the enemy's cavalry,
driving it before him. The enemy by this time had become thoroughly
alarmed for the safety of the Capital, and poured into and around the city
large bodies of troops, which induced General Early, on the night of the
12th, to retire toward the upper Potomac, crossing at White's Ford on the
morning of the 14th of July, and camping on the Virginia shore. By the
17th, Early's Army had reached and crossed the Shenandoah, and went into
camp near Castleman's Ferry. On the 18th the enemy crossed the Blue Ridge
at Snicker's Gap and made a heavy attack on the Confederates, attempting
to cross the river at Cool Springs, but were driven back with loss by the
Divisions of Rodes and Wharton. On the 19th, in a further attempt to cross
the river at Berry's Ferry, they were defeated with loss by the cavalry
brigades of McCausland and Imboden. On the afternoon of the 20th Early
again marched, taking the route up the Valley toward Newtown, and during
the night Breckenridge's Corps, made up of the Divisions of Gordon and
Wharton, followed by McCausland, marched by way of Millwood and the Valley
turnpike to Middletown. The whole army marched to the vicinity of
Strasburg and went into camp. On the 24th General Early turned back to
meet the pursuing enemy, which he met at Kernstown and quickly defeated;
the principal fighting being done by Gordon and Wharton's Divisions of
Breckenridge's Corps. General Early pressed on the Bunker's Hill and
Martinsburg.

It was on July 27th that General McCausland started on his raid to
Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. He had with him his own and Bradley T.
Johnson's Brigades, and acting under and in obedience to the orders of
Lieutenant General Early, to demand of the citizens of Chambersburg a
named sum of money as an indemnity for the wanton burning of private
dwelling houses in the Valley of Virginia by the Federal soldiers, and
upon refusal to pay the money to burn the town. Reaching the town on the
30th of July, General McCausland made demand for the money, which was
refused, and thereupon the buildings were fired. Adjutant A. C. Bailey, of
the 8th Cavalry, was killed in Chambersburg by some infuriated citizens.
McCausland, on his retreat into Virginia, halted at Moorefield, where
before daylight on the 6th day of August his command was surprised by that
of the Federal General Averill and defeated with a loss of many killed and
wounded; three flags, four pieces of artillery, and 400 captured.

From the 10th of August to the 19th day of September, General Early's
command marched and counter-marched repeatedly over the territory between
Winchester and the Potomac, with scarcely a day passing without a skirmish
or small engagement of some kind. No army was better exercised, or inured
to more active service.

The Federal General Sheridan, with an army of more than 40,000 men, on
September 19th at Winchester, attacked General Early's troops, numbering
not exceeding 12,000, and after an all-day close and bloody battle, the
enemy's large body of cavalry turned the Confederate left flank, and
compelled a rapid retreat of the Army of General Early, with a loss to him
of 1707 in killed and wounded; more than 2,000 captured, and the loss of
five pieces of artillery and nine flags. The loss of the enemy was 5018.
Among those killed on the Confederate side was Major General Rodes, and
the brave and magnificent Colonel George S. Patton, mortally wounded;
while Lieutenant Colonels Edgar and Derrick were captured. The Federals
lost General Russel, killed; and Generals Upton, McIntosh and Chapman
wounded. Among the New River Valley men, and those of adjacent territory,
killed in this battle, were Captain George Bierne Chapman, commanding
Chapman's Battery; and Clinton Bailey, of the 8th Virginia Cavalry,
mortally wounded; and among the captured, were Captain Henry Bowen, and
Private William H. Thompson, of the 8th Cavalry; Captain James B. Peck of
Edgar's Battalion; Lieutenant John A. Douglass, of the 30th Virginia
Battalion; Lieutenant J. N. Shanklin of Monroe County, and Captain Andrew
Gott, of Mercer, who though wounded, succeeded in escaping a few days
after his capture.

