USA > Pennsylvania > The Twenty-second Pennsylvania cavalry and the Ringgold battalion, 1861-1865; > Part 32
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General Averill says: "I lost during this day (5th) about 100 horses from exhaustion. I had learned that the enemy had fallen back from New Creek on the 4th, in the direction of Burlington and Moorfield, and reports were numerous that he had been reinforced by Imboden and Vaughn. During the nights of the 5th and 6th, rations and forage were received and issued to the command, and on the morning of the 6th, I resumed the march, arriving at Romney about 11 A. M. Here I learned that the enemy had passed the junction of the Moorfield grade with the West Virginia Turnpike, seven miles from Romney, between 9 and 10 A. M., on the morning of the 5th, going in the direction of the former place. . Placing little reliance in the numerous reports that the enemy, reinforced, intended a further raid through West Virginia, I believed he would attempt to reach the Valley via the Wardensville Turnpike. I, therefore, sent Major Work, of the 22nd Pennsylvania Cavalry, commanding a battalion, with instructions to proceed rapidly by what is known as the Grassy Lick Road in the direction of Wardens- ville and endeavor to reach Lost River Gap on the Wardensville Turnpike, in advance of the enemy, to block and hold the Gap until I could overtake and attack them in the rear; or, if he could find that McCausland had not left Moorfield, to move rapidly forward and attack him as soon as he heard the sound of my guns ; or should he find that the enemy had taken the Strasburg Road, to still en- deavor to intercept him.
Major Work says: " At Romney, General Averill sent for me and told me what he was going to do and what he wanted me to do, viz .: he was going to move on Moorfield (with the main force)
Aug. 4. Marched to Hancock. Md., where we met General Averill's Division about to .start in pursuit of General McClausland who had burned Chambersburg. Here, General Dufee ordered me to send all the available men of the regiment to report to General Averill. As the command had been performing very hard service for the past month, only 100 good, serviceable horses were found that could stand a forced march in the pursuit. I assigned Major Work to this command, and the same day, Aug. 4, Averill started in pursuit .- From Colonel Greenfield's Memoirs.
312 TWENTY-SECOND PENNSYLVANIA CAVALRY.
by the Grassy Lick Road and send me with another force by the North River Pike, and attack McCausland at daylight next morn- ing. He asked me if I thought he could do it, and I said it would be impossible, even if his troops were fresh; that the distance was too great, that he could not make it even by a daylight march, let alone at night. This led to quite a sharp discussion with the topo- graphical engineer, the General being the judge between us. The result was that he abandoned his first plan, and he himself took the route he had laid out for me, while I took the Grassy Lick Road with orders to go to the Wardensville Pike; he asked me if I thought we could do it, and I answered that I thought we might, but there was a pretty good chance that we might report in Rich- mond, but at all events we would try."
At one o'clock the march was resumed, Major Work moving out the Grassy Lick Road with his battalion of the 22nd Pennsyl- vania, numbering but eighty-five men, while Averill with the main force moved up the North River Pike. During the afternoon, an or- der of McCausland's, dated at Moorfield on the 6th, was captured, which indicated that he could not be far from that place. Aver- ill's report continues : " About 6 P. M., my scouts reported the enemy's pickets four miles in advance and about ten miles from Moorfield, information also placing McCausland's and Johnson's brigades three and four miles, respectively, north of the town. I soon after halted my command for rest and feed, with orders to be ready to move at one o'clock the following morning, timing the movement so as to make the attack precisely at daylight. I also sent couriers to Major Work with orders for him to move as rapidly as possible over the Wardensville Turnpike and attack the enemy vigorously at the same time. I designed, if possible, to sur- prise the enemy, wherein I was only partially successful.
" At 1 A. M. the column was again in motion and by an adroit movement, the enemy's pickets and reserve and a patrol going out from his camp were successfully captured without a shot being fired, though some delay in the march was occasioned .* From the
* The way in which this was done as told by one of the captured Confederates was this: "The scout (patrol) from the Eighth ( Virginia) having passed beyond the picket on the Romney Road about 2 A. M., or very early that morning, every man of 33 was captured by the enemy (Yanks). Two men in gray uniform rode up to the sentinels on outpost, and being challenged replied, 'We are scouts from the Sth Virginia.' After exchanging a word or two. one of them rode back to pick up some- thing lost from his saddle, and immediately returned with twenty more, who captu eu the whole post. At the reserve they said they were a relief from the Eighth Virginia. and some of the men saying to those on picket, 'Get your horses, you are relieved. Thus scout, picket and reserve were captured by the enemy ( Yankees) in Confederate uniform, who then rode into our camp without giving any alarm."-(From General Bradley Johnson's Report.)
