The Valley Campaigns - Chapters I-IV



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CHAPTER I 
THE INSTITUTION OF SLAVERY

   FROM Colonial days to the American Revolution and from the Revolution 
to the middle of the nineteenth century the Southern States had grown in 
wealth, population, and civic pride. A civilization of rare culture and 
refinement represented the high spirit and virtue of the Anglo-Saxon race 
in the South. One of the foundation stones upon which this civilization 
rested was the institution of slavery, - an institution that began with 
the Colonies and was recognized by the Constitution that was established 
by the union of the States under the Federal Government. 

   To the people of my generation in the South the ownership of slaves was 
an inheritance, representing an investment in dollars and cents, - a 
property interest as necessary and valuable to its possessor as bonds and 
stocks. The slaveowner was, therefore, no more responsible for this 
character of property, if it came to him through inheritance, than for any 
other form of inheritance, 

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- indeed, no more responsible than he was for the shape of his head or 
color of his hair. The ownership of slaves involved, as a general rule, as 
little discomfort as the ownership of domestic animals; and the owner of 
slaves was consciously no more unkind to these human beings than he was to 
his horse and dog, which he often valued with a strong affection. 

   My childhood recollection of the negro slave is associated with many 
happy incidents, and my relations to him were most cordial and 
affectionate. With the young negroes of my age I often played and romped; 
I often worked with them in their easy duties around my home, and at all 
times found them companionable and respectful, There was a courtesy and 
kindness between us which was never abused. Negroes owned by the well-to-
do and cultured classes of people were, as a rule, handed down by 
inheritance from parents to children through succeeding generations; and 
thus, through their long line of connection with these old families, they 
enjoyed better training in domestic service and were more intelligent and 
moral than the average negro of the present time. 

   The good and bad influences that surrounded the slave were more fully 
illustrated by the character of the owner than by the slave's own 
disposition. In his natural temperament the negro is usually a happy, 
indolent, and frivolous character, 

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fond of his ease, his pleasures, and his appetites. He is easily 
influenced to do good and as easily led astray by bad associations. He 
responds readily to kind and generous treatment, and rebels with sullen 
and concealed passion against unkind and harsh authority, and his 
resentment is often expressed with violence; hence it was that the slave 
was alienated from his master, and the master became unjust and unkind to 
his slave. 

   Where slaves were owned in large numbers by one individual his rights 
were often disregarded. He was dealt with as a piece of personal property 
not much better than the live stock on the plantation. It was this 
condition that brought odium upon the institution of slavery. All human 
rights were imperiled by a system that regarded human flesh as an article 
of barter and trade, - a system that degraded the manhood and humanity of 
both master and slave. The people who viewed slavery from the distance, 
who knew but little of its humane and civilizing influences over the negro 
as a race, took isolated and unusual examples for universal conditions. 

   In the violence of prejudice and emotion, manufactured by false 
evidence, the people of the North arraigned the slaveowner as an inhuman 
tyrant. Totally disregarding his property interests, his constitutional 
rights, and his just desire to free slavery of its worst forms of 
servitude, the remote, uninformed 

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Northerner held up the slaveowner before the civilized world as the enemy 
of a lowly and servile race. No credit was given him for the service he 
was rendering the negro race through the gradual influences of 
civilization. The world forgot that the negro had been introduced into 
this country in a semicivilized or barbarous condition. Uncultured and 
unskilled, ignorant both of human and divine law, a victim of the lowest 
forms of superstition, vice, and evil passion, the negro had, by the 
institution of slavery, - despite all its bad features, - been raised to a 
plane of usefulness, of domestic service, and of happy contentment unknown 
to him in his natural home. 

   The negro under slavery was far from being unhappy and discontented. He 
was, to the contrary, free from care and responsibility. He was well fed, 
well clothed, well cared for in sickness and in old age. His hardships 
were usually of his own making, brought on by vice and intemperance, or by 
his bad temper and unruly disposition. He had it in his power to win the 
confidence and esteem of his master without absolute servitude or 
humiliation of spirit. The pride of the negro under slavery was no more 
debased than that of the child under parental authority. Children have 
been held in bondage by their parents, and negroes have been treated with 
cruelty by their masters, as have prisoners of war and inmates of 

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penal institutions. The ill-treated slave, however, was the exception and 
not the rule among civilized people. The abuses of slavery were greatly 
exaggerated by persons who would not see its humane and civilizing 
influences. Whether the negro in this country has been made better or 
worse by his emancipation time must show. Had the negro been left in 
Africa he would have been on a level with his race in that country today. 
There, centuries of isolation have left him a barbarian. Even under the 
influence of civilization he has developed neither originality nor 
constructive ability. His administrative talents are of a very low order, 
hence he has never been able to exercise authority with discretion or 
skill. Nature has granted him one preeminent gift. He is fitted for 
domestic service, in which field of usefulness he has become a most 
efficient and faithful servant.(1) 

   Now when it is borne in mind that the responsibility for the 
introduction of slavery into this country lay as much with the people of 
the North as with the people of the South, and that the North had 
prospered as much by the importation and sale of the negro to the 
slaveowner as 

(1. The author admits that the idea of ownership of human beings is 
opposed by the better instincts of our humanity. It was this sentiment 
that led to the overthrow of an institution that did much to civilize and 
improve a race so low in the scale as to be classed as barbarians.)

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the owner had prospered by the negro's service as a laborer in the house 
and in the field, it can be fully understood how resentment and passion 
had been kindled in the mind of the slaveowning class against the 
antislavery agitator in the North. 