General Early retired with his Army to Fisher's Hill, where on the 22nd of
September he was again attacked and defeated by General Sheridan; and only
saved by the firm and brave resistance of a portion of Wharton's Division,
and some of the Artillery Brigade which continued the fighting until
General Early ordered them to desist. General Early reports his loss in
this engagement at 30 killed, 210 wounded, and 995 missing, and 12 pieces
of artillery. General Sheridan reports his loss at 528.

Getting his troops together and giving them a few days for rest and
recuperation. General Early, on October 1st, again advanced down the
Valley to the vicinity of Cedar Creek, skirmishing all the way. An
examination of the enemy's position satisfied the Confederate command that
a successful attack could be made, although his army did not number above
10,000 men, while that of the enemy was close to 50,000. A more daring
enterprise, under the circumstances, with such disparity of numbers, was
never conceived or attempted in modern warfare. It was plain that if he
did not succeed the chances were that he would loose his whole army.
Notwithstanding the difficulties that wee presented, as the movement began
on the early morning of the 19th day of October, the obstacles which
seemed insurmountable disappeared, and by a movement of a part of his
troops on the flank of the enemy under the gallant Gordon, and with
Wharton's Division on the main turnpike, General Early threw his troops
with a bold rush upon the enemy, who were largely asleep in their tents,
and in an incredibly short space of time the enemy's 8th and 19th Army
Corps were in utter route and confusion, with a large number thereof
prisoners, together with many pieces of artillery and camp equipage. By
noon the entire infantry force of the enemy had been routed and driven for
several miles. Unfortunately, however, General Early halted his men when
in the full tide of a most brilliant success, thus giving the enemy time
to get themselves together again, which they did, and later turning upon
the broken and scattered Confederate Battalions, with his immense Cavalry
Corps come 10,000 strong, drove Early's troops from the field with serious
loss; although he had succeeded in getting off 1500 Federal prisoners, he
lost most of the artillery he had captured and some of his own by the
breaking down of the bridge over Cedar Creek. The Confederates retreated
to New Market and there went into bivouac. The Confederate loss in this
battle, including prisoners, is put down at about 2500; while that of the
Federal Army is officially reported at 5665. The Confederates lost Major
General Ramseur, killed; the Federal General Bidwell was killed, and
General Wright, Grover, and Ricketts wounded. It is to be regretted that
the casualties in Wharton's Division, and McCausland's Cavalry Brigade
cannot be given for want of official or other information.

Between August the 10th and November 16th, 1864, General Sheridan had so
completely devastated the country in which his Army operated, that it was
made most manifest that his orders to destroy the Valley, "So that even a
crow traversing it would have to carry a haversack," were almost literally
complied with; about the only thing which he did not burn, destroy or
carry away, being the stone fences. Scarce any such wholesale pillage and
wanton destruction ever followed in the wake of any army. To the people
the losses amounted to millions of dollars.

From the time of the battle of Cedar Creek, on the 19th day of October, to
the 14th day of December, when Early's 2nd Corps of the Army, under
General John B. Gordon, returned to the trenches around Richmond, there
was a succession of marches and countermarches by General Early's troops,
and many spirited skirmishes, and some pretty severe combats between the
Cavalry forces of the two Armies, one of which was an attack on General
McCausland's Brigade, on the 12th day of November, near Cedarville, in
which the enemy was several times repulsed, but finally drove McCausland
back towards Front Royal, with a loss of two pieces of artillery, 10
killed, 60 wounded, and 100 captured. It is stated upon authority, that up
to the 15th day of November, General Early's troops had marched since the
opening of the campaign on the13th day of June, 1670 miles, and fought 75
battles and skirmishes. On the 24th day of November McCausland's Brigade,
with those of Jackson and Imboden, had a sharp contention with Torbett's
two divisions of Federal Cavalry at Liberty Mills, northwest of
Gordonville. The troops became very much mixed up with the enemy in the
dark night. The enemy's reported loss in this encounter was 258.

