USA > Pennsylvania > The Twenty-second Pennsylvania cavalry and the Ringgold battalion, 1861-1865; > Part 10
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CAPTAIN CHESSROWN.
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THE RINGGOLD BATTALION.
off to Kernstown, where we kept up a lively skirmish with the enemy until evening, when he withdrew.
The Confederate General in his report says: "With a regi- ment of cavalry and a battery, I went as far as Kernstown, hoping for an attack from their cavalry."
Next day the enemy's cavalry annoyed our pickets, and again our battalion had a skirmish with them. The forces at Winchester were augmented on the 26th by a regiment of Maryland cavalry.
On January 1st, General Milroy came and took command of all the forces about Winchester. After we had been in Winchester a few days, our tents and camp equipage were forwarded from Romney. We got the impression that we were to be retained. Our boys liked Winchester and had made the acquaintance of a number of good loyal families, who had been very kind to our sick men .* They also liked the Valley as a field for cavalry operations.
On the third, Captain Work's Company, with detachments from the other companies, made a scout to Strasburg and return, a round trip of forty miles without stopping to feed or eat. On the same day, our wagons were sent back to Romney under guard of Captain Rowand's Company. On the fifth, the battalion was relieved by part of the Fourteenth Pennsylvania Cavalry, and we received orders to march to Romney.
THE BATTALION ORDERED BACK TO ROMNEY.
The Ringgold Battalion detachment of two hundred men marched from Winchester at ten o'clock P. M., January 5th, and arrived at Romney next morning.
The repulse of the Army of the Potomac, under Burnside at Fredericksburg, acted as a great tonic to the Rebellion. The fact that winter was on, alone saved Maryland and Pennsylvania from another invasion by the Confederate Army at this time.
On January 5th, General Schenck, at Harper's Ferry, tele- graphed President Lincoln: "The last rail was laid to-day, com- pleting the reconstruction of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Trains will run through from Baltimore to Wheeling to-morrow."
The enemy seriously considered an attempt to destroy this road again, but it was guarded by strong garrisons at Harper's Ferry, Martinsburg and several points west of that, and now, at
* " Dec. 28, 1862. Still sick at Afflecks. They are very kind; bring me jellies and nice things to eat, but I cannot eat. Dec. 29. The doctor sent me to the hospital (Taylor's Hotel). Mrs. Gibbons, Miss Jackson, Miss Affleck and other good loyal ladies visit the hospital and bring delicacies for the sick men."-Sergeant Donaldson's Diary.
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TWENTY-SECOND PENNSYLVANIA CAVALRY.
the opening of the new year, there was a considerable force at Winchester, and other Federal forces at Moorfield, Petersburg and Romney. From the beginning of the war, Moorfield had been the rendezvous and rallying point for raids upon the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in its Mountain Division. Its occupation by the Union forces seriously interfered with almost every Confederate scheme to make a raid on the railroad.
General Lee had been urging General Jones, who was in command of the Confederate forces in the valley, to attack and drive off the Federals from Moorfield and Petersburg. Accord- ingly, Jones planned to make a descent upon Petersburg in the latter part of December, and so informed Lee; but Cluseret appeared at Strasburg in the Valley about the time Jones was ready to move, which caused him to defer the expedition. However, on the 2nd of January, Jones, with his own brigade of infantry, two battalions of cavalry, and two batteries, marched on Moorfield, and reached there on the morning of the third, having marched rapidly in order to surprise and overcome the Federal forces there before they could be reinforced from Petersburg.
Jones' attack upon Moorfield was a great failure, which he admits in his report. His artillery, upon which he had counted so much, failed to reach the Federals, while their shots took effect in his ranks. Meanwhile, the Federal forces at Petersburg reinforced those at Moorfield, bringing more artillery to bear on his lines. " Fearing they would be further reinforced from New Creek, he (Jones) determined to withdraw."
Jones retired up South Fork ten miles; during the night, he was reinforced by Imboden's command, when they determined to renew the attack in the morning. McNeill's Company, which had been sent out the New Creek Road to watch, returned and reported reinforcements from New Creek coming to the aid of the Federals. Further attack was then abandoned, and the expedition returned to the Valley.
The enemy had neglected to cut the telegraph line from Moor- field. As soon as the attack began, Colonel Washburne, in com- mand, telegraphed General Kelley of the attack. Later, Lieutenant Powell of the Third West Virginia Cavalry, who was with Wash- burne, telegraphed Kelley: "Oh! for the Ringgolds! There are but twenty-five cavalry here." This appeal of Lieutenant Powell reached Captain Greenfield at Springfield, but it was not made public.