   A controversy, beginning almost with the formation of the Federal 
Union, had grown from decade to decade, with increasing violence. Section 
had been arrayed against section, until a divided Union was threatened 
from year to year. It was becoming more and more apparent that the nation 
could not exist half slave and half free. The question was whether slavery 
should be abolished or the nation be split asunder. The solution of so 
grave a question could be determined in only one way. When reason ceases 
to guide the minds and hearts of a people anarchy is the result, - 
anarchy, in open protest against unrighteous and dangerous authority. 



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CHAPTER II 
THE JOHN BROWN INSURRECTION AND ITS EFFECTS

   MY recollections of my early school days are crowded with many 
incidents of historic interest. It was when I was about eleven years old 
that the John Brown Insurrection at Harper's Ferry took place. As our 
village - Front Royal - was less than fifty miles distant from the seat of 
the insurrection our people were thrown into a state of great excitement. 
The attempt made by John Brown to arouse the negro and create race 
antagonism was regarded as a cruel, premeditated assault upon the 
institution of slavery, - an assault supported by an antislavery sentiment 
in the North. John Brown and his few associates were regarded as weak and 
deluded fanatics, harmless in themselves, but representatives of a sect 
that would stop at no act short of governmental interference. Their whole 
purpose was regarded by our people as the first step in the direction of 
an armed assault upon slavery, as a violation of Constitutional rights, 
and a cruel manoeuver to create distrust and animosity in the mind of the 
negro toward his master. 

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   The effect of the John Brown Insurrection is a matter of history. It is 
not necessary here to relate the results that in a few years followed the 
Harper's Ferry incident. I wish to show in a brief way the influence it 
had over the negroes of our community and over the minds of our people. I 
venture to assert that the institution of slavery, as it existed in our 
section of Virginia, was based upon as high moral and ethical standards as 
were possible in a slaveowning community. 

   Our negro population was about one-half as large as our white 
population. The negroes were owned largely by our wealthiest and best 
people. The relations between master and servant were, as a rule, most 
friendly and cordial. The servant was most obedient and respectful to his 
master and yielded an affectionate and loyal obedience, simple, childlike, 
and faithful, while the master's regard for the servant was kind, 
thoughtful, and often parental. His interest in the slave was not so much 
one of property as of guardianship and responsibility. The negro had come 
to him by inheritance, - had been handed down from parent to child for 
some three or four generations, and there had grown up around this 
birthright a feeling of growing anxiety and concern for the negro which 
invested slaveownership with high moral considerations and conscientious 
convictions. There was an undercurrent of antislavery 

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sentiment among our slaveowners that would have had a wide expression, if 
a doorway could have been opened for a gradual emancipation. The interests 
of the slave, his equipment for the right of freedom, his moral and civil 
position in a slaveowning community, all called for the most careful 
thought and consideration. It seemed that neither the time nor the 
conditions were favorable for a general emancipation, even in our 
community, and far less so in other communities, where the negro 
population was large, where the intelligence of the negro was low, and 
where large industrial interests were involved. With these general views 
our people rested under a deep sense of responsibility; and they felt that 
it devolved upon them to adjust a domestic situation and a Constitutional 
right, without coercion from a section of the country that had no 
practical experience with slavery, understood none of the conditions 
involved in the ownership of the negro, and the people of which were moved 
by fanaticism and political interests in their attempts to destroy the 
institution. 

   It was but natural that a people whose moral and legal rights were 
assailed, should have been aroused to a high sense of indignation by the 
John Brown Insurrection. The effect was immediate. The slaveowner became 
resentful and grew determined in his efforts to resist the wrongs that he 

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felt were being heaped on him. He resolved to defend his Constitutional 
rights with blood and treasure, if necessary. The spirit of rebellion and 
of secession had their origin in these passions that were kindled in every 
Southern heart. 

   The effect of the Brown Insurrection upon the negroes of our community 
was but transient. A few slaves were moved by the hope of freedom to 
become restless and turbulent. In a few instances there was a slight 
degree of insubordination. The worst effect, however, was a feeling of 
distrust that arose between master and slave, weakening the warm 
attachment that had previously existed. When the master began to doubt the 
loyalty of his slave and the slave began to doubt the kindness and 
confidence of his master a mutual distrust began to express itself. I can 
recall but one or two open expressions of this distrust, and they were of 
a trivial character. A few of the more restless of the younger negroes 
showed a disposition to leave their homes after night and to meet in 
unfrequented places where, not infrequently, they drank and gambled. 

   To break up this growing habit of meeting, the young white men of our 
neighborhood organized a patrol, and at night they visited different 
places where watches were kept. After the arrest of a few negroes, who 
were away from home without 

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permission, the negroes soon gave up their night wanderings and remained 
at home. 

   The excitement growing out of the John Brown incident soon subsided; 
but the effect upon our people was made evident in other directions. In 
our community it was generally believed that the Brown Insurrection was 
the beginning of more serious political complications, - that secession 
and civil war would soon be the final solution of the conditions that 
confronted the slaveowning States. 

   The principal of the school I attended had received a military 
education, and soon after the John Brown affair he organized a military 
company made up of the young men of the county. An armory was secured, and 
arms and uniforms were provided for the members. Regular drills were held 
once or twice a week until the company soon became well organized and 
drilled. These young men and boys of sixteen years of age were being 
prepared in the lessons of school and in training for military service. We 
will see that within a year or two they were enlisted in the army of the 
Confederacy and not a few of them gave up their lives in the service of 
their State. 