General Early established his headquarters at Staunton, while a portion of
General Wharton's Division went into camp about the 1st of December at
Fishersville. This was the end of the Valley campaign of 1864.

Whatever may be said of Early's Valley Campaign as to its conduct and
final disastrous results, it is certain that no student of military
history will withhold from that officer the credit of being a bold,
daring, brave soldier and strategist, who with a small army of scarce more
than 12,000 of the most heroic men that ever shouldered muskets for the
defense of their country, battled, beat back, defeated, harassed, and kept
employed for more than five months in an open country, and within a radius
of not more than 100 miles, an army of quite five times its numbers,
inflicting upon it during that period losses almost equal to double its
own numbers; and keeping during the period referred to the Federal
authorities in a state of nervous tremor for fear that the bold "Captain
of the Valley" might swoop down upon the Federal city.

Lieutenant Colonel Vincent A. Witcher, on the 17th day of September, 1864,
with his 34th Virginia Battalion of Cavalry, left Tazewell Court House,
and passing by way of Narrows of New River to Lewisburg, was there joined
by the Companies of the Thurmonds and those of Captain William H. Payne,
J. Bumgards and J. W. Amick, raising his effective strength to 523 men,
with which he moved northward across the mountains into the Counties of
Upshur and Lewis, making extensive captures of horses, beef cattle, and
300 prisoners, and destroying large amounts of government stores, and
returning without loss. (Note: Witcher's command had, in 1863, a severe
engagement at the mouth of Beech Creek, now Mingo County, with the 4th
West Virginia Cavalry, under Colonel Hall, in which Hall was killed and
Witcher badly wounded.)

On October 20th, 1864, Captain William H. Payne, at the head of his
command and while marching down Coal River, in Raleigh County, against the
enemy, was shot from his horse, falling mortally wounded. His left arm was
broken, the ball passing through his body, from which wound he died on the
next day. He was a young man of great promise, the son of Mr. Charles H.
Payne, of Giles County. Had young Payne lived a month longer he would have
become Colonel at the reorganization of his command. He was a man of
exemplary habits, well educated, of dauntless courage, and was a
strikingly handsome, fine-looking soldier. The officers of his company at
the time of his death were Lieutenant John Tabler and Charles R. Price.
Major Nounan with a detachment of cavalry, in the month of October,
penetrated the enemy's lines, and marched to the Kanawha River, doing some
hurt to the enemy, and returned without serious loss.

On the 2nd day of October, 1864, the enemy 2500 strong, including one
negro cavalry regiment, under the command of the Federal General
Burbridge, attacked Saltville, Virginia, defended by a small force under
the command of Generals Echols, Vaughn and Williams; and were after an all-
day contest repulsed and forced to retire, with a loss of about 350 men
killed and wounded. In the December following, a Federal Army about 6,000
strong, under the command of the Federal General Stoneman, marched into
Southwestern Virginia and was met by General John C. Breckenridge with
some small remnants and fragments of Confederate commands, numbering less
than 1,000 men. For several days frequent combats ensued, mostly in favor
of the Federals, who penetrated the country as far east as Wytheville,
destroying much of the railroad, especially bridges, and some Government
stores in that town and at other points, also doing some damage to the
lead mines. As stated, the first named Federal force had with it one
regiment of negro cavalry, whose fighting qualities was the boast of the
Federal officers, they even intimating that the negroes were better
soldiers than their white men. On the 20th of December a large Federal
force attacked the command of Colonel Robert T. Preston at the salt works,
and after a brisk fight lasting until night, Colonel Preston, who had only
400 men--mostly old men--reserves, withdrew his men, and the Federals
entered and took possession, doing considerable damage, after which they,
finding nothing further to destroy, returned to Kentucky and Tennessee.