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THE RINGGOLD BATTALION.
* " All our men fit for duty were ordered out for a scout, but we did not know where we were going. At Romney we were joined by a good force of the Ringgold Battalion, and proceeded on to Moorfield. In the meantime, Colonel Mulligan had tele- graphed from Moorfield on the morning of the fifth, 'This morning, four miles from here, McNeill's Cavalry attacked a small wagon- train of Milroy's, guarded by a platoon of Rowand's Cavalry. They captured the train and, I think, the cavalry. I have started Lieutenant Myers in pursuit.'
"On our way to Moorfield, we recovered the wagons which the enemy had captured the day before. Jones and Imboden had gone long before we got there. We remained at Moorfield for about a week, scouring the mountains and skirmishing with squads of McNeill's men almost daily."
This attack upon Moorfield caused great activity among the troops along the line of the railroad and in the mountain section, as it looked like another attempt upon the railroad or an invasion of West Virginia.
While a military post at Moorfield was valuable in blocking Rebel raids into the Patterson Creek and New Creek valleys, yet the maintenance of such a post, sixty miles from base of supplies, all the way through the enemy's country, requiring a strong cavalry force for guard duty alone, was a burden which overbalanced the advantage; Generals Schenck and Kelley came to this conclusion, and Colonel Washburne was ordered to fall back to Romney.
Next day, Kelley dispatched to General Schenck: "Colonel Washburne, in accordance with your instructions, fell back from Moorfield and is holding Romney with his two regiments, the Ring- gold Cavalry and a section of artillery. He cannot be withdrawn from Romney."
At that time, all the troops from Baltimore west, distributed along the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and at the various out- posts in the Middle Military Department, were called the Eighth Corps and were under command of Major-General Robert C. Schenck. (Vol. XXI, 963.) Brigadier-General Kelley com- manded a division of this corps, distinguished as "The Railroad Division," extending from Harper's Ferry west to the crest of the Allegheny Mountains. We find the Ringgold Battalion in the First Brigade under command of Colonel James A. Mulligan, and we
* Sergeant S. G. Rogers' Journal.
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TWENTY-SECOND PENNSYLVANIA CAVALRY.
find the Washington Cavalry, commanded by Captain A. J. Green- field, in the Third Brigade, commanded by Colonel Robert Bruce.
After their return from Winchester, the battalion camped under canvas for a week, and then secured quarters in vacant houses. Some of these houses had been occupied by other troops. Three of our men, who were quartered in one of these houses, found " greybacks" in their clothing, their first experience with that "enemy." One pulled off his shirt and threw it on the fire; another boiled his shirt, forgetting to remove from the pocket his pocket-book containing his money and his girl's picture, which were boiled to a pulp.
There was much sickness among the troops here, especially among the infantry. On January 15th, one hundred and fifty sick infantrymen were sent to the hospital at Cumberland. While at Romney, the duty was very hard. New Creek, twenty-five miles away, was our base of supplies, and every wagon train had to be guarded, for the country was infested with bushwhackers and parties of the enemy. We obtained our hay from the surrounding country, sometimes having to travel many miles for it, requiring more than one day to make the trip. Each hay-train had to be guarded, for the enemy was ever attacking unguarded trains, cap- turing horses and men. Foraging for cattle was also hazardous. All supplies obtained from loyal citizens were paid for.
On the night of January 17, 1863, six of our men on picket were surrounded, fired upon by a band of twenty-five bushwhackers, wounding one of Barr's men in the thigh and one of Smith's men in the arm. They took their arms and horses and let the men go. Same day, a band of bushwhackers captured the mail from Green Spring Run to Romney.
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THE RINGGOLD BATTALION.
CHAPTER VIII.
GREENFIELD'S COMPANY AT SPRINGFIELD. BAT- TALION AT MECHANICSBURG GAP. JANUARY 1, 1863-JUNE 12, 1863.
Soon after Captain Greenfield occupied the post at Springfield, the detachment of New York Cavalry that at first constituted part of his force, was ordered elsewhere. Thereafter, the entire service required at this post devolved upon the Washington Cavalry. The duty was heavy, as four picket posts on as many different roads were maintained, forage and supply trains guarded and the country thoroughly scouted.