   These days at school were exciting times for a boy of my age, though I 
was too young to realize the signs of the times and the results that would 
soon influence my future life. 

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   The disturbances growing out of the John Brown affair had scarcely 
subsided before the canvass for the Presidential contest was begun. The 
three political parties, - Democratic, Whig, and Republican, - soon met in 
convention and nominated their respective leaders. The Democratic party, 
split in twain, had two sets of candidates in the field, - Breckinridge 
and Lane, and Douglas and Johnson, - representing the two factions. Bell 
and Everit were the nominees of the Whig party, and Lincoln and Hamlin 
were the nominees of the new Republican party. 

   Since the Republican party was the avowed enemy of slavery, it was 
regarded by our people with great alarm and hatred. 

   The political contest in our section narrowed down to the two 
factions, - Breckinridge and Lane, and Bell and Everit. My county was 
largely Democratic, and the sentiment ran strong for that ticket. This 
sentiment in our school was shown by the number of Democratic badges worn 
by the boys and a few of the girls. There were a few Whig badges worn by 
the pupils, one Douglas and Johnson badge, but there was not a single 
representative of the Republican ticket. 

   The excitement ran high until the results of the election were made 
known. When the election of the Republican candidate was announced our 
people were seized with anxiety and alarm. It was 

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openly predicted that secession and civil war were inevitable. The 
political leaders and men of influence in our county at once determined to 
prepare for the struggle. The military company, previously referred to, 
began to enlist new members, to get new uniforms and arms, to hold drills 
and to make every preparation for an active service when it should be 
called out. 



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CHAPTER III 
VIRGINIA SECEDES. THE WAR BEGINS

   SEVERAL months passed before Lincoln and Hamlin were inaugurated. 
During that time the political feeling was intense. Candidates were 
brought out for election to a State convention, which was to decide upon 
the question of the secession of Virginia from the Federal Government. 
South Carolina and other cotton States had already withdrawn from the 
Union, and the Confederate Government had been organized, with Mr. Davis 
as President. The people of Virginia hesitated, deliberating long upon a 
line of action that would separate her from the Union. My county had 
elected to the convention a candidate who was committed to secession. In 
the contest between the two candidates for and against secession, the anti-
secession candidate received only two votes, - votes cast by two of our 
oldest and most respected citizens, men of high intelligence and undoubted 
patriotism, who held that Virginia should maintain a neutral position and 
endeavor to check the extreme views held by the North and the South. 

   This doctrine was soon found to be impracticable; 

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for when Mr. Lincoln called upon the States for troops to suppress the 
States that had seceded from the Union, Virginia cast her lot with her 
sister slave States and by vote in convention withdrew from the Union. 
This act at once put the State upon the defensive and the Civil War was 
inaugurated. 

   At that time our village had no communication by wire with the outside 
world and the announcement of the action of the convention did not reach 
our community until early in the morning of the following day. The message 
was brought by a locomotive that reached the village before sunrise. Well 
do I remember the long and plaintive whistle of the engine as it roused us 
from slumber, stirring alarm in every breast. Its approach to the village 
at this unusual hour was an admonition of the message it bore, - a message 
from the Governor of Virginia announcing the secession of the State and 
ordering the captain of the military company to assemble his men with 
utmost rapidity and proceed at once to Harper's Ferry. Messages were sent 
out to the homes of the members of the company to meet in the village for 
immediate service. By ten o'clock all the men, armed and in uniform, were 
ready to march to the seat of war. Wagons, carriages, and other vehicles 
were got together to carry these boys to the front at Harper's Ferry, the 
objective point of 

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military operations. This place was selected as it was located on the 
northern border of the State line and contained a large arsenal and 
military stores belonging to the Federal Government. 

   The assembling of the company, the preparation for leaving home, and 
the parting with friends and loved ones made a scene which can never be 
forgotten by those who witnessed it. Many of the boys were in high glee, 
for they regarded the incident as a mere outing for pleasure. Very few 
realized that some of them were leaving home for the last time and were 
entering upon a war which would try men's souls, bring infinite sorrow to 
their dear ones, and disaster on themselves. 

   In the company that left our village on the morning of April 20, 1861, 
were ten of my schoolmates, ranging in age from 16 to 20 years. With drum 
and fife to inspire them, they formed in ranks and marched in column to 
the suburbs. 

   Our older citizens, especially those who had sons and relatives in the 
company, took a more gloomy view of the situation; but few realized that a 
war of subjugation was being inaugurated by the Federal Government, and 
that the entire South would become the seat of a civil war which would 
have few parallels in the history of modern times. 

   Our people were animated by hope, courage, and patriotism, and they 
resolved in the beginning 

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of the struggle to expend every resource in the defense of their 
institutions and liberties. There was no hesitation in this resolution. 
They rose en masse to meet a situation that confronted them, and, fired 
with zeal, they willingly submitted their cause to the God of battle. 

   These were exciting times that tested to the utmost the spirit of 
heroism and fortitude. No people ever entered upon a civil war with 
greater confidence. It was believed that it would be a war of invasion and 
of attempted subjugation, that every resource of the Federal Government 
would be used to destroy the institution of slavery, and to force the 
seceding States back into the Union. Our people fully realized they were 
outnumbered as to men and greatly overbalanced as to resources, but they 
relied upon the justice of their cause and upon the courage and patriotism 
of the entire South to make up for the odds against them. 