General Thomas L. Rosser, with his Virginia Cavalry Brigade, and the 8th
Virginia Cavalry Regiment of Payne's Brigade, on the night of--or rather
before daylight on the morning of--the 11th day of January, 1865, attacked
a Federal force at Beverley, West Virginia, capturing, killing and
wounding 572, without loss to his command.

The old Brigade of Echols, of Wharton's Division, which had been in
quarters near Fishersville in December, on the 18th day of January left
for Dublin Depot, in Southwestern Virginia, and McCausland's Brigade
marched from east of the Blue Ridge, by way of Fishersville, en route to
winter quarters in Alleghaney and Greenbrier Counties. By the last days of
February all of the Confederate troops had departed from the Valley, save
a small force of cavalry under General Rosser, and the remnant of
Wharton's Division, numbering less than 1,000 men, badly clad and poorly
fed. A force of 9,987 Federal Cavalry, with artillery, under the command
of General Sheridan, on the 2nd day of March, attacked Early's small force
at Waynesboro, completely demolishing it, capturing about 1600 prisoners,
many of them citizens and convalescents, who were getting out of the
country with General Early's troops. Early escaped to the mountains,
finally reached Richmond, was sent to Lynchburg and from there to
Southwestern Virginia to take command of the troops in that department.

General Sheridan crossed the Blue Ridge, laid waste the whole country
through which he passed, cut the James River Canal, destroyed the Central
Railroad, and made his way down to the north of Richmond about the middle
of March, where he was threatened with serious trouble and turned his
course to the White House on the Pamunky, finally joining General Grant,
at Petersburg, on March 27th.

On March 5th Pickett's Division was relieved by that of General Mahone,
and marched to within two miles of Chester Station, near the Richmond and
Petersburg Turnpike, where it went into bivouac amidst a cold rain which
continued for two days. On the 8th Pickett had a grand review of his
Division, after which and on the next day, the 9th, it marched to
Manchester, and on the following day, the 10th, through Richmond and
halted in the outer line of works near the Brooke road; thence on the left
along the line of works to the Nine Mile Road, and the following day, the
12th, returned to the position near the Brooke Road. On the 14th it
marched to near Ashland, where it halted in line of battle. On the 16th,
the 15th Virginia Regiment of Corse's Brigade had a sharp skirmish with
Sheridan's Cavalry at Ashland. Sheridan switching off towards the Pamunky,
the division followed him to that river, built a bridge, but found it
useless to attempt to follow the bold riders any farther, and from thence
returned to the Nine Mile Road. It marched on the 25th to Richmond and
took the train for Dunlop's Station, where it rested until the evening of
the 29th, when it was ordered to the right of General Lee's Army. It
marched to and crossed the Appomattox on a pontoon bridge five miles above
Petersburg. Here the brigades of Stuart, Corse, and Terry took the cars
for Sutherland's Station, on the Southside railroad, but there not being
room on the train for all, the first and 7th Virginia Regiments had to
march, reaching that night Sutherland's Tavern, on Cox's road, in a
drizzling rain. Before daybreak the next morning, the 30th, the march was
resumed to Hatcher's Run and to the extreme right of the line near Five
Forks, where the two last mentioned regiments, with some cavalry, were
thrown forward to drive off some Federal Cavalry, which they succeeded in
doing--Huton's Brigade was detached and serving with Bushrod Johnson's
Division. At an early hour on the morning of the 31st the march was again
taken up in the direction of Dinwiddie Court House. Finding the Federals
in heavy force at the crossing of Chamberlayne's Creek, engaged with
Fitzhugh Lee's Cavalry, Terry's Brigade, led by the 3rd Virginia Regiment,
effected a crossing at an old mill dam, but with loss to the leading
regiment, it having to wade the creek, which was waist deep, to dislodge
the enemy posted on the opposite side. The division advanced rapidly in
pursuit of the retreating enemy, who made several stands and quite a brisk
fighting occurred. Within a mile of Dinwiddie Court House the enemy, with
two cavalry divisions, made a bold stand, but were quickly driven with
loss; the Confederate loss was small. General Terry suffered a severe
injury by the fall of his horse, which was shot. The division occupied the
field until 1 o'clock, A. M., of the 1st of April, and was then withdrawn
and posted at Five Forks, where, with the Brigades of Ransom and Wallace
and the Confederate Cavalry, it was fiercely assailed about the middle of
the afternoon by about 26,000 Federal Infantry and Cavalry. The
Confederates did not number more than 7,000, yet manfully and bravely
stood their ground until almost surrounded, and finally, about dark, was
forced to yield the field with a loss of more than 3,000 of their number
captured, with several pieces of artillery. No better fight was ever made
under the circumstances. In its close it was hand to hand. The day was
lost simply because the Confederates had both flanks turned, were in fact
pushed off the field by weight of numbers. The repeated Federal assaults
up to the last were repulsed with great loss to them. The Confederate loss
in this battle is put down at between 3,000 and 4,000 prisoners, 13 colors
and six guns; and on the Federal side the loss of Warren's 5th Infantry
Corps is put down at 634 in killed and wounded.

