314

SIGEL IN THE SHENANDOAH VALLEY.

tion, west of Cumberland, and captured a company of Union soldiers, but on his return he was struck a severe blow by General Averill, not far from Romney, and driven entirely out of the new Commonwealth, with a loss of his prisoners and a large proportion of his own men and horses. Ten days afterward, Champe Ferguson, one of the most notorious of the lower order of guerrilla leaders, was surprised while at the Rock House, in Wayne County, of West Virginia, by Colonel Gallup, who was in command on the eastern border of Kentucky. Ferguson and fifty of his men were made prisoners, and fifteen others were killed. A few days before that, Lieutenant Verdigan, one of Ferguson's followers, with ten men, surprised and captured a steamboat on the Kanawha River, on board of which was General Scammon (then commanding at Charleston, in the Kanawha Valley), four officers and twenty-five private soldiers. All but Scammon and his two aids were paroled by the guerrillas. These officers were sent to Richmond and confined in the loathsome Libby prison.

These events were followed by others of greater magnitude and importance in that region, after Grant assumed the general command. General Sigel, as we have observed, was placed with a large force in the Shenandoah Valley, to co-operate with the Army of the Potomac. He gave the immediate command of his forces in the Kanawha Valley to General George Crook, and with the remainder, about eight thousand strong, under his own personal command, he moved up the Shenandoah Valley, along its fine

1964.

turnpike, on the first of May." His first destination was Staunton, at the head of the valley, whence he was to move over the Blue Ridge to Charlottesville, and then to march right or left, to Lynchburg or Gordonsville, as circumstances might determine. When near New Market, almost fifty miles from Winchester, he was met by an equal force under General Breckinridge, whom Lee had sent to oppose his advance, with such troops as he might hastily gather. Breckinridge found it necessary to oppose Crook also, and for that purpose he sent General McCausland westward with as many troops as could be spared from the Valley.

After much maneuvering and skirmishing near New Market, Breckinridge made an impetuous charge' upon Sigel, and ended a sharp May 15. fight by driving him more than thirty miles down the valley, to the shelter of Cedar Creek, near Strasburg, with a loss of seven hundred men, six guns, a thousand small-arms, a portion of his train, and his hospitals. Grant immediately relieved General Sigel, and General Hunter took command of his troops, with instructions to push swiftly on to Staunton, destroy the railway between that place and Charlottesville, and then, if possible, move on Lynchburg.

с

May 1.

Meanwhile, General Crook, whose cavalry was led by General Averill, had moved up the Kanawha Valley from Charleston, for the purpose of operating against the Virginia and Tennessee railway, between Dublin Station, in Pulaski County, and Wytheville, on New River, in Wythe County, in Southwestern Virginia. Unfortunately, Crook divided and weakened his command by sending Averill, with his two thousand horsemen, to destroy the lead mines near Wytheville, while he advanced with his six thousand infantry toward Dublin Station, farther east. Averill's descent upon Wytheville and its vicinity was no more fruitful of benefit

HUNTER'S EXPEDITION TO LYNCHBURG.

315

"May 10, 1864.

than was his raid to Salem the previous year,' for he was there met by Morgan and his men," sent from Saltville by General W. E. Jones, and, after a sharp fight, was compelled to retire without accomplishing his object. Meanwhile, Crook had approached Dublin Station, and when within four miles of it, was met by McCausland with an inferior force. A battle ensued, and was fought gallantly by both parties. It resulted in the defeat of the Confederates, but with a loss on the part of the Nationals of over seven hundred men, of whom one hundred and twenty-five were killed. Crook destroyed the railroad a few miles, when, on the appearance of a strong force sent by Morgan from Wytheville, before Averill reached there, he withdrew and retreated to Meadow Bridge, in the direction of the Kanawha. When Averill retired from Wytheville and marched to meet Crook at Dublin Station, the latter had departed, and the former had no safe alter native but to follow.

& June 5.

