Battle of Carnifex Ferry.

Battle of
Carnifex Ferry.

cool and skillful as a vete-
ran. The Twelfth Ohio
had found their route im-
practicable, and their brave Colonel carried
them over a rugged route squarely into the
front of the battle, and gave them an oppor-

Lowe was encouraging and directing them
in front, when he was struck by a shot fairly
in the centre of his forehead, and he fell dead
without a groan. A moment afterwards a
charge of grape mangled both his legs.

66

fire opened upon him, and his four gallant companies, who followed him with frantic cheers, suffered severely. A ball went through his left leg, and wounded his horse, which became unmanageable and threw him. The horse dashed over the rebel entrench-tunity to do their share of duty. Colonel ments, and was killed, and the gallant Lytle himself was assisted into a house not a hundred feet off, and heard the crash of cannon balls through it and over it until the battle ended. Color-Sergeant Fitzgibbons, who was behind the Colonel when he fell, had his right hand shattered, but, gathering the Stars and Stripes in his left, he waved them again enthusiastically, and was torn to pieces by a round shot. Sergeant O'Connor snatched the falling colors, and again held them aloft, when he was also struck by a ball in his left hand, but he dropped behind a log, and kept the colors flying until exhaustion compelled him to drop them. His Captain, Stephen McGroarty, as gallant a fellow as ever wore sword, snatched them up again, and while rolling them up, ordered his men to retire to cover, and in bringing up the rear a ball struck him in the right breast, and went through him without disabling him, until he got out of the field with his flag. Every man of his company stuck to him with unswerving fidelity.

Snyder's two rifled six-pounders and Mc-
Mullen's batteries were planted in the road
about two hundred yards in front of the
rebel main battery, and were served rapidly
and with considerable effect. Subsequently
part of each was removed to the right. Cap-
tain McMullen was finally struck down, but
not seriously hurt. The rebel artillery was
not regarded very formidable. The majori-
ty of their balls and shells went whistling
and tearing through the tree-tops, making an
infernal racket, and now and then a round
shell would stop, in mid career, in the trunk
of a tree, and bury itself with a wicked crash.
The cannon practice generally was not dis-
tinguished for scientific accuracy. The rebels
finally got short of legitimate ammunition,
and played spelter canister upon us. Many
of our shells did not explode at all, but oc-
casionally one would scatter the rebels in
every direction. But our lads rarely caught
a glimpse of the Virginians.
close under cover, and made no unnecessary
exposures. Even their gunners were exceed-

They kept

once did they attempt to display daring, or
to move from their position toward us.

"The Irish lads continued to stick to the front with splendid determination, but they were sadly cut up. Father O'Higgins, their Chaplain, was with them constantly, and Lieutenant-Colonel Dorff, Major Burke, Captain R. N. Moore and Captain Annis display-ingly careful to keep out of the way, and not ed conspicuous gallantry. Meantime, Colonel Smith worked off to the extreme right of the rebels, under a furious fusilade of rifles and musketry, and was laboriously engaged in scaling a precipice which protected the rebel position in that direction. It was twilight before he got into position for an assault, but his men lay on their bellies in the thicket, playing away at the enemy not a hundred yards from them. The order for an assault did not come, and the brave Thirteenth had wasted its energies and showed their pluck for nothing. The conduct of Colonel Smith and his regiment was a theme of admiration. The Colonel himself was brave to a fault, but

"At dusk McCook's brigade was ordered into position. The Ninth was carried around to the left of the rebel battery by Captain Hartsuff, to make a rush upon it under a flanking battery, which had been discovered in the woods, on their extreme left, but which had not been served during the engagement. The bold fellows, under their Colonel, pushed forward under a galling storm of musketry, and were about to dash headlong at the enemy, under cover of darkness, when they were ordered back, after suffering a loss of one killed and ten wound

CAMPAIGN IN WESTERN VIRGINIA.

