USA > Ohio > Itinerary of the Seventh Ohio volunteer infantry, 1861-1864, with roster, portraits and biographies > Part 4
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almost due west, tending a little to the south, through the counties of Gilmer, Calhoun, and Roane to California, the county-seat of Roane County. I started at 11 and reached California at 9 that night. The road was comparatively safe but very lonely. At Arnoldsburg, the county-seat of Calhoun County, there had been a rebel force of 100 the day before, who had blocked the road with trees cut down across, but becoming frightened, they had fled, leaving the way clear. At California I found parts of two regiments, Ohio and Indiana troops, the Indiana troops just leaving for Parkersburg. The Ohio troops were under the com- mand of Colonel Gilmer of Chillicothe, who received me and treated me very courteously.
"There I stumbled upon Dr. Schenck, from Cleveland, whom I did not know, but who knew me, and was very kind in his attentions. To my inquiries of Colonel Gil- mer concerning General Cox, he could only say, 'I know nothing, and can learn nothing; Charleston may be taken, or General Cox may be routed for all I know.' 'What about getting to him?' 'I do not think you can do it.' 'But I must try to get to him.' 'Well,'-with a shrug- 'if you must I must help you all I can.' I told him all the help I wished was to get me a trusty man if he could to take me south fifteen miles and put me in communication with some Union man on the headwaters of the Pocotalico. After some search such a man was found, and we started. There were no incidents along the road, and the road itself was simply wild, mountainous, and rough. Before twelve, we were at Walton, a place of half a dozen houses, where I was going. There I found a motley, excited crowd of Union men, some with guns, some without, dirty, ragged and un- shaven, under the command of a Captain Paxton. In an instant the whole crowd was around me, agape for news. Going inside with the Captain, I told him what I wished. He knew nothing of General Cox, didn't know where lie was, didn't know even if he were anywhere on the Kanawha. I told him I thought he was at the mouth of Coal River, 12 miles lower down at the mouth of the 'Poco'-and that
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I wished to get there. It was impossible, he said. Wise's light horse was scouring the country within a radius of thirty miles; held Sissonville, near or through which I must pass; and were guarding the pike leading from Charleston to Ripley with regular patrols, which I must cross. The case did seem pretty nearly desperate, but I told him I must try to find me a safe scout with whom I could go in any disguise that was necessary, on foot and by night. In a little while he brought me the scout, whose overdress was a ragged, dirty shirt, looking as if it had never been washed, a pair of trousers in still worse condi- tion, especially behind, and a pair of moccasins. This man, I afterward learned, lived on his own farm of over two hundred acres, which was well stocked and well cultivated. The scout told me for the present to go as I was. If it became necessary for me to change my clothes or to walk, I could do so when we got farther on.
"We had gone several miles along a horse path through the woods when we met a number of men fleeing for dear life from Wise's light horse, who had driven in their guards and were ravaging the country. While we were talking with them, a messenger came up in hot haste from behind the way we came. He, I afterward learned, was the wealthiest man in the country, the owner of a thousand acres of land, much of it in good cultivation and well stocked, though he was dressed on this occasion only in a coarse linen shirt and linsey woolsey trousers. He had a message from Captain Paxton to the effect that for my own sake, I must return. Back, then, but reluctantly enough, I rode. Captain Paxton met me on the road and told me that it was absolutely too dangerous for me to proceed; that since I left he had received such intelligence that made it nearly certain that if I went on I would be captured or killed. Of course there was nothing to do but to remain. I told him I would remain there until the next morning- it was then 3-and if no way opened by that time, I would return. Half an hour later a man came riding in with the news that 500 of Federal forces had marched down from
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Ripley the day before, and had taken Sissonville, now held it, and that the road was clear. The rejoicing was immense. Men who had been driven away from their homes in that direction seemed to rise out of the ground until there were about a hundred of them, most of them armed with rifles, and eager to be off toward home. As soon as I could saddle my horse, we started, three other horsemen and myself heading the procession, and such a procession of seemingly half-drunk ragamuffins you never saw. The distance was 23 miles across the mountains, by the blindest, roughest, rockiest, darkest, deepest and highest of horse paths I ever traveled or saw, I think. I cannot recall anything amongst the Alps or White Mountains ex- celling them. Now we were in the heights, and now in the depths, winding along the sides and over the tops of the mountains, and from one mountain to another.