The loss of General Grant's Army from the 29th day of March to the 9th day
of April, the date of Lee's surrender, is officially reported at 15,692, a
number equal to about one-half the number of men Lee had when he left
Petersburg, and more than equal to the number that had guns in their hands
on the day of the surrender.

Company D of the 7th Regiment lost in the Five Forks battle 6 men, viz:
John R. Crawford, John S. Dudley, A. L. Sumner, and G. C. Mullens,
captured, and William D. Peters and John A. Hale, severely wounded. No
record is extant, as far as known, of the losses in the Giles and Mercer
Companies of the 24th Virginia Regiment. An incident, however, occurring
in the Giles Company of the 24th Regiment is worthy of note. Late in the
afternoon, when Warren's Federal Army Corps had swung around the
Confederate left and attacked Terry's Brigade in the rear, three Federal
soldiers attacked McCrosky of the Giles Company, one of whom he killed,
wounded another and escaped, with a wound in his face, from the third. The
man he killed with the butt of his gun, braining him, breaking the gun off
at the breach. Leaving the field the night of the battle, Pickett's
Division marched to Ford's depot on the Southside Railroad, bivouacking,
and joining, the next morning, the Divisions of Heth and Wilcox,
retreating from Petersburg. The division was now about 2200 strong, having
lost more than half its numbers in the battle of the day before. It
continued its march, Hunton's Brigade in the meantime having united with
the division, on the 2nd of April, to Deep Creek, heavily pressed by the
enemy's cavalry; especially was this true of the 4th and 5th, having
occasionally to halt and form line of battle, and now and then a square,
to keep off the pursuers; without food and living on corn shelled from the
cob, which was eaten even without parching.

In the early morning of the 6th the division reached Harper's farm, on
Sailor's Creek, where it encountered a heavy force of Federal Cavalry with
which it skirmished for several hours, and finally with a furious attack
front, flanks and rear, and in a hand to hand contest, it was bodily
picked up by the enemy, whose numbers were sufficient to have thrown down
their guns and have captured every Confederate on the field and bound him
hand and foot with ropes. A portion of the division escaped capture and
got off the field with General Pickett and Brigadier General Stuart.
Generals Corse, Hunton, and Terry were captured, as was also Lieutenant
General Ewell, Major General Custis Lee, and perhaps others. The escaped
portion of the division marched to Appomattox under the command of General
Pickett; Terry's Brigade being commanded by Major W. W. Bentley, of the
24th Regiment; that of Corse by Colonel Arthur Herbert; that of Hunton by
Major M. P. Spessard. On the 9th General Pickett surrendered 1031 officers
and men. The men captured in the battle of Five Forks, as well also as
those captured at Sailor's Creek, were sent to prison at Point Lookout,
Maryland, from whence they were discharged in the June and July following.
Those surrendered at Appomattox were paroled and went home. Of
McCausland's Cavalry Brigade there were surrendered at Appomattox 27
officers and men. Wharton's Division or what remained of it after the
disaster at Waynesboro, with other troops in Southwestern Virginia, under
the command of General Early, were, on learning of General Lee's surrender
at Appomattox, disbanded at Christiansburg, Virginia. General Early had
been sick for some days previous to the surrender and was riding in an
ambulance, and as said, when receiving reliable information of the
surrender at Appomattox remarked, prefixing some expletives, "I wish
Gabriel would now blow his horn."