General Hunter, on assuming command of Sigel's troops, immediately advanced on Staunton with about nine thousand men, some re-enforcements having arrived. At Piedmont, near Middle River, a tributary of the Shenandoah, in Augusta County, not far from Staunton, he encountered an equal force of Confederates, under Generals W. E. Jones and McCausland. These were all of the concentrated forces in that region, Breckinridge having been called, with a greater portion of his command, to assist in the defense of Richmond. An obstinate and hardfought battle ensued, which ended with the daylight, and resulted in the complete defeat and route of the Confederates. "A worse whipped or more utterly demoralized crowd of beaten men never fled from a field," wrote one of General Hunter's staff. Their leader, General Jones, was killed by a shot through his head, and with him many others were slain or wounded. Fif teen hundred Confederates were made prisoners, and the spoils of victory were several battle-flags, three guns, and three thousand small-arms.

Three days after THE BATTLE OF PIEDMONT, Hunter was joined, at Staunton, by the forces of Crook and Averill, when the whole body, about twenty thousand strong, moved toward Lynchburg by way of Lexington. That city was the largest in the western part of Old Virginia, in the center of a fertile and populous region around the upper waters of the James River, with extensive manufactures, and in direct communication with Richmond. by railroad and canal, and also with Petersburg and all the South by railway. It was the focal point of a vast region from whence Richmond and Lee's army must draw supplies, and on that account, and its relations as a strategic point with the struggle then going on for the possession of Richmond, made it almost as important as the Confederate capital itself. This Lee well knew, and, notwithstanding he was then most sorely pressed by the armies of the Potomac and the James, he sent a considerable force to assist in holding Lynchburg. Hence it was, that when Hunter arrived before it, and made an attack upon the southern side of the city, its garrison and the strong works around it were able to defy him. Hunter soon perceived its strength, and the fact that an overwhelming force was gathering to crush him. Considering these things, and the alarming cir

с

• June 18.

1 See page 113.

316

THE RAVAGES OF WAR.

cumstance of his ammunition being nearly exhausted, he thought it prudent not to prosecute an attack on the city, but to retire. Neither was it prudent to go back by the way he had advanced, for a heavy Confederate force might easily be thrown upon his rear by means of the Virginia Central railway; so he retired westward to Salem, hotly pursued as far as that place, and then made his way, with a very scanty supply of food for man and beast, over the mountains, by the village of New Castle, to Meadow Bridge, in the direction of the Kanawha. There, only a few days before, Crook and Averill had left a million and a half of rations in charge of two regiments of Ohio one hundred days' men, and expected to find a supply for the famishing army. They were disappointed. A band of guerrillas had swept away rations and men, and it was not until the 27th that a supply was obtained. The army had suffered dreadfully in that exhausted mountain region, and was much weaker in numbers and moral strength than when it left Staunton. It had inflicted vast injury upon the Confederates in the destruction of founderies, mills, factories, and other property of value to the Confederates, but had achieved little that had any important bearing on the campaign. Its now far distance from the grand theater of operations against Richmond, caused it to be lost to that campaign for several weeks.

⚫ June, 1864.

The ravages of the war upon the head waters of the streams between the Potomac and James Rivers, at that time, were dreadful. It was a region

wherein lay the estates of some of the older and most distinguished families of Virginia, and the sudden change wrought in the condition of the residents was lamentable. It was saddening to see the wealthy and refined, the noble and gentle -men and women who had never experienced poverty nor the necessity for toiling, -instantly reduced from abundance and ease, to want and hardship. Elegant mansions filled with rare and costly furniture, valuable books and works of art, were laid waste; and the broad lands were stripped of laborers, utensils, and almost every living creature. Family coaches, which had descended from generation to generation since colonial times, were converted into ambulances for the sick and wounded, and reduced to ruin by the rough usages of war; and other precious heir-looms, with valuable records, public and private, were sacrificed to the appetite of the demons of Discord and Desolation.

MOVEMENTS OF THE ARMY OF THE JAMES.

317

CHAPTER XII.

OPERATIONS AGAINST RICHMOND,

HILE Meade and Lee were struggling in the vicinity of the Rapid Anna, General Butler, then in command of the Army of the James, was co-operating with the Army of the Potomac in accordance with a plan which he had proposed to the General-in-Chief, and which that officer had approved. That plan contemplated a vigorous movement against Richmond on the south side of the James River, the first objective being City Point, at the mouth of the Appomattox River. Grant issued orders accordingly, and directed General Butler to move simultaneously with Meade.

April 2,

1864.

Butler was well prepared for the execution of his part of the plan, when, at the beginning of May, he received orders to advance. His effective force was about forty thousand men, and was composed chiefly of the Eighteenth Army Corps, commanded by General W. F. Smith, and the Tenth Army Corps, which had lately been ordered from South Carolina, led by General Gillmore, who arrived at Fortress Monroe on the 3d of May.