"Just at dark, when we had traveled thus, dropping one and another along the way until we numbered only about thirty-15 miles, a scout called to us suddenly from out of the woods to halt; and gave us the astounding news-the men themselves, with profane expletives which I will not give, called it 'bad egg' news-that over 500 men had been driven out of Sissonville by 1,000 of Wise's men and had retreated toward Ripley, leaving the whole country at the mercy of the rebels. This was a 'bad egg,' and we were in a fair way to have it served up to us. We called a halt, and concluded to stop for the night at a good Union house near by. And stop we did, the whole of us. Such eating! Such sleeping! These western Virginians eat and sleep like pigs. In the room in which I was were three beds, besides all the loose household furniture of the family. The room was about 8 feet by 12 in size, one bed across each end and one between them against the wall. In one bed one of the men and I were put. In that at the other end, the old man and his wife slept, and in the bed between the two grown daughters and a little girl slept so near that I could have laid my hands on them. Shortly after I laid down, the fleas and bed bugs made such a ferocious attack
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upon me that I turned crow and surrendered; lying down on the floor of the next room, with many others, and where I slept at least in peace. The next day such was the alarm and excitement that I could not get off before II o'clock, when two mounted scouts took me in charge, and by fol- lowing a blind path almost north for 15 miles until we were only II miles south of Ripley, brought me into the pike, clear of Wise's horsemen. There, by some finesse, I got a fresh scout, who started with me after supper for a night ride of 30 miles through the woods to this place. We came through safely, losing our way only two or three times, lying down in the woods once for a three-hour sleep, and reaching here just at sunup.
"So my ride ended, leaving me neither sore nor fatigued. I think I can safely say that I have forded a hundred streams and crossed or ridden around two hundred fallen trees, and all without injury, scarce a small scratch on the face. The horse I rode was taken from a secessionist at Weston and rather easy to ride. I brought him in as fresh as when I started and without a scratch. The whole dis- tance was 120 miles, from noon Thursday till Sunday morn- ing. I think there are preparations going on here for a fight of some sort to-day or to-morrow. I am writing this at the table of Colonel Whittlesey, of Cleveland, who is en- gineering for General Cox.
"General Cox's headquarters are on a steamboat at the landing-a stern wheeler and very dirty. My old friends, the mosquitoes, are annoying me to-night.
"F. T. B."
While at Glenville some difficulty was experienced in provisioning the forces there, when fresh beef and the prod- uct of a flouring mill were resorted to until they were bet- ter supplied.
On July 23, 1861, Companies A and D at Weston, and the rest of the regiment at Glenville, marched away, reach- ing Bulltown the next evening, when all were again re- united. At this point other troops had concentrated, the
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entire force numbering some 1,500 men, commanded by Colonel Tyler.
On the 25th the command moved to Salt Lick Bridge, where "Camp Casement" was established in honor of our worthy major, John S. Casement.
The next day a citizen, who was reported to have threat- ened the life of Colonel Tyler, was halted near an outpost, and attempting to escape, was shot. This alarmed the camp, the long roll was beaten, and the entire force fell in under some excitement, anticipating an attack, until the facts became known, when all returned to camp. Here also occurred the only serious accident of the war in Company D, when Charles H. Johnson was shot by the accidental discharge of a revolver, in the hands of a comrade, and died at Sutton on August 20, 1861.
On July 27 the command moved to Flatwood, where a small force of the enemy had been encamped, and the next day reached Sutton, the county-seat of Braxton County.
The weather was very warm, many of the men suffering greatly from overheat, and while the Seventh was getting into position on Sutton Heights, Sergeant Theodore Le- Comte, of Company A, suddenly expired. His death was deeply deplored. Here at Sutton the Seventh took its first lessons in building earthworks and for the first time saw a battery at target practice.
However, our stop at Sutton was brief, as we left there on August 22, on a very hot day, and only marched 6 miles to Little Birch River.
The next day we crossed Little Birch Mountain to Big Birch River, where Chaplain Brown rejoined the regiment via Gauley Bridge, where Gen. J. D. Cox was in command. On August 5 a part of the 23d Ohio Infantry came up. The next day we crossed Powell Mountain and on the 7th reached Summerville. Because of the excellent water privi- leges there, West Virginia was an ideal country to cam- paign in, while the scenery from lofty elevations was en- chanting. On August 10 our supply train went to Gauley Bridge, our new base of supplies.
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While at Summerville, Capt. John W. Sprague, of Com- pany E, started home on leave via Sutton, but on August II was captured at Big Birch River (two of the party of five having been killed by cavalry under Lieut .- Col. St. George Croghan of the Second Georgia Cavalry, scouting in our rear). By reason of his promotion to the colonelcy of the Sixty-third Regiment of Ohio Infantry, when exchanged, Captain Sprague was not again on duty with the Seventh. He was, however, promoted to brigadier-general on July 30, 1864.