313

ed. The four companies | found our men groping around in perfect Battle of under Major Hayes, after bewilderment among the cliffs and jungles of Carnifex Ferry. infinite difficulty, scaling an unknown position. The "armed reconprecipices and forcing their way through noissance" ordered ended, certainly, with the dense thickets of laurel and blackberry bushes, roar of musketry from the rebel main works; had been halted in a ravine in front of the and the attack commenced when the two centre of the rebel's right wing, and they Ohio regiments deployed for approach assault were afterwards supported by the Twenty--all of which may have been the fault of eighth, under Colonel Moor. The former met with no casualties, though under fire. The latter pushed across the ravine, and extended the line up a precipitous hill, until the whole of the main front of the enemy was enveloped by our lines. He lost two killed and thirty-one wounded.

"It was now pitchy dark. It was impossible to distinguish an object a yard from your eyes, and it was so obviously unwise to storm the works in such dense obscurity that the General was compelled to withdraw the troops. They retired slowly and mad at their disappointment, and bivouacked wearied and supperless within musket range of the rebel front. It was nine o'clock at night when they got out of the forest where they had labored and fought unflinchingly five hours." It is to be written that Floyd, like his illustrious

Floyd's Retreat.

Benham; but, the fact that Rosecrans ordered forward supports, that he threw McCook's brigade into position for assault, as well as the artillery, gives to the Commanding General the credit or discredit of the whole affair.

Floyd, in his report, placed his force at two thousand men; and gave, as the excuse for his retreat from what could easily have been rendered an impregnable position, that Wise did not come up with reenforcements as ordered. Therefore he reported Wise to the Confederate War Department for delinquency; and a sharp quarrel sprang up between the rivals.

Floyd reported his loss as twenty wounded none killed! He conceded the Federal assault to have been very spirited and determined. The Federal loss was fourteen killed and one hundred and four wounded-several mortally, but most of them slightly. The

predecessor, retired under the cover of dark-plunder found in the camp was considerable, ness, crossing the river just below his fortifications, bearing off with him all his artillery, but leaving pretty much all his baggage. Even his own trunk was among the trophies found in his camp, when, early next morning, the Federal troops advanced to the assault to find the enemy gone. Like Longfellow's Arab, the rebel leader could not afford to stay. His own capture would prove too great a disaster to his own private fortunes; hence he "retired."

Rosecrans' Disposi tion of Force.

consisting of all the officers' baggage, all
their commissary stores, tents, and large
quantities of guns, blankets, wagons, &c.
Their destruction by fire would have discov-
ered their retreat—hence, everything was left
which could not be borne away on a flying
retreat. A few guns, pitched into the river,
were afterwards recovered by the Federals.
Wise was in the vicinity
of Gauley Bridge during
the operations just detailed.
Cox still retained his position at that place
awaiting Rosecrans' movements and orders.
His force did not authorise any advance.
Rosecrans' army was too small to pursue the
flying columns. So long as the Confederates
kept three distinct armies in the field the
Federal commander could not mass his troops
without losing ground at points considered
important. He therefore pressed the enemy
only as prudence seemed to warrant, prefer-
ring to incur no hazard of defeat where re-
lief was so distant. The War Department

was, at that moment, devoting all its ener- | Mountain, and threw two regigies in other directions, and Western Virginia ments to the right and rear of scarcely sufficed to make a shadow on its Cheat Mountain, which united troubled “field of operations."

The Battle of Cheat Mountain.

The Battle of Cheat Mountain.

with the three regiments from the other column of
the enemy.
(The two posts, Cheat Summit and
Elk Water, are seven miles apart by a bridle-path
over the mountains, and eighteen miles by the wa-
gon-road via Huttonville. Cheat Mountain Pass'
the former headquarters of the brigade, being at the
foot of the mountains, ten miles from the summit.)
The enemy advancing towards the Pass, by which
he might possibly have obtained the rear or left of
Elk Water, was met there by three companies of
the Thirteenth Indiana, ordered up for that purpose,
and one company of the Fourteenth Indiana from
the Summit. These four companies engaged and
gallantly held in check greatly superior numbers of
the enemy, foiled him in his attempt to obtain the
rear or left of Elk Water, and threw him into the
rear and right of Cheat Mountain-the companies

retiring to the pass at the foot of the mountains.