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Butler's first care was to mislead the Confederates concerning his intentions. For that purpose he first sent' Henry's brigade of New York troops to West Point, at the head of York River, to begin the construction of wharves, while cavalry made a demonstration in the direction of Richmond. He also sent the bulk of his army in that direction as far as the old lines of McClellan' at Yorktown and Gloucester Point; and so successful was the

HAMPTON

RIPRA

ROADS

CONFEDERATE DEFENSES BETWEEN HAMPTON AND WILLIAMSBURG.

For an account of the operations of McClellan between Fortress Monroe and Williamsburg, see Chapters XIV. and XV., volume II. The route from Hampton; the fortifications at Big Bethel, and in the vicinity of Yorktown and Williamsburg, are indicated in the little map on this page.

318

SEIZURE OF CITY POINT AND VICINITY.

stratagem, that the Confederates were satisfied that Butler was about to move on Richmond in the pathway trodden by McClellan two years before,' and they made preparations accordingly. They were quickly undeceived, but not until it was too late to prevent the mischief wrought by the deception. On the night of the 4th," transports, sent up from HampMay, 1864. ton Roads, conveyed Butler's army around to the James River, and by dawn the next morning, artillery and infantry, to the number of thirty-five thousand men, accompanied by a squadron of war vessels, under Admiral Lee, were rapidly ascending that stream for the purpose of seizing City Point. At the same time General A. V. Kautz, with three thousand cavalry, moved out from Suffolk, forced a passage over the Blackwater River, and, pushing rapidly westward, struck the Weldon railway at Stony Creek, some distance south of Petersburg, and burned the bridge there; while Colonel Robert M. West, with about eighteen hundred cavalry (mostly colored men), advanced from Williamsburg up the north bank of the James River, keeping parallel with the great flotilla of war vessels and transports on its bosom.. This expedition, and the advance of the Army of the Potomac from the north, were grand movements preliminary to another dreadful struggle for the possession of Richmond in the vicinity of the Chickahominy River-a region made forever memorable by the seven days' battles there, in the summer of 1862.

The expedition moved so unexpectedly and rapidly up the river, that the Confederates could make no effective dispositions for opposing it. Portions of Wilde's brigade of negro troops were landed at Wilson's wharf, on the north side of the river, and at Fort Powhatan, on the south side, thus securing and holding, for the protection of its navigation, important points at bends in the stream. On the afternoon of the same day, Hink's division landed at City Point, and took possession without any opposition. That night General Graham captured the Confederate signal-station near, and the war vessels moved up to a position above the mouth of the Appomattox. At the same time a heavy force landed upon an irregular triangle of land at the mouth of the Appomattox, lying between it and the James River, called Bermuda Hundred, and proceeded to cast up a line of intrenchments across the western side of the camp from river to river, while gun-boats in both streams completely covered each flank of the position. Thus, in the space of twenty-four hours, Butler gained a commanding and important foothold within fifteen miles of Richmond, in a straight line, and only about eight from Petersburg. The movement was a complete surprise to the Confed

1 See chapters XIV., XV., and XVI., volume II. The map on the opposite page, omitted by accident when that record was printed, will not only give the reader an idea of the entire region of stirring operations in Southeastern Virginia at that time, but may be usefully consulted when studying the great and decisive campaign we are now considering,

2 The transports were preceded by three army gun-boats, under the command of General Charles R. Graham, formerly of the navy. The remainder of the naval force consisted of four "monitors," the iron-clad Atlanta, and ten gun-boats, commanded by Rear-Admiral S. P. Lee, whose flag-ship was the Malvern, formerly a blockade-runner.

3 At sunset on the 4th, you were threatening the enemy's capital from West Point and White House, within thirty miles on its eastern side. Within twenty-four hours, at sunset on the 5th of May, by a march of 130 miles, you transported 35,000 men-their luggage, supplies, horses, wagons and artillery-within fifteen miles of the south side of Richmond, with such celerity and secresy, that the enemy were wholly unprepared for your coming, and allowed you, without opposition, to seize the strongest natural position on the continent. A victory all the more valuable because bloodless!"-General Butler's Address to the Soldiers of the Army of the James, October 11, 1964.