Colonel Tyler learned of the capture of Captain Sprague and others on the 12th, and at once sent Company E under command of Captain Dyer, and Captain Baggs with his famous scouts, "The Snake Hunters," in pursuit, but with- out success. On August 15, 1861, General Wise of the C. S. A. said, "Colonel Croghan of my cavalry penetrated to Birch Mountain and captured this mail; killed two and cap- tured three-a captain, a corporal and a private." which un- doubtedly referred to Captain Sprague, the mail carrier and their escort.
In a letter to General Rosecrans, from Colonel Tyler at Summerville, the latter signed himself "E. B. Tyler, Sev- enth Ohio Vols., U. S. Army, Commanding Column."
This "column" was operating upon the enemy's flank with a view to forcing him from the Big Kanawha Valley.
CHAPTER VIII.
CROSS LANES.
On August 15, 1861, the forces operating under Colonel Tyler marched to Cross Lanes, where the Summerville and Gauley Bridge road intersected with one from Carnifax Ferry on Gauley River, two and a half miles away. Col- onel Tyler was instructed to picket and guard the crossings of Gauley River in that section; keep informed as to the force and position of the enemy, and if driven away was to fall back to Twenty Mile Creek and then to Hughes Creek, while at the same time General Cox was given discretionary authority to order Colonel Tyler to his support should he deem it necessary.
The next day Capt. John F. Schutte, of Company K, with his company, was placed on duty at Carnifax Ferry, and on the 17th the troops under Colonel Tyler, at Cross Lanes, excepting his own regiment, were ordered away by General Rosecrans, then commanding that military district, with his headquarters at Clarksburg, many miles to the rear.
The Seventh was thus left as the extreme advance of the army in that section. However, all went well until August 20, when Captain Schutte, with a sergeant, two corporals, and sixteen men crossed Gauley River in search of the enemy and found him.
The following interesting account of this affair is from the pen of Capt. Edward H. Bohm, now deceased, then the sergeant with the scouting party :
"MY CAPTURE AND THE NEXT FEW DAYS.
"Company K of the Seventh had been sent to guard Carnifax Ferry on the upper Gauley River, W. Va., not far from Cross Lanes on the 16th, and on the forenoon of the 20th an order came from regimental headquarters to have
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Capt. John F. Schutte send out a reconnaissance to locate the enemy if possible. The Captain selected me to com- mand that little force, numbering, myself included, 19 men. We crossed the river on an old ferry-boat found at the ferry, meandered slowly up the opposite hill, past a little, old-fashioned country flour-mill, and proceeded along a country road some distance until we reached the so-called 'Sunday' road, following that until its intersection with the so-called 'Saturday' road, along which Corporal Schinkel with five men was ordered to proceed.
"Captain Schutte had accompanied the expedition,-sup- posedly out of curiosity or impelled with the desire to 'get next' the enemy as soon as possible, in an unofficial capac- ity, -- dressed in citizen's garb; viz., a black sack coat, black and white checked trousers tucked in his boots, and a black hat.
"Not very long after crossing the Saturday road we dis- covered some 'secesh' cavalry who on seeing us scampered off at a gallop, and we thirteen geese or goslings, with our captain, galloped after them. Coming out of the woods we struck a well-cultivated little valley; on the right of the road a house built of hewn logs, the inhabitants of which we advised to seek shelter in a culvert under the road right in front of their home, 'as we anticipated some shooting.' Proceeding a short distance up the hill, on the opposite side of the valley, we were at once surprised, shocked and scared (no use denying that fact) by a shot out of a mass of bushes and foliage fringing a fence on top of the hill ahead of us.
"A moment later a perfect cloud of white smoke envel- oped that fringe of bushes, the sound of more than one hundred exploding shooting-irons struck our ears, and a million of bees seemed to swarm above and about our de- voted heads. No mistake now, we had found and heard from the enemy in a number very, very much larger than our own. Little Corporal 'Hanky' Straelle and myself pulled our muskets to our faces and 'bang' went both. We had at least not surrendered, nor fled without firing a shot.