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ENEMY ROUTED.
captured patrol I learned that the enemy was apprised of my ap- proach and had been waiting an attack since three o'clock. I no longer hoped for a surprise, but relied upon the vigor of the attack. Passing through and beyond Reynold's Gap at a trot at 5 A. M., the Rebel General, Bradley Johnson's Brigade was found posted in line of battle on both sides of the road, one mile north of the South Branch of the Potomac River. Without a moment's halt or delay, my advance brigade, under Major Gibson, 14th Pennsylvania Cav- alry, deployed, and with an eager shout, dashed forward upon the enemy's lines with such impetuosity that, waiting only to fire a few shots, they broke and fled in the wildest confusion, leaving two pieces of artillery, a large number of horses and throwing away whatever impeded their flight. Giving them no time to reform, Gibson pursued them hotly to the river, precipitating them over its steep banks, across and into the ranks of McCausland, who, with another brigade, was posted on the south bank. There, as I an- ticipated, the enemy attempted to make a stand. Colonel Powell, of the 2nd Virginia Cavalry, commanding 2nd Brigade, was immedi- ately ordered forward, and, crossing the river in the face of a severe fire, soon routed the enemy a second time, rolling the tide of fugitives back toward Moorfield. A quarter of a mile from the river, the roads forked-the right hand leading to Moorfield, upon which a part of the enemy's forces fled, pursued by Major Gibson ; the left hand leading to the hills and intersecting the Wardensville Turnpike four miles east of Moorfield. Taking advantage of a strong position on this latter road one mile from the river, Mc- Causland with a larger portion of his shattered command, offered a stubborn resistance, but after a sharp contest of a few minutes' duration, he was for the third time routed by a portion of the 2nd Brigade and driven to the mountains, with the loss of his remain- ing artillery and many prisoners." Pursuit was continued on the various roads taken by the enemy until noon. Ten miles east of Moorfield, on the Wardensville Pike, Major Work met a portion of the retreating force-but we will let Major Work tell that story : " I left Romney with eighty-five men for the Wardensville Pike, the distance being about thirty-one miles. We marched all night and came to the pike shortly after sunrise, fully an hour before we heard the firing of cannon at Moorfield. Fortunately for us, the Rebels chose to retreat, by the Wardensville Pike, thus saving us a long march of many miles through the enemy's country to the Howard Lick.
314 TWENTY-SECOND PENNSYLVANIA CAVALRY.
"My orders were that if the enemy did not retreat by the Wardensville Pike, then I was to push on to the Howard Lick Road and meet them there, blockading the roads behind me."
During the latter part of the night (3 A. M.) Major Work had detached from his command several scouts in charge of Sergeant Donaldson and sent them by another road to intersect the Wardens- ville Pike at a point six or eight miles from Moorfield, to find out whether the enemy would come that way, and then fall back along that pike toward Wardensville as rapidly as possible until they would meet the command.
Donaldson says: "I had with me Joe Armstrong, Arch Mc- Clelland and Andy Grant. The night was extremely dark and rained some. We got along all right until we came to the junction of the roads. There the citizens told us that a fight had been going on at Moorfield since daylight; the firing of cannon had veri- fied this story. McClelland and I stopped at a gate and got a pie each, but before we got a bite we saw a column of demoralized cavalry coming down the road toward us, flying from Moorfield in great consternation. Some of the men had no arms, some horses had no bridles. We saw in a moment that Averill had routed them, so we spurred up and off at a gallop to inform Work and have him prepared to capture the panic-stricken Johnnies. Running as fast as we could, we could not get out of sight of them, and at times, some of them would be within thirty yards of us, thinking we were Rebels, too. We caught three of their best loose horses that came up alongside, and thus we went for eight miles. Happily for us, Captain McNulty with his squadron saw us coming, took the hint and formed on each side of the road in the bushes; the road beyond was blockaded. We turned off the road, and when the Johnnies came up, our men gobbled them."
" The enemy's column farther back now discovered that there was a force of Yankees in their front, and formed on an eleva- tion a half-mile in front of us where the road curved to the right. Major Work said to me, 'What do you think of that, Chess- rown?' I replied, ' We must show a bold front or we are gone up.' 'We can whip them,' said Work, and then gave the com- mand, 'Charge!' which was executed to the letter; giving the Yankee yell. we soon came up to them, when they gave way, we capturing several men and horses, but the rest scattered in the bushes on the side of the mountain. We then moved on toward Moorfield; the retreating enemy fleeing from that place, offered
315
WORK'S RINGGOLD BATTALION TROOPERS.
but feeble resistance, owing to their demoralized condition and to their belief that our force was only the advance guard of a much larger body. The bushes were full of Rebels for several miles ; at one point on our way, the enemy had turned off our road down a valley road, and we could see more of them at one time than there were men in our whole command, but we said nothing to them nor they to us, for our hands were pretty well filled by this time with prisoners and captured horses."