   As Virginia was a border State between the North and the South it was 
evident that her territory would become the first seat of military 
operations and that the lines of attack and defense would be drawn along 
her northern borders. Troops were therefore sent to the front as soon as 
they could be mustered in. The Governor of Virginia, acting under the 
authority and will of the people, called all the volunteer militia into 
active service and at once made a call upon the 

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citizens of the State for new volunteers. All the able-bodied men in the 
State between the ages of 18 and 45 years were asked to enlist in service. 

   In my county an infantry company and one cavalry were raised within a 
few months and were enrolled into service. Volunteers poured in in large 
numbers and the two companies were organized, officered, and equipped with 
uniforms and arms. These two companies went into camp near the village, 
where they were drilled and disciplined under strict military regulations. 
As many of these men were unable to furnish their own horses and uniforms 
the county authorities authorized an appropriation from the Treasury of 
sufficient money to feed and clothe these volunteers. The gray cloth 
suitable for uniforms was not to be had in our county. My father was 
selected as the chairman of a committee to purchase this material. To this 
end he visited a large woolen mill located near Winchester and took me 
with him. He purchased many yards of gray cloth and gave orders for the 
early delivery of more. 

   My father and I returned home. Tailors were employed to cut out the 
gray cloth for the uniforms of the two companies, - which were, however, 
all made by the women and girls of our village, aided by some negro women 
who were trained to do needlework, - and in a few days the two companies 
appeared in their military outfit. 

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The infantry company was sent to join the army at Manassas, where it soon 
performed gallant service in the first great battle of the war. In this 
fight four of its members were killed and some eight or ten wounded. I 
shall never forget the sorrow of our people when the death of these four 
men was announced. It was the first blood lost in battle, and brought home 
the solemn realization of what war meant. 

   As to the company of cavalry, the members were, at least, all trained 
horsemen and owned the best of mounts. Many of these horses had been used 
in tournaments, - a species of sport that was very popular with the youth 
of the '60's, - or had followed the hounds, as was natural in a country 
where the fox was found in large numbers in the mountain recesses and 
caverns. Their training had therefore fitted them for cavalry service. 
This fact gave a great advantage to the Confederate cavalry service during 
the first two years of the war, and while the men of our cavalry company 
were well uniformed, their equipment in other respects was extremely 
defective. All rode the Shafter saddle with iron stirrup, carried their 
clothing in old-fashioned saddlebags or rolled in bundles strapped in 
front or behind as best they could, and were armed with old-fashioned 
single-barreled or double-barreled shotguns or with squirrel rifles. I 
doubt whether there were a 

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dozen revolvers and cavalry sabers in the entire command, and such as 
there were were impossible. For example, a cousin of mine, a boy of 
seventeen, who was a member of this company, had an old single-barreled 
duelling pistol, which went off with a loud explosion, but could not carry 
a bullet thirty paces nor hit a barn door at the same distance. I looked 
on with admiration when I first saw him riding a spirited gray horse, 
shooting off his old pistol in order to accustom his horse to stand under 
fire. But the old pistol made such a loud noise that his horse bolted and 
ran as if his life were in danger. My cousin did not venture to fire the 
weapon again, and I presume that he soon consigned it to a junk pile, 
where it belonged; for it was more dangerous to its owner and his horse 
than it could possibly have been to the enemy, who might only have been 
alarmed perhaps by the loud report that it made. 

   In spite of the character of the arms that our men had to use in the 
first year of the war, - and in the first engagements they were at a great 
disadvantage as to weapons, though their better horsemanship and dash made 
up for some of these defects, - it was not many months before the 
Confederate cavalry, by capture from the enemy, was fully mounted and 
equipped with a complete military outfit, - using McClellan saddles, and 
armed with revolvers, carbines, and sabers manufactured 

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by the Federal Government. This mode of equipment applied not only to the 
cavalry but, in a measure, to every branch of service. It is a matter of 
fact that the Federal Government supplied arms, ammunition, and military 
outfit not only to its own troops but also very largely to the armies of 
the Confederacy. As fast as captures were made the better outfit was 
substituted for the makeshift of the first days of the War, and, but for 
such success in acquiring, arms, the armies of the Confederacy would have 
yielded much sooner to the forces against them. 



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CHAPTER IV 
GENERAL TURNER ASHBY

   ALTHOUGH a boy of but twelve years of age at the time of my trip with 
my father to Winchester, I vividly recall an incident that occurred on 
that occasion. Among the officers and soldiers awaiting orders who filled 
Taylor's Hotel, where we were entertained, my father recognized Colonel 
Turner Ashby, whom he knew well. I shall never forget the impression I 
there received of that daring and variously estimated military hero. 

   Colonel Ashby had just dismounted from a magnificent white horse, - a 
noble animal, subsequently well known to the people of the Valley by his 
courageous death, - and was standing on the pavement in front of the 
hotel, holding the bridle rein. The horse was steaming with perspiration 
from his long travel that morning, but he stood, champing his bit, with 
head erect, and eyes full of spirit and fire, while his master, calm and 
erect, seemed absorbed in thought. My father went up to the Colonel, 
greeted him cordially and introduced me. He took my hand gently and spoke 
to me most kindly. 