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But 'Right about, double quick !' was the order now. More guns in our rear exploded, bees sang and hummed, and we could now distinguish the roar of the smooth-bores, also the sharp, cutting sound of rifles. I was running alongside of Captain Schutte in the middle of the road, bullets zipping all around and about us. My canteen fell, its string cut by a bullet ; my cap fell off my head a little ahead of me. with a bullet through it. Poor old Private Charles Rich, to the right, a little ahead of me, dropped with a yell of pain and crawled into a fence corner. All at once Captain Schutte groaned. 'I am shot.' Stopping a moment, I saw a bullet hole back and front. I took the Captain's arm to steady him, and yelled to the boys, 'Get into the house!' meaning the house we had passed a few minutes before. We all got into it; I cannot tell how. I at once told the boys to bar- ricade the doors and windows with such furniture and husk- mattresses we could find. While they did this I looked for the Captain's wound, and found that a rifle ball had struck him to the right of the spine and came to the left a little be- low the navel-an absolutely deadly wound. During all this time Captain Schutte had begged, prayed, and com- manded all of us to leave him to his fate, as he was a doomed man. Most of them went through the back door. then throwing themselves on the ground crawled to the nearby corn-field in the rear and through that made off in the woods. I told the Captain that I would stay by and see him through to the end: but in this case I could not make a defense but would have to surrender with him. I then be- gan to remove obstructions from the door and windows. and when I turned the Captain was gone. Just then the rebel cavalry approached the house cautiously. I told them that only myself and a mortally wounded man were in the house, they might approach safely. Then they came with a rush, with shotguns ready to raise and pistols drawn. A private shoved his pistol so hard against my forehead as to leave a red mark which stayed several days. An officer beat down the pistol and inquired of me where and who the wounded man was. I told him he was my Captain; but
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I could not tell him where he had gone to in the last five minutes. Traces of blood pointed the way to an attic-and there Captain Schutte was dying upon a pile of corn-husks. After a long-winded inquiry the commanding officer or- dered Private Rich brought to the house and sent two men off to procure a buggy from some farmer three or four miles off, to carry Captain Schutte and Private Rich. Just then some 'reb' came in the rear with Private Henry Weis- senbach, whom I had believed to have escaped safely. All that he could say in explanation was, 'If you can stay with the Captain I can stay with you.' Finally the buggy came. and the Captain and Rich were placed on the seat with a reb to drive the horse. Myself and Weissenbach had our elbows tied at our backs with ropes long enough to lead up to the pommel of the 'cavalier' riding each side of each of us. Then off we went, most of the time at a trot, sometimes, to give us a breathing spell, at a walk. Finally, it must have been 6.30 P. M., we struck the Great Virginia pike near a tavern, where the two wounded men were taken. I did not even have a chance, for all I had risked, to say good-by to Schutte. Pretty soon a little old brigadier-general ap- proached me and my companion and tried to pump us, but got so little satisfaction that after a somewhat disgusted ex- pression of mine he threatened to have me hung on the spreading limb of a large, fine oak that stood at one side of the tavern.
"The upshot of the matter was an order from Brig .- Gen. Henry A. Wise, C. S. A. (which in fact he was, as my rebel escort told me) to carry us back to General Floyd's camp- wherever that might be-and the special injunction to 'take good care of the d-d Dutch rascal,' which meant me.
"Well, we took up our line of march, and it must have been fully 9 P. M., if not more, when we reached our desti- nation. General Floyd not being in camp we were taken to headquarters and a staff officer roused. As he stepped out of the tent in partial dishabille in the bright light of the moon, I was pleasantly surprised to see a tall, handsome, blond-haired and bearded, blue-eyed German. Quick as a
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flash it came to me that this must be the redoubtable Colonel Hennings of Walker-Nicaragua fame, of whom I had heard as being Floyd's chief-of-staff, and before any one had a chance to speak I addressed the officer in my choicest German and as Colonel Hennings. His blank astonishment proved that I had called the correct term. He answered me in my own vernacular and very politely. Result : removal of the ropes that bound us and a request to one of the ser- geants of the guard of his own command to provide for us as comfortable as he could. A deep layer of weeds in a fence corner and a blanket for each was a heaven to both of us. To cite the old saw, 'Sleep, heavenly sleep, tired na- ture's sweet restorer,' soon wiped all recollections of this afternoon's strenuous experiences from our minds.
