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with his cannon commanding the bridge over the river, the village, and the insurgent camp, a fourth of a mile distant, when they were fired upon by Porterfield's pickets. Kelley had not arrived. His long march was a most wearisome one, yet he was not far off. Lander had taken command of the artillery, and fearing Porterfield might escape unhurt, should there be any delay, he ordered the opening of the heavy guns upon the insurgents. At the same time Dumont's infantry swept down the winding road to the bridge, where the insurgents had gathered in force to dispute their passage. They advanced at a double-quick, drove in the pickets, dashed across the bridge, and carried a fatal panic into the ranks of their opponents.

Kelley was hurrying on. The booming of Lander's cannon had invigorated his men. His guide was treacherous, and instead of leading him out from the hills in the rear of Porterfield's camp, he had brought him from the mountain road upon the flank of the now flying insurgents. He pushed rapidly over a ridge, and fell furiously upon the fugitives, who were driven in wild confusion through the town and up the Beverly Road. They were pursued by the columns, which had joined in the main street of Philippi, for about two miles, when the insurgents, abandoning their baggage-train, escaped, and halted only at Beverly, the capital of Randolph County, twenty-five or thirty miles farther up Tygart's Valley.' Porterfield's troops, about fifteen hundred strong, were one-third cavalry, and all were fresh. Among the spoils of victory were the commander's official papers, a large quantity of baggage, three hundred and eighty stand of arms, and a regimental flag.3

The only serious casualty sustained by the Union forces in this engagement was the wounding of Colonel Kelley, who was shot through the right breast by a pistolball, while he was gallantly leading his troops through the town in the pursuit. He continued to press forward and urge on his men, when he fainted from loss of blood, and fell into the arms of some of his soldiers. It was believed that he was mortally hurt, and for a long time his recovery seemed almost impossible. "Say to Colonel Kelley," telegraphed General McClellan from Cincinnati to General Morris, on the day of the battle, "that I cannot believe that one who has opened his career so brilliantly can be mortally wounded. In the name of his country I thank him for his conduct, which has been the most brilliant episode

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BENJAMIN F. KELLEY.

1 Report of Colonel Dumont to General Morris, June 4, 1861; Grafton Correspondent of the Wheeling Intelligencer, June 3, 1961; Sketch of the Life of Brigadier-General B. F. Kelley: by Major John B. Frothingham, Topographical Engineers, serving on his staff.

2 For the purpose of intimidating the inhabitants and suppressing all Union manifestations, Porterfield had reported his force to be twenty-five hundred in number. It did not exceed fifteen hundred, according to the most authentic estimates.

3 Among the prisoners captured by Kelley's command was Captain J. W. Willey, on whom papers of considerable importance were found. The flag captured at Philippi was taken by men of Captain Ferry's company of the Seventh Indiana, and the National flag of that regiment, presented by the women of Aurora, was hoisted in its place.

THE UNION TROOPS AT GRAFTON.

497

of the war, thus far. If it can cheer him in his last moments, tell him I cannot repair his loss, and that I only regret that I cannot be by his side to thank him in person. God bless him!" General Morris also sent to Kelley a cordial recognition of his bravery and valuable services; but when both messages were delivered to him, he was so weak that he could answer only with tears. A devoted daughter watched over him incessantly, and he recovered; and he soon bore the commission and the insignia of a brigadiergeneral.'

Colonel Dumont assumed the command of the combined columns after the fall of Kelley, and, assisted by Captain Henry W. Benham, the Engineerin-chief of McClellan's army, he prepared to secure the approaches to Philippi, with a view of holding that position. Scouts, chiefly under J. W. Gordon, of the Ninth Indiana, were sent out to observe the position and number of the insurgents among the mountains, with a view to the pursuit

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of Porterfield up Tygart's Valley to Beverly. Guided by information thus obtained, and considering his lack of wagons and other means for transportation, General Morris thought it prudent to recall his troops from Philippi to Grafton, rather than to send them at that moment, and so ill prepared, on a most perilous expedition among the mountains. For a time Grafton became the head-quarters of the National troops in Northwestern Virginia.

His commission as brigadier was dated May 17, 1861, or sixteen days earlier than the battle in which his gallantry won the reward.