   At this time Colonel Ashby had but recently 

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been promoted to the rank of Colonel, which promotion gave him command of 
all the cavalry companies assembled in the Valley. He was just entering 
upon a career that soon made him an heroic character in the history of the 
Civil War. Dressed now in Confederate gray, with gilt lace on his sleeves 
and collar, wearing high top-boots with spurs and a broad-brimmed black 
felt hat with a long black feather streaming behind, his appearance was 
striking and attractive. He stood about five feet eight inches in height 
and probably weighed from 150 to 160 pounds. He was muscular and wiry, 
rather thin than robust or rugged. His hair and beard were as black as a 
raven's wing; his eyes were soft and mahogany brown; a long, sweeping 
mustache concealed his mouth, and a heavy and long beard completely 
covered his breast. His complexion was dark in keeping with his other 
colorings. Altogether, he resembled the pictures I have seen of the early 
Crusaders, - a type unusual among the many men in the army, a type so 
distinctive that, once observed, it cannot soon be forgotten. 

   I remember that during the interview he remarked that he had ridden 
that morning on horseback between 30 and 40 miles, visiting outposts and 
camps of different companies under his command. Despite that fact, he 
showed no evidence of fatigue, nor did the gallant horse that bore him! 

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I afterward learned that it was no uncommon circumstance for him to ride 
70 to 80 miles a day, using two mounts. His horses were the best to be 
had, and they were cared for with a most loving affection by their master. 
While on that visit to Winchester I heard also for the first time the name 
of Colonel Jackson, then in charge of the Virginia troops at Harper's 
Ferry. He was known at that time only as an eccentric professor who knew 
little of warfare beyond the drilling and disciplining of soldiers. 
Colonel Jackson was soon promoted to the rank of brigadier-general and 
given the command of the brigade that subsequently became celebrated as 
the Stonewall Brigade, - so named because of the title its commander won 
at the battle of Manassas, July 21, 1861. 

   Turner Ashby, the third child of Colonel Turner Ashby and Dorothea 
Green, was born on October 23, 1828, at Rose Bank, a picturesque home 
across Goose Creek, about one hundred and fifty yards from Markham 
Station, Fauquier County, Virginia. He was the fourth in line of descent 
from Captain Thomas Ashby who moved from Tydewater, Virginia, and settled 
at the foot of Ashby's Gap, Fauquier County, about 1710. 

   Four generations of Turner Ashby's family had served in our country's 
wars, - the Colonial Wars, the War of the Revolution, and the War of 1812. 

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There was a strong military bias in the Ashby family and this, no doubt, 
had much to do with the military spirit that was so firmly implanted in 
Turner Ashby's nature. 

   While not trained to military service he early developed a love for the 
soldier's life, and while quite a young man he organized one of the best 
cavalry companies in the State of Virginia. He was selected as the captain 
of this company and gave it an efficiency that gained for it a wide 
distinction before it was called into active service in the Civil War. 

   The country around Markham is one of great natural beauty, of 
fertility, and healthfulness. The foothills of the Blue Ridge surround 
Markham on all sides, dividing the landscape into valleys and elevated 
plateaus, covered with forests, grazing fields, and rich farm lands. 

   The old and distinguished Colonial families early moved up to this 
section and founded a community of rare intelligence, refinement, and good 
breeding. There were before the war few sections of Virginia which could 
show such a citizenship of culture and independence as was found around 
Markham. 

   It was among these people that Turner Ashby was born and raised. It was 
in this pure atmosphere of comfort and refinement that he developed those 
characteristics of courtesy, manliness and 

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courage which were so fully exemplified in his after life. 

   As a young man he was noted for his gentleness, modesty and love of 
outdoor sport. He had great love for the horse and the hound. In the wild 
chase for the fox over field and fence and in his fondness for the 
tournament he was noted for being one of the most graceful and skillful 
riders in the South. As he grew to manhood he became famous as the most 
successful tournament rider in Virginia and when he appeared in the list 
the spirit of chivalry was never more beautifully illustrated than in the 
Knight of the Black Prince, which character he usually assumed. 

   When the John Brown Raid occurred, in the fall Of 1859, Turner Ashby, 
with his company of cavalry, was among the first volunteer troops to 
arrive on the scene, and it was on this occasion that he first 
demonstrated his military daring and skill. 

   He remained on duty at Charlestown with his company until after the 
execution of John Brown. It was on this service that he made the 
acquaintance of Lee, Jackson, and Stuart, whom he followed in the war 
between the States, and it was here, too, that he laid the foundation for 
that relationship with Stonewall Jackson that lasted until his death. 

   The day after Virginia seceded from the Union 

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Turner Ashby marched to Harper's Ferry with his company, which was one of 
the first volunteer companies to reach that place. He was assigned at once 
to outpost duty along the Potomac, and took command of the bridge across 
the river at Point of Rocks. Here he assembled a battery of artillery, - 
under Captain Imboden, - and a number of infantry and cavalry, with which 
he successfully guarded the border line of the State until Harper's Ferry 
was evacuated. 

   Within less than sixty days he had developed such a keen insight into 
military affairs that, upon the recommendation of Colonel Angus McDonald, 
he was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel of the Seventh Virginia Cavalry, then 
commanded by McDonald. His entire active military life was associated with 
this regiment, which contained the flower of the best blood of the 
northern counties of Virginia and of Maryland. 

   Soon after his assignment to the Seventh Virginia he was ordered with 
his regiment to do duty in Hampshire County and along the line of the 
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad between Harper's Ferry and Cumberland. Upon 
his promotion to the lieutenant-colonelcy his brother Richard Ashby was 
made captain of his old company. 