Rosecrans, in arranging his plans of offense and defense, had placed Brigadier-General Joseph R. Reynolds in position at Cheat Mountain to cover the approaches towards Beverly and to act as a left advance of the Federal forces. Against Reynolds the rebel leaders resolved to dispatch their best men, hoping, by driving him before them, to obtain a hold on Rosecrans' flank and rear, and, by a rapid sweep, to concentrate the forces of Floyd and Wise for a march direct on Grafton. The Confederate programme, at that moment, was to crowd the war over into Maryland. To this end they occupied every point along the Upper Potomac requi"The enemy, about five thousand strong, were site for a movement forward when the line closed in on Cheat Summit, and became engaged of the Baltimore and Ohio Railway was se- with detachments of the Fourteenth Indiana, Twencured at Grafton—thus to prevent reenforce-ty-fourth and Twenty-fifth Ohio, from the Summit, ments from reaching the Federal forces by in all only about three hundred, who, deployed in that route. the wood, held in check and killed many of the enemy, who did not at any time succeed in getting sufficiently near the field redoubt to give Dean's Battery an opportunity of firing into him. So matters rested at dark on the 12th, with heavy forces in front and in plain sight of both posts, communication cut off, and the supply train for the mountain, loaded with provisions which were needed, waiting for an opportunity to pass up the road. Determined to force a communication with Cheat, I ordered the Thirteenth Indiana, under Colonel Sul

To Major-General Robert E. Lee was committed the work of turning Rosecrans' advance into a retreat. The Confederate commander appeared before Cheat Mountain, on the 12th of September, having a force of about nine thousand strong and ten pieces of artillery. Reynolds had disposed his forces in three sections to guard as many approaches to his position. Lee advanced on Elk Water, with his main force, by way of the Huntersville pike. Reynolds thus detailed the operations which followed:

livan, to cut their way, if possible, by the mail road, and the greater part of the Third Ohio and Second Virginia, under Colonels Manon and Moss, respectively, to do the same by the path; the two commands starting at 3 o'clock A. M. on the 13th, the former from Cheat Mountain Pass, and the latter

from Elk Water, so as to fall upon the enemy if pos

force of about three hundred from the Summit en

Our advanced pickets-portions of the Fifteenth Indiana and Sixth Ohio-gradually fell back to our main picket station; two companies of the Seventeenth Indiana, under Colonel Hascall, checking the enemy's advance at the Point Mountain Turnpike,sible, simultaneously. Early on the 13th, the small and then falling back on the regiment which occupied a very advanced position on our right front, and which was now ordered in. The enemy threw into the woods on our left front three regiments, who made their way to the right and rear of Cheat Mountain, took a position on the road leading to Huttonville, broke the telegram wire and cut off our communication with Colonel Kimball's Fourteenth Indiana Cavalry on Cheat Summit. Simultaneously another force of the enemy of about equaf strength, advanced by the Staunton Pike on the front of Cheat

gaged the enemy, and with such effect, that not-
withstanding his greatly superior numbers, he re-
tired in great haste and disorder, leaving large
quantities of clothing and equipments on the ground,
and our relieving forces, failing to catch the enemy,
marched to the Summit, securing the provision
While
train and reopening our communication.
this was taking place on the mountain, and, as yet
unknown to us, the enemy, under Lee, advanced on
Elk Water, apparently for a general attack, one

THE BATTLE OF CHEAT MOUNTAIN.

315

The Battle of Cheat Mountain.

were quite serious. Over
one hundred are known to
have been killed.