* We were much annoyed by a gang of horse thieves that roamed the country. On one occasion, I was one of a squad sent out twenty-five miles to a house in the neighborhood of North River Mills, near which this gang had their rendezvous. We had been informed that there was to be a dance at this house on that night, and that some of these fellows would attend. It was thought we might catch some of them. We were after their leader, Bill Wills, a notorious character. We started in the afternoon and arrived at the house at 10 P. M. The officer in charge chose to remain back and hold the horses, and ordered the squad to go straight up to the house and enter. The squad obeyed the order, and as we went in at one side of the house, the Rebels went out of the other side into the darkness and were lost. The dance went on, however, regardless of our presence. The brave officer was true to his trust, for we found him all right with the horses when we returned."
The night before New Year, there was a dance at a slave cabin south of town (Springfield), and some of the boys went out to see how the slaves f enjoyed themselves in Dixie. They were fired on by Rebels, and Hiram Sargent got peppered with buckshot, but was not seriously hurt. It was not safe at any time for a small squad to venture any distance from camp, on account of lurking bushwhackers.
January 18th, Captain Greenfield's supply train was attacked and captured on the Green Spring Road. Demas Barnard of the Washington Cavalry was mortally wounded and died soon after-
* Rogers.
+ This was the last night of slavery, for President Lincoln's emancipation proclama- tion set all slaves free on the first of January, 1803. Wherever this was known among the negroes of the South, there was great rejoicing on this New Year's eve.
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TWENTY-SECOND PENNSYLVANIA CAVALRY.
ward. The enemy took several men and all the horses. A mes- senger hurried to camp and gave the alarm, when Captain Green- field, with his cavalry, made a rapid pursuit and recaptured the men and most of the horses .* When the report of the capture of Green- field's train reached Romney, the Ringgold Battalion was hurried out the Winchester Road to cut off the enemy's retreat, but failed to find them.
Sometime after this, Captain Greenfield made a scout to North River Mills and captured some prisoners. Bill Wills being among the number, attempted to escape and was shot in the head by Hugh Horn, fell from his horse and was supposed to be mortally wounded. We left him at a house to be cared for. We afterward learned that he recovered.
Throughout the winter, the enemy was most industrious in circulating reports of Confederate advances in force, and in making feints with bodies of cavalry, to make it appear to our commanders that the reported advance was being made. General Milroy at Win- chester and General Kelley at the railroad were kept in a ferment by these false rumors. One day, Jones' full force would be at Strasburg; next day, Imboden would be at Front Royal; then a large force at Moorfield; Jackson coming back to the valley, etc., etc. The cavalry was worked almost to the limit in running down these rumors. Our boys at Romney and Springfield were in the saddle daily. The enemy's cavalry in small bodies annoyed our pickets, attempting to run off their horses, or surround and capture a picket post in the night, or capture a wagon train poorly guarded. They avoided a collision with our forces, when pursued. Their chief object was to annoy and to capture horses.
+" January 21, 1863. Snow fell all night and all day. It is ten inches deep. A big scout was to go out to-day but the order was countermanded on account of the snow.
"January 23. Company C guarded a train to Green Spring Run and it was bad traveling. Rumors of foreign intervention.
"Jan. 26. George Hardy and some others went down into a well and got out forty picks and shovels the Rebs had thrown in to keep us from getting them.
"28. Details for guard to Green Spring every day. Scout went out to Blue's Gap to watch Imboden.
· Lieutenant Blue, who commanded the enemy in this attack, was captured by Captain Greenfield on May ,31.
t Donaldson's Diary.
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THE RINGGOLD BATTALION.
" 29. Scout returned at midnight ; found nothing. The Upshur County Battery came in from New Creek to-day.
" 31. A small scout sent out to take Kane. Did not find him. " Feb. 1. ‘ Sabbath of rest to mortals given,
A foretaste of the joys of Heaven,'
but no rest for us.
" Feb. 2, 1863. Lieut. McNulty, with 20 men, went on a scout to Capon Bridge; returned at dark, not having encountered the enemy.
"4. Mr. Sawhill from Washington County, Pa., came on a visit, bringing with him from the families at home, 900 pounds of provisions for the boys ; 5 boxes, 1 barrel and 1 keg; there were 30 or 40 chickens, 2 turkeys, 5 bushels of apples, pound cakes, dough- nuts, light-bread, butter, fruit butters, honey, onions, a canteen of wine and other things. Oh, what a treat! It came from Wood- burns, Craigs, Milligans, McClellands, Mustards, Griffiths, etc., etc. We are just more than full of gratitude for this donation, and long will we remember the givers. We borrowed a violin and had a great time playing and dancing in our (store) room, which was crowded all day.