2 This village is situated among the hills, with the most picturesque scenery around it. Here the Baltimore and Ohio Railway, leading to Parkersburg, on the Ohio River, and the Northwestern Railway, leading to Wheeling, have a connection. It was an important military strategic point.

VOL I.-32

498

GENERAL BUTLER AT FORTRESS MONROE.

CHAPTER XXI.

BEGINNING OF THE WAR IN SOUTHEASTERN VIRGINIA.

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HILST the campaign in Northwestern Virginia was opening with vigor, important events were occurring at and near Fortress Monroe, on the southeastern borders of that State, where General Benjamin F. Butler was in chief command. He had been sent thither, as we have observed, after he incurred the displeasure of the General-in-chief by the seizure of Baltimore, without orders to do so, and in a manner contrary to a proposed plan.' The President was not offended by the act, and he gave Butler the commission of a Major-General of Volunteers, on the 16th of May, the first of the kind that was issued from his hand. With this he sent him to Fortress Monroe, to take command of the rapidly-gathering forces there, and to conduct military affairs in that part of Virginia.

Butler arrived at Fortress Monroe on the morning of the 22d of May, and was cordially received by Colonel Justin Dimick, of the regular Army, who was commander of the post. From the beginning of the rebellious movements in Virginia, that faithful officer, with only a small garrison-"three hundred men to guard a mile and a half of ramparts-three hundred to protect some sixty-five broad acres within the walls "-had kept the insurgents

1 See page 448.

2 The commissions of McClellan and Frémont were issued later, but antedated. Theirs are dated May 14. Those of Dix and Banks, bearing the same date as Butler's, were issued later, and antedated.

The following is the form of a Major-General's commission, with a representation of the seal of the War Department, which is attached to each :

"THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. To all who shall see these presents, Greeting: Know ye that, reposing special trust and confidence in the patriotism, valor, fidelity, and abilities of I have nomi. nated, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, do ap point him Major-General of Volunteers, in the service of the United States, to rank as such from the day of, eighteen hundred and sixty-one. He is therefore carefully and diligently to discharge the duty of Major-General, by doing and performing all manner of things thereunto belonging. And I do strictly charge and requiro all officers and soldiers under his command to be obedient to his orders as Major-General. And he is to observe and follow such or ders and directions, from time to time, as he shall receive from me, or the future President of the United States for the time being. Given under my hand, at the city of Washington, this day of in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, and in the eighty-year of the Independence of the United States. "By the President. ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

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SEAL OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT.

"SIMON CAMERON, Secretary of War."

At the top of this commission is a large engraving of a spread eagle, and the words, "E PLURIBUS UNUM;" and at the bottom a trophy group, composed of flags and implements of war. The seal

is an inch and seven-eighths in diameter, and impressed on colored paper. 3 Major Theodore Winthrop, in the Atlantic Monthly.

FORTRESS MONROE IN 1861.

499

at bay. He had quietly but significantly turned the muzzles of some of his great guns landward; and, unheeding the mad cry of the politicians, that it was an act of war, and the threats of rebellious men in arms, of punishment for his insolence, he defied the enemies of his country. Those guns taught Letcher prudence, and Wise caution, and Lee circumspection, and Jefferson Davis respectful consideration. The immense importance of the post was

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apprehended by them all, and its possession was coveted by them all; but there was Dimick, late in May, with the great fortress and its almost four hundred cannon-the massive key to the waters of Maryland, Virginia, and Upper North Carolina-firmly in his possession-" a fine old Leonidas at the

1 This was the most extensive military work in the country. It was commenced in 1819, and was completed at a cost of two millions five hundred thousand dollars. It was named in honor of President Monroe. Its walls, faced with heavy blocks of granite, are thirty-five feet in thickness, and casemated below. It is entirely surrounded by a deep moat filled with water; and the peninsula, known as Old Point Comfort, on which it is constructed, is connected with the main by a narrow isthmus of sand, and by a bridge in the direction of the village of Hampton. The picture is a bird's-eye view of the fort and its surroundings in 1861. Beginning at the top of the picture, we see, on the extreme left, the Chesapeake Female Seminary, and toward the right, Camp Hamilton. Over and beyond us is the village of Hampton. Beginning at the isthmus, on the right, we see the grand water-battery. Next to it is the light-house, and the old wharf. Next are seen buildings, with trees in front, for the accommodation of the Government officers. There is seen the Quartermaster's, or Baltimore Wharf, near which are several buildings for Government use. Near there a railway commences which extends across the bridge to the main, to near Hampton Bridge. Farther to the left is seen the United States Hospital building, with wharves in front; and near by, the main entrance to the fort, across a drawbridge. Farther to the left is a church, and the Ordnance Department. Within the fort, at the right of the flag, is seen the Commanding General's quarters, and not far from it, crossed by the perpendicular flag-staff, is the chapel. Across the parade from the church, are, the barracks-a long building. The aspect of the place, outside of the fort, was much changed during the war.

