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Rebels at the Gate: Lee and McClellan on the Front Line of a Nation Divided

Page 36

by W Hunter Lesser


  392. Pool, Under Canvas, 24, 33, 44; Augustus Van Dyke to his folks, August 23, 1861, Van Dyke Letters, IHS.

  393. Augustus Van Dyke to his folks, August 12, 1861, Van Dyke Letters, IHS; Stevenson, Indiana's Roll of Honor, 158; George W. Lambert journal, August 1861, IHS; Baxter, Gallant Fourteenth, 49.

  394. Augustus Van Dyke to Angie, August 18, 1861, Van Dyke Letters, IHS.

  395. Baxter, Gallant Fourteenth, 59–60; Augustus Van Dyke to his folks, August 12 and 23, 1861, IHS; E.H.C. Cavins to his wife, September 9, 1861 in Smith, The Civil War Letters of Colonel Elijah H.C. Cavins, 10; William Houghton diary, August 24, 1861, IHS.

  396. E.H.C. Cavins to his father, September 4, 1861 in Smith, Civil War Letters, 8; J.R. McClure to his cousin, August 18, 1861 in Baxter, Hoosier Farm Boy, 19; Landon, “The Fourteenth Indiana Regiment on Cheat Mountain,” 360, 362.

  397. Warren Alford to his folks, August 28, 1861 in Skidmore, The Alford Brothers, 73; Augustus Van Dyke to Angie, August 18, 1861, Van Dyke Letters, IHS.

  Chapter 15. Feuding Generals and Dickering Delegates

  398. Boatner, Civil War Dictionary, 944; “The Feuding Generals—Floyd and Wise,” The Pocahontas Times, February 10, 1927 in Phillips, War Stories, 254–56; Hall, Rending of Virginia, 413; O. R. vol. 2, 290, 293, 908–09; O. R. vol. 5, 151; O. R. series 4, vol. 1, 367; Richmond Enquirer in Cohen, Civil War in West Virginia, 34.

  399. O. R. vol. 2, 291–92, 1012; Jones, Beuhring H. “My First Thirty Days Experience as a Captain,” Southern Literary Messenger, vol. 37, no. 2, 1863 in Lowry, The Battle of Scary Creek, 147–48.

  400. O. R. vol. 5, 152–53, 768; O. R. vol. 2, 908–09.

  401. Warner, Generals in Gray, 89–90; Hotchkiss, Virginia, 594; Wheeling Daily Intelligencer, October 25, 1861; New York Times, September 13, 1861; R.E. Lee to his wife, October 7, 1861 in Dowdey, Wartime Papers, 80; Morrison, Memoirs of Henry Heth, 152.

  402. O. R. vol. 5, 150, 773; O. R. vol. 2, 909; Morrison, Memoirs of Henry Heth, 153.

  403. O. R. vol. 5, 153, 773–75, 778–81; O. R. vol. 51, pt. 2, 237.

  404. O. R. vol. 5, 776, 780–82; Cox, “McClellan in West Virginia,” 142–43.

  405. O. R. vol. 5, 782–85; O. R. vol. 51, pt. 2, 232.

  406. O. R. vol. 5, 785–86, 788.

  407. Ibid., 155.

  408. Ibid., 789, 791–96; O. R. vol. 51, pt. 2, 237.

  409. O. R. vol. 5, 156, 798–99, 802, 813.

  410. Ibid., 115–16, 804–05, 810.

  411. Pollard, First Year of the War, 164; O. R. vol. 51, pt. 2, 256–57; Lowry, September Blood, 158; O. R. vol. 5, 158–59.

  412. O. R. vol. 5, 127.

  413. Congressional Globe, 37 Cong., 2 Sess., Appendix in Curry, A House Divided, 73. Although originally known as the “Reorganized” Government of Virginia, the term “Restored” Government later gained widespread favor. See also Lewis, Second Biennial Report, 163.

  414. Reorganized Government of Virginia, Acts of the General Assembly, 34–35; Hall, Rending of Virginia, 338, 342; Lewis, “How West Virginia Became A Member of the Federal Union,” 601. A House of Delegates met in the Custom House and the Senate in nearby Linsly Institute. This rump legislature consisted of more than thirty members. See also McGregor, Disruption, 220, and Curry, A House Divided, 73, 166n.