   Dick Ashby, as he was affectionately called, was three years younger 
than Turner. For several years he had lived in the then far West, where he 

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had had numerous adventures with the Indians and with the rough 
civilization of that unexplored country; but had returned to his old home 
just before Virginia seceded. Dick was a larger and handsomer man than 
Turner, full of fire and daring and cheerfulness of spirit, and was also 
more demonstrative and showy in social life. In June, 1861, he was sent 
with a small squad of his company to arrest some Union men who were giving 
trouble as informers. On this expedition he ran into a company of Federal 
cavalry on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, near Hancock, Maryland. Being 
largely outnumbered, he was forced to retire along the track of the 
railroad. He was riding an indifferent horse that fell in attempting to 
jump a cattle-stop. Dick, being dismounted, took refuge in the stop, 
where, refusing to surrender, he fought single handed and alone. He was 
soon desperately wounded and left for dead. Among other wounds he had 
received a bayonet stab in the abdomen, which caused his death some eight 
days later near Romney, to which place he had been taken by his brother 
Turner, who had come to his rescue and had found him lying by the side of 
the railroad in an exhausted condition. 

   The death of Dick was a great sorrow to Turner, for the two brothers 
were devotedly attached to each other. Turner became another man after 
Dick's death. His life was consecrated to the 

Page 39

cause of the South, and he dared and risked all in the service of his 
country. 

   Colonel McDonald was advanced in years and in feeble health. He soon 
resigned the command of the Seventh Virginia Cavalry to Turner Ashby, who 
became its leading spirit. He was soon placed in charge of all the cavalry 
under Stonewall Jackson, and until the close of his earthly career was 
Jackson's right hand. 

   The popularity of the cavalry service attracted the young riders of the 
Valley counties to that branch of the service, and before the close of a 
year there were 26 companies in the Seventh Virginia, under the command of 
Turner Ashby. The large additions to the regiment made the work of 
organization and discipline exceedingly difficult and were embarrassing to 
the efficiency of the service, which kept the cavalry in constant motion 
and in almost daily contact with the enemy. These companies were often 
widely separated, so that a compact regimental organization was 
impossible; in fact, at no time during the campaign of 1862 were all these 
companies united for a combined attack upon the Federals. 

   During the fall and early winter months of 1861 Turner Ashby was on the 
go day and night, covering a wide territory that extended from the 
Shenandoah at Harper's Ferry along the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and 
Chesapeake and Ohio 

Page 40

Canal as far west as Cumberland, Md. He and his detached companies were 
busy destroying the railroad and the dams of the canal along the Potomac 
between Cumberland and Point of Rocks. 

   The activity and physical endurance of Ashby were fireside talks in his 
camps. His restless and energetic spirit allowed no time for repose and no 
doubt, contributed in a measure to the want of organization and discipline 
of the companies coming to his command; for Turner Ashby was not a strict 
disciplinarian by nature. He was a leader, and he relied on his men to 
follow him. The necessities of the situation, the surroundings, and the 
character of the men who made up his command made an efficient 
organization an almost impossible task; for at that time of the war the 
cavalry service was poorly equipped with military saddles and the comforts 
of the camp, was armed with double-barrel shot guns and old pistols and 
rifles, and many of the men were without sabers or had those of a very 
indifferent kind. In good horsemanship these men excelled, and this fact 
added to the dash and fury of the charge, the vigorous assault and worry 
of the enemy, unprepared for the cavalry methods of warfare, gave them a 
decided advantage. 

   Turner Ashby was probably the first officer in the army to use both 
cavalry and artillery on the advance and in the retreat against infantry. 
His 

Page 41

tactics and strategy were so unorthodox that he confused his opponents and 
held them in check by their ignorance of his strength and purpose. 

   In the summer of 1861 Ashby added to his command a battery of horse 
artillery, commanded by Captain R. P. Chew, a young graduate of the 
Virginia Military Institute. 

   This battery was in almost daily service and was most efficient both in 
attack and in defense. It undertook to fight infantry or cavalry, was on 
the firing line at one moment, then would suddenly change position to 
another hill and resume work, with vigor and daring. Ashby and his cavalry 
operated entirely in the northern counties of Virginia until Jackson 
evacuated Winchester, March 12, 1862. When Jackson retired south of 
Strasburg General Shields entered Winchester and pushed forward to 
Strasburg. Shields had in his command 11,000 men and 27 guns, while 
Jackson had not more than 4,500, including infantry, cavalry, and 
artillery. 

   At this time Banks had under his command, including Shields' division, 
some 40,000 men operating in the counties of Berkley, Jefferson, Clarke, 
and Frederick. The division under Sedgwick had been sent to join McClellan 
in front of Richmond, and the division under Williams had begun its march 
toward Manassas, March 20, 1862. 

   It was necessary for Jackson to make an advance 

Page 42

on Shields, who had now withdrawn from Strasburg to Winchester. The object 
of this movement was to force the recall of the Federal troops to the 
Valley and prevent their union with McClellan. The strategy of Jackson 
worked well; for as soon as he had advanced as far north as Kernstown the 
division under Williams returned to the Valley to protect Shields and to 
make impossible an invasion of Maryland by way of the Valley. 

   On March 22, 1862, Ashby, with 280 cavalry and 3 horse artillery guns, 
struck the pickets of Shields one mile south of Winchester. A skirmish 
took place, in which Shields was wounded with a shell. Jackson hurried his 
command from Woodstock, and on the 23d arrived at Kernstown, five miles 
south of Winchester. A general engagement was brought on and the battle of 
Kernstown was bitterly fought. Jackson, whose force was largely 
outnumbered by that of Shields, was compelled to withdraw in the late 
afternoon. 