" Feb. 5, 1863. It snowed all day. The scout returned at midnight, having gone out the Winchester Road, then around by Moorfield and back by Mechanicsburg Gap, 70 miles. Another scout went to Capon Bridge and returned at dark to-day."
On the thirteenth, a cavalry scout from our battalion went out at daylight and returned in the afternoon, having been bushwhacked in Blue's Gap; when they were all fairly within the Gap, forty or fifty bushwhackers, concealed behind the rocks high up, fired on our men at a distance of twenty or thirty rods, and, strange to say, not a man was hit. A shot struck Joe Starr's horse in the pastern and almost cut its foot off. Joe jumped off, ran out of the Gap, and jumped on behind Dave Ralston. The horse followed on three legs for several miles. The boys took off the saddle and bridle and saved them. Next day, all the available cavalry started for Blue's Gap at 6 o'clock in the morning. About 150 infantry had marched at midnight. They returned in the evening, having found nothing. The cavalry had marched sixty miles.
Feb. 16, 1863. A scout of seventy-five cavalry went out North River. A train of twenty-two wagons with a guard of seventy-five of the -th Ohio Infantry and six cavalrymen from the Ringgold Bat- talion, all under command of Captain , of the infantry,
L
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TWENTY-SECOND PENNSYLVANIA CAVALRY.
went out Patterson's Creek for hay. This train loaded the hay in Patterson's Creek Valley, and then proceeded up the creek and turned to the east along the Northwestern Pike to the junction and then to the north down the road toward Romney. The small squad of cav- alry, in command of Sergeant Moffit of Company A, rode a consid- erable distance in front as an advance guard. The infantrymen climbed up on top of the loads, sat down in the hay and made them- selves comfortable.
Captain Jesse McNeill, with twenty-nine of his men, had come there that morning and concealed themselves on a low ridge near the road to watch for small parties of cavalry that might pass that way, for the purpose of securing some horses and arms. As the hay train came by, he studied it carefully, noting the very com- fortable soldiering of the infantry sitting in the hay. The train halted at the creek, a short distance ahead, and the teamsters began to water the horses. McNeill then brought his command down into the road, out of sight, mounted and charged the train, capturing the whole outfit, except the cavalry squad, which was some distance ahead. The infantrymen asserted that their captain never gave a command. On hearing the firing and yelling, Sergeant Hopkins Moffit and John S. Yohe, of the advance guard, rode back to find the train and guard in the hands of the enemy, who were busily unhitching the teams and setting fire to the wagons. Moffit and Yohe opened a vigorous fire on the Rebels from their carbines, hastening their departure and saving three of the wagons.
A report of this capture reached camp at 3 p. M. Within a very short time, all the available men of the battalion were mounted and, under command of Captain Young, set out at high speed to the scene of the capture. Here they found nineteen burned wagons and three that had not been fired. The enemy had an hour and a half start of our pursuing force ; after following for a few miles, Captain Young, considering further pursuit useless, returned to camp. Eight of the captured teams (thirty-two horses) belonged to our battalion. We were obliged to get citizens' wagons and teams to haul our hay until the 25th, when we obtained new wagons and teams.
BATTLE OF PANCAKE GAP.
* On the ?1th of February. 1863, Captain Work, with twenty- five men from his own company, went on a scout in search of bands
* D. A. Scott. Company C.
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THE RINGGOLD BATTALION.
of the enemy that had been prowling around, attacking an exposed picket in the darkness, or waylaying small foraging parties that happened to get beyond the lines. It was believed that there was a considerable body of these marauders quartered in the mountains somewhere within striking distance of our camp. After going a number of miles in the direction of Moorfield, the captain concluded to divide the detachment, he taking twelve men and going one way, and Lieutenant Welch in command of the other thirteen men taking an old untraveled road running parallel with and between the " old " and the " new " Moorfield roads. Following this obscure road for several miles, Lieutenant Welch's party came to a small settlement. In one of the houses was a woman weaving cloth on a hand loom. Some of the boys stopped to see the performance. About the time they entered the front door of the house, a " Johnny " went out of the rear door, and, keeping the house between himself and our men, he succeeded in getting two-thirds way across a cleared field un- observed, when two of our men saw him and gave chase and had come within fifty yards of him when he reached the timber and large rocks, through which horseback pursuit would be impossible. Seeing this, one of our boys dismounted and sent a carbine ball after him, which caught his arm and left it dangling at his side. Our little com- mand then moved on and had not gone more than a mile when, reach- ing the top of a high hill, they saw at its base some distance away, what appeared to be a bunch of schoolboys, snow-balling; while we were looking at them, the "Johnny " with the crippled arm came within hailing distance of them and yelled: "There are a hundred Yankees on the hill above you." They rushed into the house, got their guns and took down the ravine, and we after them. They ran for a gap in the mountain, and just as they reached it, we came up to them, and then for a few minutes there was one of the liveliest little battles of the war. Although there were about thirty-five of them and but thirteen of us, we captured two, wounded four, and the rest escaped to the mountain fastnesses beyond our reach. Not a man of our number received a scratch.