  415. Ambler, Francis H. Pierpont, 114–15; Hall, Rending of Virginia, 347.

  416. Lewis, How West Virginia Was Made, 183–90, 303, 308, 312; Hall, Rending of Virginia, 349–52.

  417. Reorganized Government of Virginia, Journal of the Convention, 40–41; Lewis, How West Virginia Was Made, 192, 208–10, 218–20.

  418. Lewis, How West Virginia Was Made, 218, 221, 255, 269; Basler, Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln, vol. 4, 263.

  419. Lewis, How West Virginia Was Made, 245, 278, 280–88; Hall, Rending of Virginia, 354–57, 372–74; Curry, A House Divided, 82–84. The committee of six appointed to craft a compromise included Daniel Farnsworth, John Carlile, James Paxton, Peter Van Winkle, Lewis Ruffner, and Daniel Lamb. The convention's dismemberment document was titled: “An Ordinance to Provide for the Formation of a New State Out of a Portion of this State.” The thirty-nine Virginia counties unconditionally included within the new state boundary were Logan, Wyoming, Raleigh, Fayette, Nicholas, Webster, Randolph, Tucker, Preston, Monongalia, Marion, Taylor, Barbour, Upshur, Harrison, Lewis, Braxton, Clay, Kanawha, Boone, Wayne, Cabell, Putnam, Mason, Jackson, Roane, Calhoun, Wirt, Gilmer, Ritchie, Wood, Pleasants, Tyler, Doddridge, Wetzel, Marshall, Ohio, Brooke, and Hancock.

  420. Reorganized Government of Virginia, Journal of the Convention, 64–67; Curry, A House Divided, 85.

  Chapter 16. The Perfect Roll Down

  421. R.E. Lee to G.W.C. Lee, September 3, 1861 in Dowdey, Wartime Papers, 69–70; O. R. vol. 51 pt. 2, 283–84; Long, Memoirs of Robert E. Lee, 123; O. R. series 4, vol. 1, 822; Lang, Loyal West Virginia, 47–48. Loring's force on the Huntersville line was said to be six thousand strong, Jackson's on the Monterey line, five thousand. The effective strength of Federal forces under Reynolds may have been no more than six to seven thousand. See also Stevenson, Indiana's Roll of Honor, vol. 1, 168.

  422. General Orders No. 8, Hd. Qts. Army of N.W., Valley Mt. August 28, 1861, PC; R. Hatton to his wife, August 30, 1861 in Drake, Life of General Robert Hatton, 378; Clayton Wilson to his mother, August 22, 1861, PC.

  423. Taylor, Four Years, 22; Hotchkiss, Virginia, 156; Hotchkiss to Fitz Lee, October 22, 1891 in Miller, Mapping for Stonewall, 42. Hotchkiss lost most of his mapping equipment in the retreat from Rich Mountain.

  424. Long, Memoirs of Robert E. Lee, 122–23; Taylor, Four Years, 22–23; Price, Historical Sketches of Pocahontas County, 449–50. John Yeager, Jr. was “the civilian engineer, whose name unfortunately does not appear in the records,” in Freeman, Lee, vol. 1, 560. William T. Price claimed that Yeager and Rust “succeeded in passing into and throughout the garrison” on Cheat Mountain without arousing suspicion!

  425. Barnwell, “The First West Virginia Campaigns,” 188; Jones, “The Mountain Campaign Failure,” 368; Warner, Generals in Gray, 266–67; Collier, “They'll Do to Tie To!” 7; Seitz, Horace Greeley, 170–71; Taylor, Four Years, 23; Long, Memoirs of Robert E. Lee, 122.

  426. Spec. Order No. 77, Head Qrs. Monterey Line, N.W. Army, August 16, 1861, Willis Papers, HL; Hewitt, O.R. Supplement, Record of Events, vol. 2, 321; Jones, “The Mountain Campaign Failure,” 368; Barnwell, “The First West Virginia Campaign,” 188.