   In the battle of Kernstown Turner Ashby, - with less than half of his 
command together with Chew's battery, - won his first laurels, protecting 
Jackson's right wing with such courage and obstinacy that he saved the 
infantry on the left from rout, and enabled them to retire in order from 
the field. 

   Colonel Chew, who commanded the artillery, speaking of Turner Ashby, 
says: "I have always 

Page 43

believed his audacity saved General Jackson's army from total destruction 
at the battle of Kernstown. Ashby boldly moved forward with his command, 
consisting of a few companies of cavalry and my three guns, and protecting 
his men from observation by woods and ravines, opened on them with 
artillery, and withstood the fire of the enemy's artillery, sometimes as 
many as three or four batteries. When the enemy moved forward he dashed 
upon them with his cavalry. Had the enemy known our strength, or had he 
not been deceived by the audacity of the movement, they could have swept 
forward upon the turnpike, turned Jackson's right flank, and cut off his 
retreat by way of the turnpike. They, however, made little effort to 
advance and we remained in our position until Jackson retired to Newtown." 

   After the battle of Kernstown Jackson retired slowly up the Valley. He 
had accomplished a brilliant strategic movement in forcing the Federals to 
concentrate their forces in the Valley. During this retreat, - a retreat 
that has become famous in the history of the Valley campaigns, - Jackson's 
rear was ably protected by Ashby's cavalry and Chew's guns; and no 
commander enjoyed greater distinction than did Turner Ashby. 

   The subsequent operations of Ashby and his cavalry were confined to the 
Valley and ended 

Page 44

with his death on June 6th, 1862. In the great work that Jackson did in 
defeating Milroy at McDowell and Banks in the Shenandoah Valley Turner 
Ashby ably seconded his chief and shares with him the great distinction 
that that campaign brought to Jackson and his men. 

   The last time I saw Turner Ashby was the morning following the battle 
of Front Royal, May 23, 1862. My father and I were riding over the 
battlefield of the evening before, and as we were returning in the 
direction of home we met him riding in the direction of Winchester, and 
passed him on the road. He was mounted on a handsome black stallion and 
was going at a brisk pace, pressing forward to join his command. He made a 
hurried salute and rode on. He had been to the village to pay the last 
tribute of respect to Captain Sheetz and Captain Fletcher, two gallant 
officers of his command, who had been killed the evening before in an 
engagement at Buckton. 

   Two weeks later Turner Ashby fell, leading the Fifty-eighth Virginia 
Infantry, in a small engagement near Harrisonburg. He had that morning 
routed and captured Sir Percy Wyndham, a boastful Englishman, colonel of 
the First New Jersey Cavalry, who had planned to capture Ashby and who 
wound up by being a prisoner in Ashby's hands. The day was perhaps the 
most brilliant in his life and he had found great satisfaction in 

Page 45

capturing the boasting Englishman. In the evening of the same day, having 
undertaken to lead the infantry in the charge on the Pennsylvania Buck 
Tails, - a regiment of some distinction, - he advanced in front of his 
men, and fell dead from a wound in his heart. 

   A great deal has been written in prose and verse about Turner Ashby. 
One of his biographers (Avirett) has eulogized his memory; another 
(Thomas) has described him as the "Centaur of the South." His deeds and 
his virtues have been extolled beyond measure. Could he come back to this 
earth and read what has been written about him, his modesty would be 
shocked and his pride would be wounded. 

   That his career was phenomenal is true. In less than fourteen months he 
had been promoted from the position of captain of a small volunteer 
company of cavalry to the rank of brigadier-general. He had won his 
promotion by untiring energy, courage, and devotion to duty. He possessed 
many of the qualities of the soldier: Courage, energy, coolness, and 
resourcefulness. His judgment was clear and his character was forceful. If 
his past was an indication of his future, greater honors and distinctions 
awaited him. In so short and active a career no man could have made better 
use of his opportunities. Without military training, he soon grasped the 

Page 46

essential principles of military operations and played the drama of war 
with the skill, delicacy of movement, and inspiration of the born soldier. 

   At the age of 32 he was leading the quiet life of the country gentleman 
in an atmosphere of refinement and quiet repose. With his horses and 
hounds and the social life of the farm, he had easy duties and no great 
responsibilities. At the age of 33 he was in command of large bodies of 
men, in daily excitement and anxiety, intensely impressed with a sense of 
duty to his country, moving rapidly from place to place with restless 
energy, and at all times striving to measure up to the requirements of his 
position. During this one year he aged rapidly, changing from the simple 
life of the young civilian to the larger sphere of the hardened soldier. 
When death came to him he was in the prime of life, surrounded by a halo 
of glory. The cause of his country was prospering, and he escaped that 
sorrow and humiliation of spirit that came later to many of his comrades. 

   In giving this brief sketch of the life of Turner Ashby and of his 
brother Dick, I may say a few words in regard to the personality of these 
two men, so unlike in many respects, yet so blended in spirit, motive, and 
in ties of affection that they were one in action and in devotion to the 
cause for which they gave up their lives. 