During the year of 1864, along the border of Western and Southwestern
Virginia, in Monroe, Mercer and other Counties, many outrages were
committed by bands of thieves and robbers who roamed over the country,
regarding neither friend nor foe, but seeking their own gain and
gratifying their own spleen against non-combatants. There lived on Flat
Top Mountain a staunch Southern man by the name of James Wiley, quietly at
home disturbing no one. He was attacked in his own house by one of the
bands referred to, but succeeded in driving them off, being aided by his
young son, Milton, and wounding one of the gang. A short time afterwards
he and his son were again attacked by another one of these bands and
killed. This occurred in the spring of 1862. On another occasion, in 1864,
Mr. Albert B. Calfee, with his younger brother, John C. Calfee, and Mr.
Elisha Heptinstall, were traveling from the residence of Colonel William
H. French, in Mercer County, toward the Court House, and were fired upon
by a band of these marauders from ambush, and Heptinstall was killed and
John C. Calfee mortally wounded. This occurred on the 8th day of August,
1864. About the same time a party of Confederate outlaws went to the house
of Mr. Jacob Harper, in Raleigh County, and took him a prisoner, led him
out into the woods and shot him. Harper was a plain, honest, upright,
peaceable citizen and harmed no one.

The war was now practically over and no malice existed between those who
did the actual fighting in the battle. The question of secession being one
left open by the framers of the Federal Constitution, every man had a
right to exercise his own opinion in regard thereto, and hence he had a
right to fight on the one side or the other as to him might seem right and
proper, provided he fought for his convictions. The Confederate soldier
fought for a principle as sacred to him as the one for which the Federal
soldier battled. Again, this Confederate soldier felt that he had
discharged his duty and he had nothing to ask forgiveness for and asked
none. He had no apologies to offer or make; he had fought manfully the
invaders of his soil, who came to kill and destroy. He did not ask those
who fought against him in the war to forget the struggle; let them
remember it if they might, but we would not forget it if we could, and
could not if we would. We intend to perpetuate the memories of the
conflict, the battles won or lost we intend shall be remembered to latest
generations. Will the world forget Marathon, Waterloo or Thermopylae? No
more than it will forget Manassas, Sharpsburg, Chancelorsville,
Gettysburg, the Wilderness or Spottsylvania. The contest was between
Americans, and their deeds of heroism and valor are the common heritage of
the American people. The story is told of the great and gifted preacher,
Henry Ward Beecher, that in the early part of the year 1862 he visited
England and was invited to make a speech. The crowd was exceedingly
boisterous and he was howled and hissed at so that he could not be heard,
but finally a large brawny Englishman, with a broad, big mouth and
stentorian voice, shouted: "You told us you would whip the rebels in
ninety days and you have not done it." The crowd becoming quiet for a
moment, Mr. Beecher said: "If you will be quiet for a moment I will tell
you why; when we started out in the war and made the statement that we
would whip them in ninety days, we thought we were fighting Americans."
There will never be in the history of the world such soldiers as the
Confederate--the Confederate Private. While it is true that the world has
furnished few, if any, such men as Lee, Jackson, Johnston, Beauregard,
Stuart, and many other Confederate Generals that might be mentioned; but
it must not be forgotten that no Generals ever led forth such men to
battle as the Confederate soldier. His like will never be seen again. Some
one has written some lines in regard to the Confederate Private, a few of
which are here inserted:

"From every home in the sweet Southland
Went a soldier lad, at his heart's command,
To fight in a cause both true and just,
To conquer or to die, as a hero must.