  427. Taylor, Four Years, 20, 23–27; O. R. vol. 51, pt. 2, 282–83.

  428. O. R. vol. 5, 192.

  429. O. R. vol. 51, pt. 2, 283; Head, Campaigns, 34–35; Hall, Diary of a Confederate Soldier, 34–35.

  430. O. R. vol. 5, 188–89; Stevenson, Indiana's Roll of Honor, vol. 1, 169–70.

  431. O. R. vol. 5, 191; Cammack, Personal Recollections, 35–36; Carson, “Recollections,” 18–19, VHS.

  432. Head, Campaigns, 30–31; A Member of the Bar, Cheat Mountain, 62, 65–66; Warner, Generals in Gray, 74–75.

  433. Head, Campaigns, 33; A Member of the Bar, Cheat Mountain, 64.

  434. Ibid., 63–67, 69–70; Head, Campaigns, 32–33.

  435. Ibid., 278–81; J.W. Gray to the Nashville Union and American, December 5, 1861 in Head, Campaigns, 38–39; A Member of the Bar, Cheat Mountain, 70–71, 90. Accounts vary as to the number of Federal pickets captured and killed on Stewart Run. See also Head, Campaigns, 36; H.H. Dillard, “Sixteenth Tennessee Infantry,” in Lindsley, Military Annals, vol. 1, 336; Womack, Civil War Diary, September 11, 1861.

  436. Head, Campaigns, 36–37, 41; J.W. Gray to the Nashville Union and American, December 5, 1861 in Ibid., 39–40; H.H. Dillard, “Sixteenth Tennessee Infantry,” in Lindsley, Military Annals, vol. 1, 336–37; D.S. Donelson to R.E. Lee, September 17, 1861 in Hewitt, O.R. Supplement, vol. 1, 380–81; Hannaford, The Story of a Regiment, 129–30.

  437. Head, Campaigns, 42; A Member of the Bar, Cheat Mountain, 74–77; H.H. Dillard, “Sixt
eenth Tennessee Infantry,” in Lindsley, Military Annals, vol. 1, 337. One Federal prisoner reportedly made his escape during the bear's appearance.

  438. Toney, Privations, 22–23; Warner, Generals in Gray, 10; Beard, “The Story of a Five-Dollar Gold Piece,” 76; Hotchkiss, Virginia, 159–60; J.H. Moore, “Seventh Tennessee Infantry,” in Lindsley, Military Annals, vol. 1, 228; Dr. J.R. Buist to his uncle, National Intelligencer, November 22, 1861 in Freeman, Lee, vol. 1, 564. Marcus Toney of the First Tennessee Infantry claimed that General Lee traveled with Anderson's brigade during their march.

  439. Clarksville Jeffersonian, September 24, 1861; Dr. J.R. Buist to his uncle, National Intelligencer, November 22, 1861 in Freeman, Lee, vol. 1, 566; Phillips, Phillips Family History, 86.

  440. O. R. vol. 5, 188; Stevenson, Indiana's Roll of Honor, vol. 1, 171–72; Worsham, One of Jackson's Foot Cavalry, 17. The dead Yankee seen by John Worsham was either Pvt. Alexander Kent or Pvt. George Bealer of the Fifteenth Indiana Infantry.

  441. Pool, Under Canvas, 37; David Beem narrative, 8, Beem Papers, IHS. Colonel Kimball's force on Cheat Mountain totaled nearly three thousand men, rather than the three hundred often quoted. The mistake originated from wording in the official reports of General Reynolds and Colonel Kimball. Jack Zinn ably documented the error. In early September 1861, Kimball's Federal force on Cheat included the Fourteenth Indiana, Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth Ohio Regiments, Bracken's Indiana Cavalry company, and a six gun battery. See also O.R. vol. 5, 185, 187; Zinn, R.E. Lee's Cheat Mountain Campaign, 149; Augustus Van Dyke to his father, August 29, 1861, Van Dyke Letters, IHS; Taylor, Four Years, 21n; “Letter from an Indiana Volunteer,” Cincinnati Gazette, September 23, 1861 in Moore, Rebellion Record, vol. 3, Documents, 136–37.