500

MOVEMENTS OF TROOPS NEAR FORTRESS MONROE.

head of the three hundred," when General Butler arrived and took the chief command, with troops sufficient to insure its safety against the attacks of any force at the disposal of the conspirators.

General Butler's first care was, after making Fortress Monroe secure from capture, to ascertain the condition of affairs in his department. He knew that it was the desire of the Government and the people to seize and hold Richmond, which the conspirators had chosen for their future and permanent head-quarters. The troops then in and around Washington City were barely sufficient to keep the hourly increasing host of the insurgents at Manassas in check; and the easiest and most expeditious route to Richmond seemed to be by way of the York and James Peninsula, and the James River, from Fortress Monroe. With the capture of Richmond in view, Butler shaped all of his movements.

On the day after his arrival, the Commanding General sent out Colonel Phelps, at the head of some Vermont troops, to reconnoiter the vicinity of Hampton. They were confronted at the bridge over Hampton Creek by the blazing timbers of that structure, which the insurgents had fired. The Vermonters soon extinguished the flames, crossed the stream, entered Hampton, and drove what few armed opponents they found there out upon the roads leading toward Yorktown and Newport-Newce.' They found the white inhabitants in sullen mood, but the negroes were jubilant, for they regarded the troops as their expected deliverers. Colonel Phelps did not linger long in Hampton, but recrossed the bridge, and on the Segar farm he selected a place for an encampment, which was at once occupied by the Vermont regiment and another from Troy (the Second New York), under Colonel Carr, and named Camp Hamilton. On the same day a small redoubt for two guns was cast up at the Fortress Monroe end of Hampton Bridge, so as to command that passage. This was the first military work made by Union troops on the soil of Virginia.

a May,

1861.

On the evening of the 24th," a circumstance occurred at Fortress Monroe which had a very important bearing upon the contest then opening. In the confusion caused by Colonel Phelps's dash into Hampton, three negroes, claimed as the property of Colonel Mallory of that village, escaped to the Union lines, and declared that many of their race and class were employed by the insurgents in building forti

1 There has been some discussion and considerable research concerning the true orthography of this locality and the origin of its name. The commonly received explanation is that, at one time, when the English colony at Jamestown was in a starving condition, the supply ships of Captain Newport were first seen off this point, and gave the beholders the good news of food at hand; hence the place was called Newport's News. History does not seem to warrant the acceptance of this theory, but furnishes a better. In 1619 Governor Yeardley established a representative government in Virginia, with simple machinery, and laid the political foundations of that State. This government was strengthened by his successor, Governor Wyatt, under whom were proper civil officers. In instructions to Wyatt occurs the following sentence:-" George Sandis is appointed Treasurer, and he is to put into execution all orders of Court about staple commodities; to the Marshal, Sir William Newce, the same." This settles the point that there was a leading man in Virginia at that time named Newce-" Captain Nuse," as Captain Smith wrote the name. A writer in the Historical Magazine (iii. 347) says, that on earlier maps of Virginia, which he has seen, he finds the point called Newport Neuse, which, he argues, is only another way of spelling Newce, and that the name given is a compound of the name of the celebrated navigator and the Virginia marshal, namely, Newport-Newee. This compounding of words in naming places was then common in England, and became so in this country as Randolph-Macon, Hampton-Sidney, and Wilkes-Barré. In Captain Smith's map of Virginia, the place is called Point Hope. That map was made after the alleged dis covery of Newport with his supplies. Believing that the name was originally a compound of those of Captain Newport and Marshal Newce, the author of this work adopts the orthography given in the text-Newport-Newee.

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