The hardships of war bravely bore,
And proudly the shabby gray he wore,
T'was the only color on earth for him;
Not hunger or thirst could his spirit dim.

With every battle hope sprang up anew;
He felt that the cause he loved was true,
And surely the God who brave men led
Would help and guide them, living or dead.

Sometimes they won, then hope ran high;
Again they lost, but it would not die,
They were privates only, and theirs to obey;
Nor theirs to command or lead the fray.

But theirs to endure and follow and fight;
To know that the cause they loved was right.
And so to the end they followed and fought,
With love and devotion which could not be bought."

After the surrender at Appomattox arrangements were soon made by the
Federal Government to release the Confederate prisoners in its hands, of
whom there were many thousands. They began to return home during the
months of June and July, and they were pitiable looking objects indeed.
Peglegs, stub arms, sunken eyes, emaciated frames, teeth loose and falling
out on account of scurvy, with health broken and hope almost gone;
returning to the land of their nativity to find it practically a waste
place.

Thousands of men on both sides of our great civil conflict perished in
military prisons; charges, criminations and recriminations of ill and
inhuman treatment of prisoners by both sides were made. It may be here
noted, that military prison life is horrible at any time and under any
circumstances. A great body of men thrown and huddled together are not
only difficult to control and manage under the best system of discipline
that can be adopted, but such masses are always subject to disease in
every form. The facts are too plain and manifest to admit of doubt, that
the officials of the Federal Government were wholly to blame for all the
ills and horrible results that befell these poor prisoners, their own as
well as the Confederates, because of, first, the obstacles they placed in
the way of a fair exchange, and in the next place by their absolute
refusal to exchange at all. That there were isolated cases of bad
treatment of Federal prisoners by Confederate prison keepers is doubtless
true, but if so, they were few in number and exceptional cases, while on
the other hand the keepers of Federal prisons were cruel and brutal in
their treatment of Confederate prisoners, and this with full knowledge on
the part of the Federal authorities. The North was full-handed with
provisions and medicines, while the South was impoverished. For those whom
the fortunes of war had placed in their hands, the South did the very best
it could, giving to them the same rations that the soldiers in the field
received; while the Federal authorities in the midst of abundance
willfully inflicted wanton deprivation of the Confederate prisoners. An
examination of the reports of the Federal Secretary of War made in 1866,
shows that 22,576 Federal prisoners died in Southern prisons, and that 22,
246 Confederate prisoners died in Northern prisons. The report of the
Surgeon General of the United States shows that in round numbers, the
Confederate prisoners in the hands of the Federal authorities numbered 220,
000, out of which 26,246 died. That out of 270,000 Federal prisoners held
by the South, 22,576 died; more than 12 % of the Confederate prisoners,
and less than 9 % of Federal prisoners died. The urgency of the Northern
people at home, as well as many prominent Federal officers favoring
exchange of prisoners, drew from General Grant a letter to General Butler,
dated August 18th, 1864, in which he says: "It is hard on our men held in
the Southern prisons not to exchange them, but it is humanity to those
left in the ranks to fight our battles. Every man released on parole, or
otherwise, becomes an active soldier against us at once, either directly
or indirectly. If we commence a system of exchange which liberates all
prisoners taken, we will have to fight on until the whole South is
exterminated. If we hold those caught, they amount to no more than dead
men. At this particular time to release all Rebel prisoners in the North
would insure Sherman's defeat and would compromise our safety here."

Among the men of Mercer County who perished in northern prisons were
Robert H. Brian, A. I. Golden, J. H. Godby, H. F. Hatcher,  William
Keaton, W. J. Keaton and John W. Nelson. These men died in Camp Chase,
Ohio, during the latter part of the war.