  Chapter 17. Robert E. Lee's Forlorn Hope

  442. Taylor, Four Years, 27–29n; Jones, “The Mountain Campaign Failure,” 305–06; O. R. vol. 5, 186, 190–91; Letter to the Southern Confederacy, September 25, 1861; Diary of Christian Kuhl, 5, . The captured Federal wagons, from the Twenty-fourth Ohio Infantry, were en route to Huttonsville for provisions.

  443. Hotchkiss, Virginia, 165; Pool, Under Canvas, 38; O. R. vol. 5, 186–87; “Letter from an Indiana Volunteer,” Cincinnati Daily Gazette, September 23, 1861 in Moore, Rebellion Record, vol. 3, Documents, 136–37.

  444. Taylor, Four Years, 28; A Member of the Bar, Cheat Mountain, 78.

  445. Levering, “Lee's Advance and Retreat,” 25; H.H. Dillard, “Sixteenth Tennessee Infantry,” in Lindsley, Military Annals, vol. 1, 337; Taylor, Four Years , 28–29.

  446. Womack, Civil War Diary, September 12, 1861; H.H. Dillard, “Sixteenth Tennessee Infantry,” in Lindsley, Military Annals, vol. 1, 338; A Member of the Bar, Cheat Mountain, 79.

  447. Savage, “Gen. R.E. Lee at Cheat Mountain,” 116–17; R.E. Lee to John Letcher, September 17, 1861 in Dowdey, Wartime Papers, 75; Head, Campaigns, 46–47.

  448. Ibid., 47–49; Levering, “Lee's Advance and Retreat,” 23–24; A Member of the Bar, Cheat Mountain, 92; Letter of Capt. John Coons, Indianapolis Daily Journal, October 29, 1861. This little skirmish on Becky Creek, the baptism of fire for most, “did not exceed ten minutes duration.” The Confederates lost one or two killed and as many wounded. The Federals lost at least one killed, seven wounded and seventeen prisoners. See also H.H. Dillard, “Sixteenth Tennessee Infantry,” in Lindsley, Military Annals, vol. 1, 337; Womack, Civil War Diary, September 12, 1861; Landon, “The Fourteenth Indiana Regiment on Cheat Mountain,” 363.

  449. Quintard, Doctor Quintard, 22–24; Taylor, Four Years, 27; Toney, Privations, 23; Phillips, Phillips Family History, 87; O. R. vol. 5, 190.

  450. Levering, “Lee's Advance and Retreat,” 24–25; Pool, Under Canvas, 41; Van Dyke, “Early Days,” 27. Capt. Coons reportedly captured General Anderson's horse in this skirmish. Anderson's Confederates lost two killed, two missing and sixteen wounded. See also Quintard, Doctor Quintard, 23.

  451. Watkins, “Company Aytch,” 55.

  452. Quintard, Doctor Quintard, 24; Merrill, The Soldier of Indiana, 87; Levering, “Lee's Advance and Retreat,” 24.

  453. Letter from “Nestor,” Southern Confederacy, September 25, 1861; Hermann, Memoirs, 52–53; Clayton Wilson to his mother, September 18, 1861, PC; Taylor, Four Years, 28.

  454. Stevenson, Indiana's Roll of Honor, 178–79; O. R. vol. 5, 185; Taylor, Four Years , 29. Major J. Warren Keifer, commander of the Federal “grand guard” position in front of Camp Elkwater, reported that a small body of Confederates “feebly” assaulted his rear and were driven back on the rainy night of September 12. See Keifer, Slavery and Four Years, vol. 1, 222.

  455. A Member of the Bar, Cheat Mountain, 81–82.

  456. Ibid.; Benjamin Randals Journal, 74, PC.

  457. R.E. Lee to his wife, September 17, 1861 in Dowdey, Wartime Papers, 73; Maxwell, History of Randolph County, 297. Generals Lee and Loring reportedly met at the Adam See house, along Tygart Valley River.

  458. Ben May to his brother, September 20, 1861, PC; Coldwater Republican, May 24, 1878; Wheeling Daily Intelligencer, October 7, 1861. The unexploded projectile, a ten-pounder Parrott, was later displayed at a reunion of Loomis's First Michigan Light Artillery as the shell that almost killed Robert E. Lee. General Loring might have been the lucky officer targeted, instead of Lee. See also Tucker Randolph Diary, September 12, 1861, MC.