CAMP MOVED TO MECHANICSBURG GAP.
About the first of March, Colonel Jacob Campbell, commanding a brigade of infantry, and one battery of artillery, was ordered to encamp at Mechanicsburg Gap across the river and about one mile from Romney.
On the 17th of March, our battalion was ordered to move across
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TWENTY-SECOND PENNSYLVANIA CAVALRY.
the river and encamp beside Colonel Campbell's brigade. While crossing the river with the battalion, David Griffith, of Work's Company, was drowned. His horse got into deep water and plunged, and in the struggle, got Griffith under him, and he was drowned right there in sight of and within a few feet of his comrades.
On the 24th of March, Charles W. Bayne and Frank Laycock, of Greenfield's Company, while carrying the mail from Springfield to Green Spring, were waylaid in the road when near the latter place, and their surrender demanded. Driving the spurs into their horses, they dashed ahead and were fired upon, Bayne being seriously wounded, and also his horse. He clung to the mail and to his horse until beyond the range of his assailants. We will let him tell the story :
" Frank Laycock and I were detailed to carry the mail from Springfield to Green Spring Run (Station) on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. After leaving camp a few miles, we carried our revolvers in our hands, well knowing the danger, and so carried them until within less than a mile of our pickets. We were riding along at the base of the mountain on a very narrow piece of road with a very high bank below the road on our right and a dense growth of laurel on our left. Just after we had crossed a small corduroy bridge, we were halted from the rear ; turning to the right on my horse, I saw a man under the edge of the bridge with his gun looking me in the face. I threw up my right hand and spurred my horse, which plunged forward, while at the same instant, the man fired (a charge of buckshot) striking me three times in the right arm and once in the breast. My horse had run but a short distance when the second man fired, four balls striking me in the back of the head, one through the shoulder and three in my back, my horse also receiving a ball through the top of the withers. My horse ran at the top of his speed, which kept me from fainting ; in crossing a small rivulet in the road, he stumbled and fell, throwing me over his head in the road, where Laycock found me when he came up, not knowing that I had been shot. I was unable to walk and Laycock started for the picket post to get help, when he met a squad of soldiers coming out, my horse having run into their camp, giving evidence that some- body had been shot."
THE PURGITSVILLE FIGHT.
It will seem to the reader that Kelley's little army in the moun- tains had taken a contract to furnish the Rebel army with horses.
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THE RINGGOLD BATTALION.
The trouble resulted from what General Kelley called " careless- ness," or what might be better named " foolhardiness " in sending out foraging trains without sufficient guard.
On the morning of April 6th, a foraging train under command of Lieutenant Speer, with forty of our men as guard, was sent out. On the same morning, a scout of fifty cavalrymen under Lieutenant Myers was sent to Moorfield. The foraging train was attacked, the horses, wagons and eleven men captured. Colonel Campbell, commanding the post, says in his report:
" Learning that Speer had been attacked, I promptly dispatched all my available cavalry under command of Captain Work, out the Moorfield Road, followed by 400 of the 54th Pennsylvania Volun- teers, 200 of the First Virginia Volunteers, and one section of the Upshur Battery, Captain Moore, all under command of Lieutenant- Colonel Linton, of the 54th.
" Near Purgitsville, about fifteen miles from this post, Captain Work met Lieutenant Myers falling back before a force of 300 of the enemy's cavalry. Captain Work concealed the main body of his men off from, but near the road, and as the enemy ad- vanced along the road, charged on them, throwing them into con- fusion, killing three, capturing three, and wounding fourteen. Three of our men were wounded in the gallant charge, but not dangerously. The Rebels beat a hasty retreat toward Moorfield. The infantry and artillery came up as rapidly as possible, but the enemy was in full retreat before they arrived. It being quite dark by this time, the whole force camped for the night.
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