"And we slept! oh, how sweet and deep! until the mel- low sounds of reveille blown on a key bugle by a master waked us to a most beautiful morning, a bright sun just peeping over the hills where the road cut the woods. A horse-bucket full of water and a couple of rags enabled us to wash off the dust and grime of yesterday. The sergeant of night before brought us a platter of corn-dodger and sow-belly, with some rye coffee. There were plenty when we began, but we licked the platter clean. It was a very kindly act upon the part of the sergeant to offer me his pipe, and climbing the top rail of our fence corner I sat there hunched up farmer-fashion, feet on the lower rail, and I must confess that I felt physically as good and jolly as a prisoner of war possibly could be expected to feel. Pres- ently a cloud of dust appeared upon the road in the direction whence we had come. When it approached us I made out a colonel of C. S. cavalry and probably ten or twelve men in uniform of our captors of the day before and a number of led-horses. The cavalcade passed by us and halted on the road opposite headquarters. I saw Colonel Hennings go out to the road, greeting the cavalry colonel very friendly, and shake hands. Their conversation lasted probably ten or fifteen minutes, when an orderly asked me and my companion to step out into the road and go up
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toward the Colonel. This officer was almost an exact double of Colonel Hennings, and just as pleasant and polite. A few questions and a few answers caused a couple of horses to be brought forward out of the train, and we mounted. I, to show my horsemanship, and disdaining stirrups, vaulted into the saddle, which brought the remark from the Colonel, 'Ain't you really a cavalryman instead of an infantry sergeant?' I only smiled a tickled smile, think- ing, "This ice is broken.' After about a half hour's ride the Colonel waved me to his side, which I approached from tlie left and remained about two feet on his left rear. This brought forth another approving smile from him. I was then asked my name, company. regiment. nativity, and country, and then the Colonel said, 'My name is Croghan, of the First Virginia Cavalry.' I had never forgotten my United States history and therefore plumped at him the question, 'Is it possible, Colonel, that you are a relative or even a descendant of that gallant young Kentucky officer, Major Croghan, who in September, 1813, so valiantly de- fended Fort Croghan on the Sandusky River. in my home State?' I lack words to describe the expression of pleasure and pride that flitted over Colonel Croghan's features on my establishing so quickly his glorious descent. I saw that henceforth I was persona grata with him. While almost every word of the conversation thenceforth is indeli- bly stamped on my memory, it is too long to reproduce here.
"About 9 A. M. we were the Colonel's guests at a late breakfast he had ordered at a farmhouse. After that a steady tramp till about I P. M., when we reached the tavern at Meadow Bluffs at which were the headquarters of the First Virginia Cavalry.
"A wash, a snooze, quiet and undisturbed in the saddle- room-then a good old-fashioned Virginia dinner and a little nigger back of each chair to wave off the flies with asparagus shoots. About 7 P. M. we started under heavy escort on the beautiful pike under a beautiful moon toward Lewisburg, reaching there about II P. M. to find a room in
5
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SEVENTH REGIMENT OHIO VOLUNTEER INFANTRY
the hotel, in the rear and under the stairs, all ready with mattresses and blankets to be our sleeping quarters. I must not forget to state that during the afternoon two more pris- oners of war from the Eleventh O. V. I. had been brought in, who with our guards enjoyed these accommodations.
"Breakfast bell sounded sweet and we would have been ready and willing to charge either front or flank of a good breakfast; but Colonel Croghan told us to wait for the second table, so as to not be exposed to the idle curiosity and possibly offensive conduct of a lot of 'stay at homes.' So the Colonel and we four 'Yankees' and the escort waited- not to our sorrow.
"The forenoon passed rapidly in our backstairs room, helped along by a couple of bottles of wine, a box of cigars, and several decks of cards left with us by our host the Col- onel. Dinner again at the second table and then we were conducted through the gate in the rear fence into an alley, here the bulk of the escort and all the horses awaited us. I took notice that the Colonel mounted a different horse-a big, powerful gray; while to me was assigned the same beautiful little black mare I had ridden so far, but this time fully shod. A ride through alleys only brought us again to the beautiful pike and outside of the city. A short distance away the Colonel told me that he had the horse he was then bestriding offered to him to buy and he wanted to give her a try out alongside his own little mare that I rode. He dismounted, unbuckled his left spur and caused me to buckle it on, advising me how little and how much to use it. On our approaching a straight stretch of road, appar- ently one mile long, he gave the word 'go,' and away we went like shot out of a gun. This was repeated once more before we came near to White Sulphur Springs, our destina- tion-when reaching another straight stretch of road, 'go' was again the word, and before either one of us was well aware of it we were within 60 to So feet of a five-bar gate in the fence that enclosed all the White Sulphur Springs estate. A short question, 'Can you take it?' a nod and a 'yes' from me and at it and over it we went as leaves blown on the
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