   As a man Turner was as modest as a woman; 

Page 47

the soul of honor, courage, and manliness, while his ideals were high and 
his devotion to the South gave full play to all his emotions and 
sentiments. It was these qualities that gave to his character a type of 
heroism that has brought more distinction to his name and greater 
satisfaction to his family than his military record. He was at all times a 
gentleman, a loyal friend and an affectionate relative; gentle in manner 
and thought, reticent in speech. While always genial and companionable, he 
was a man of few words, free from gossip and anecdote, and a good listener 
rather than a fluent talker. Whether in the social life of camp, on the 
march or on the firing line, he never harangued or gave utterance to wordy 
exclamations. His mind was intent, rather serious, and filled with a keen 
sense of responsibility. He led the charge with the wave of his hat or of 
his sword and the clarion cry: "Come on, boys. Give it to them!" giving 
this command or that as the situation presented itself. He directed by 
action rather than by command; losing sight, in a manner, of the higher 
functions of the commander of men by means of written instructions and 
explicit details, he was carried away by his own spirit of dare and do, 
and relied upon his men to follow him instead of forcing them into action. 
With this heedlessness of danger and with the eager desire to do personal 
service as an actual combatant, 

Page 48

he exposed himself to many unnecessary risks and failed at times to get 
the most efficient service from his men. 

   His personal achievements were phenomenal and perhaps attracted more 
attention than did the work of his command. He was always in the front; 
and in the charge or in the fray he was alive with fire and energy. He 
used his pistol and sword with vigorous effect, and often he did the 
fighting he should have required of his subordinates. His love of 
adventure and of horseback exercise led him to go by himself on long and 
hazardous scouting rides, and he also often made his rounds of inspection 
alone. 

   Ashby's horses were as well known in the army as the man who rode them. 
A coal black stallion and a pure white one were his usual mounts. These 
two noble animals entered into the spirit and excitement of their master's 
life with all the energy and fire of their rider. They swiftly and safely 
bore him from place to place and gave a picture of knightly prowess that 
was an inspiration to the men of his command. 

   There was a singular admixture of military ability and of chivalric 
bearing in Turner Ashby; and when these two qualities met they were often 
antagonistic; and his skill as a commander was often overmatched by his 
chivalrous instincts. 

Page 49

He was too deeply intent upon his individual prowess, - too easily 
influenced by the excitement and danger of battle to give to the 
organization and discipline of his command the personal attention that 
military requirements demanded. His command was too often dispersed and 
scattered to produce the most effective results. It is marvellous how he 
accomplished as much as he did. His success must be attributed to a small 
band of men who clung to his person, followed his leadership and dared to 
do what he recklessly did. 

   Whatever position Turner Ashby made as a soldier, his record rests more 
on his heroic character, his pure and unselfish nature, and his devotion 
to duty. In battle he had the courage and daring that no difficulties 
could overcome. When the battle was over he was the mildest of the mild, 
the gentlest of the gentle, - tender, thoughtful, and kind to friend or 
enemy in distress. There were no brutal instincts in his nature. He fought 
for the sake of conscience, and duty held full control over every passion 
and ambition. His sweetness of disposition, his manliness of character, 
the purity of his soul, will ever hold his memory dear in loving minds and 
hearts. 

   Dick Ashby, too, was a very handsome man, - large, well-built, and 
commanding in person. In 

Page 50

disposition he was social, lively, and cheerful. His morals and character 
were built on the gentleman's code. 

   He was a manly man with the courage and dash of the cavalier. He 
entered into the life of the soldier with the energy and passion of a 
strong nature, and but for his short military life of less than three 
months he would, no doubt, have achieved distinction as a soldier. He died 
from wounds unnecessarily inflicted by a brutal soldier, after he had been 
shot a number of times and lay prostrate on the ground. It was this act of 
barbarity that so angered his brother Turner and made him the desperate 
foe he soon became. Turner never forgave this brutal murder of Dick, but 
in his revenge he never inflicted cruel punishment upon individuals. In 
the heat of combat he fought in the open like a tiger; but when the combat 
was over he was compassionate toward the wounded and the prisoner. After 
an engagement his first act was to care for the wounded with the 
gentleness of a woman. 

   Dick received his mortal wounds on the morning of June 26, 1861. Owing 
to his great vitality he lingered eight days and died at the home of 
Colonel George Washington, six miles north of Romney. Turner was in 
constant attendance during his illness and did all a loving heart could do 
to soothe the pains of his dying brother. 

Page 51

   After Dick's death Turner Ashby wrote the following words to his 
sister: 

   "Poor Dick went into the war like myself, not to regard himself or our 
friends, but to serve our country in this time of peril. I know your Ma 
and Mary will all be too good soldiers to grudge giving to your country 
the dearest sacrifice you could provide. . . . His country has lost the 
services of a brave man, with a strong arm, which he proved to her enemies 
in losing his life. . . . I had rather it had been myself. He was younger 
and had one more tie to break than I.(2) I had him buried in a beautiful 
cemetery at Romney. . . . I lose the strength of his arm in the fight and 
the companion of my social hours. I mean to bear it as a soldier, and not 
as one who in this time of sacrifice regards only his own loss." 

   Turner Ashby was killed on the evening of June 6, 1862, - eleven months 
after Dick's death. He was buried in the cemetery of the University of 
Virginia, Charlottesville. In the fall of 1866 the bodies of Turner and 
Dick Ashby were re-interred in the beautiful Mt. Hebron cemetery at 
Winchester, Va., where they now sleep, surrounded by their companions in 
arms and eight hundred and fifteen other soldiers, who are covered by a 
mound, above which rises a monument to the "Unknown Dead." 

(2. This no doubt refers to his engagement to be married.)

Page 52

"Bold as the Lion Heart - 
Dauntless and brave; 
Knightly as knightliest 
Bayard could crave; 
Sweet - with all Sidney's grace - 
Tender as Hampden's face - 
Who, who shall fill the space, 
Void by his grave?" 

MRS. PRESTON.