The Battle of Cheat Mountain.

The Federal loss was nine

rifled ten-pound Parrott gun, | rebel losses in these affairs from Loomis' Battery, was run to the front, three-fourths of a mile, and delivered a few shots at the enemy, doing fine execution, causing him to withdraw out of convenient range. Our relative positions remained unchanged until near dark, when we learned the result of the movement on the mountain, as above stated, and the enemy retired somewhat, for the night.

"On the 14th early the enemy was again in position in front of Elk Water, and a few rounds, supported by a company of the Fifteenth Indiana, were again administered, which caused him to withdraw as before the forces that had been before repulsed from Cheat, returned and were again driven back by a comparatively small force from the Mountain. The Seventeenth Indiana was ordered up the path to open communication and make way for another supply train, but, as before, found the little band from the Summit had already done the work. During the afternoon of the 14th the enemy withdrew from before Elk Water, and is now principally concentrated some ten miles from this post, at or near his main camp. On the 15th he appeared in stronger force than at any previous time in front of Cheat, and attempted a flank movement by the left, but was driven back by the ever-vigilant and gallant garrison of the field redoubt on the Summit."

Thus repulsed in his several essays to dislodge the Federals, Lee retired to fortifications at Greenbrier, apprehending a movement on his own rear, by Rosecrans, from Summerville. The rebels had to mourn the loss, among others, of Colonel John A. Washington, Aid-de-camp to General Lee. He was killed while in the act of reconnoitering. Discovering who the officer was, General Reynolds immediately dispatched the body to the rebel lines. The honored name of Washington received its first stain in the inglorious career of the rebel Colonel. The

* John A. Washington inherited the Mount Vernon Estate. He allowed it to become a ruin. Pilgrims to the shrine of Washington were shocked at the monstrous neglect everywhere apparent. The Tomb was falling into ruins and the Mansion into dilapidation. The condition of the estate became a national disgrace. But, owned by an individual, neither Congress nor the people had any control over the matter. The grand-nephew had his ends to accomplish in the matter: the greater the national disgrace the larger the sum he would obtain for a quit-claim of the Tomb and Mansion. Two hundred thousand dollars was the sum he demanded

killed, forty-seven wounded and sixty prisoners. Only twenty of the enemy were secured as prisoners.

This campaign, like most all others in which the Confederates were worsted, was heralded by the Southern press as a victory. The Richmond Enquirer of Sept. 19th, announcing Reynolds' hopeless situation, by Lee's environment of the Cheat Mountain Pass, gave the detail of Lee's movements as follows:

"The general position of the respective forces is stated to be as follows: General Reynolds' main body is strongly fortified in the

Cheat Mountain Pass. He has there about four thousand men. East of that Pass he has a force of some hundreds guarding the ford of Cheat River. Near this ford, on the east, General Jackson, of the Confederate army, is stationed with his command. West of Cheat Mountain, at a place called Stipes', Reynolds has another body of soldiers, about twelve hundred in number. He has others further west, at Huttonsville.

"General Lee has moved with the force under his immediate command around to the west of Cheat Mountain, and taken possession between Stipes' and Huttonsville. He made this movement by a road which he himself cut for that purpose. By this means he has gained possession of the road leading from Cheat Mountain to Huttonsville, and has thus thrown himself in the rear of the enemy at Cheat Mountain and Stipes', and cut off their retreat. He has now, it is said, a force largely superior to that of the enemy."

for the Tomb and one hundred acres adjoining. As the lands were worthless, from exhaustion, the amount named was only represented by the bones of George Washington. Through the exertions of a few patriotic women, and the zealous labors of Edward Everett, the large sum was obtained and paid over to John A. Washington. Nearly seveneighths of the amount came from Northern purses. It was not strange, after this transaction and the disposal of the negroes whom he had raised for market on the Estate, that the grand-nephew was ready for service in the cause of treason.