  459. Wright, “Colonel John Augustine Washington,” 14–15; Stutler, “Death of Col. John Augustine Washington,” 14; Taylor, General Lee, 29–30; Moore, Rebellion Record, vol. 3, Rumors and Incidents, 37.

  460. Wright, “Colonel John Augustine Washington,” 15; Levering, “Lee's Advance and Retreat,” 30–31; Keifer, Slavery and Four Years, vol. 1, 223; R.E. Lee to his wife, September 17, 1861 in Dowdey, Wartime Papers, 74. General Lee wrote that Washington and Rooney Lee were fired on from “within twenty yards.” See also R.E. Lee to John Letcher, September 17, 1861, Ibid., 75.

  461. Levering, “Lee's Advance and Retreat,” 31–34; Keifer, Slavery and Four Years , vol. 1, 223–24; “The Killing of John A. Washington,” Lafayette Daily Courier, September 20, 1861. Some accounts claim that at least one additional member of Washington's party was wounded. The Federals were dismayed to find an Indiana newspaper article with Washington's belongings that detailed Union strength in the area. See also Letter to the editor, Indianapolis Daily Journal, September 23, 1861 and “Circumstances of the Death of John A. Washington,” Wheeling Daily Intelligencer, September 23, 1861.

  462. Letter to the editor, Indianapolis Daily Journal, September 23, 1861; Lang, Loyal West Virginia, 50; Levering, “Lee's Advance and Retreat,” 33; Quintard, Doctor Quintard, 30.

  463. R.E. Lee to his wife, September 17, 1861 in Dowdey, Wartime Papers, 74; R.E. Lee to Louisa Washington, September 16, 1861 in Hoover, “Col. John Augustine Washington, C.S.A.,” 26; Thomas, Robert E. Lee, 207.

  464. O. R. vol. 5, 191–93. General Reynolds' official report (O. R. vol. 5, 184–86), describes action at Camp Elkwater on September 14 that clearly took place the prior day. See also Hannaford, The Story of a Regiment, 125n, for clarification.

  465. Tucker Randolph Diary, September 15, 1861, MC; A Member of the Bar, Cheat Mountain, 86–87.

  466. Ibid., 84; J.H. Slaughter to his brother, September 21, 1861, PC; “Historical Sketch of the 14th Tenn. Regt. of Infantry C.S.A. 1861–1865” by Sgt. R.T. Mockbee, T-833, MC; McBrien, The Tennessee Brigade, 9.

  467. J.W. Ross to his wife, September 15, 1861, PC; O. R. vol. 5, 186–87; Nathan Kimball to J.J. Reynolds, September 18, 1861, PC; Stevenson, Indiana's Roll of Honor, 181; “Letter from Camp Kimball, Va.,” Cincinnati Daily Commercial, October 8, 1861.

  468. Merrill, The Soldier of Indiana, 87; R.E. Lee to his wife, September 17, 1861 and R.E. Lee to John Letcher, September 17, 1861 in Dowdey, Wartime Papers, 74–75.

  469. Hotchkiss, Virginia, 165; Taylor, Four Years, 29; Lee, Jr., Recollections and Letters, 53; R.E. Lee to his daughter Mildred, November 15, 1861 in
Dowdey, Wartime Papers, 86.

  470. Richmond Daily Dispatch, September 26, 1861; Quintard, Doctor Quintard, 19; Taylor, Four Years, 18.

  Chapter 18. Mixing Oil and Water

  471. Taylor, Four Years, 32; U.S. Congress, “Rosecrans' Campaigns,” 8–9.

  472. O. R. vol. 5, 160–61, 841–45; Reid, “Agate” Dispatches, 47.

  473. Cox, “McClellan in West Virginia,” 145.

  474. U.S. Congress, “Rosecrans' Campaigns,” 9; O. R. vol. 5, 129–32, 147.

  475. Ibid., 146–49, 161. Rosecrans lost two colonels and nearly 150 men at Carnifex Ferry. The entrenched Confederates suffered only about 20 wounded and missing. See Lowry, September Blood, 152–58 for amended casualty figures for this battle.

 

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