Major Work says further: "We met both McCausland's and Johnson's Brigades, driving them from the road and taking 30 prisoners and 100 horses. Our captured were really much more than this, as many of our horses were abandoned and replaced by those taken from the raiders, and quite a number of Rebel pris- oners escaped after we got to Moorfield before they were formally turned over to Averill's guard. The prisoners were formed in line before we got to the town and then counted forty-five.
" There were many interesting incidents of this fight, if it can be called a fight, where all the losses were on one side. One thing certain, the Rebels did most of the shooting; our tactics were to charge at sight, that of the Johnnies to give us one fire and then break down the mountain sides pellmell. I saw men and horses roll one hundred feet at least, heels over head. Our situation was critical ; in front meeting me were two brigades; in my rear, a regi- ment of the enemy's cavalry had camped five miles back the night before on their way to join McCausland. I got this information from Averill, and it was verified by the Lieutenant Quartermaster we captured, and also by the Captain we captured, Captain Foster, of Columbia, Tenn. This situation led me to detach a rear-guard of twenty-five men to blockade the pike in my rear, with orders to hold it at all risk. We had borrowed during the night march at least a dozen axes for this purpose. Shortly after the affair began, seeing the heavy odds meeting us, I had the rear-guard close up to connect with the center guard, where our prisoners were, in order to guard against an escape by which our real force might become known to the enemy. Our force in front did not amount to more than twenty-five men at any one time, seldom more than sixteen, and often below, as each capture required a guard back. Audacity and dash compensated for lack of numbers, and never did men show more of the true soldier grit than that handful of eighty-five men in those wild mountains. The nearest Federal troops were in Moorfield, nineteen miles distant, and two brigades
.
316 TWENTY-SECOND PENNSYLVANIA CAVALRY.
of Rebels between, yet the eighty-five kept that pike and reached Moorfield about 3 P. M.
" What the enemy thought of it is best shown from an incident of the day. The Rebel Captain (Foster) had thirteen men with him, and he showed more courage than any other we met. When he surrendered, he claimed protection. Seeing the kind of man he was, I assured him of as complete protection as I was able to give, and that as soon as I could get a little time I would send the prisoners back to the main body, emphasizing the 'main body ' as something quite heavy, and warning him earnestly not to attempt to escape as my men had orders to shoot at once any prisoner that took a single step that way; and further, that my men were angry and on the lookout for any such chance to shoot. After we got through the Rebel column, I stopped until the prisoners came up. He (Captain Foster) was quite angry, and said that I had not kept my promise and that he was constantly under fire of his own men. I told him that I had kept my promise to the letter, and that, so far as I knew, he saw the only Federal troops between Moorfield and Winchester. He swore that if that was the way the Yanks fought, the Confederates might as well give up; that they had not then, nor ever did have any cavalry that would have done as we had that morning. Captain McNulty led the advance guard of from eight to sixteen men. Dr. Finley laid aside his character as non- combatant and served me admirably as A. D. C. It may seem in- vidious to name some where all did so nobly. I would mention all the officers, but fear I might omit some.
" General Averill complimented us highly; said he had sent scouts in all directions to find us and finally gave us up as lost. He gave a verbal order to give each officer with me a horse, which was done, and this reduced the number receipted for considerably." (This letter from Major Work was written largely from memory March 12, 1888.)
General Averill sums up the victory as follows: "The num- ber of killed and wounded of the enemy is unknown, but large. Three battle-flags were captured with four pieces of artillery (all the enemy had) 420 prisoners, including six field and staff and thirty-two company officers, over 400 horses and equipments and a number of small arms. General Johnson was captured with his colors and three of his staff, but passing undistinguished among the other prisoners, he made his escape. My loss is nine killed and thirty-two wounded."
WORK'S RINGGOLD BATTALION TROOPERS. 317
The roads along which the enemy retreated were strewn with goods of every variety which they had stolen in Pennsylvania, ladies' clothes, jewelry, shoes, saddle-bags full of things.
General Early, in his report, says that McCausland's Cavalry never amounted to anything after that day. A strong guard with the prisoners marched eleven miles toward New Creek and camped for the night, our Battalion guarding the prisoners at night. Next day, August 8th, we loaded the prisoners on the cars at New Creek to be sent to Wheeling, and forwarded to one of the large camps of prisoners.
On the 9th, the cavalry were being loaded on the cars and shipped east as fast as the railroad could furnish transportation. Next day, Captain Chessrown, with a scout of forty men, was sent to Moorfield and returned the following day. On the 12th, our regiment shipped by train to Hancock, arriving at Alpine Station some time in the night, where we debarked and forded the river to Hancock and camped with Averill's command. We were here brigaded with the 14th Pennsylvania and the 8th Ohio, as the 1st Brigade in Averill's Division.
On the 14th we marched down the river to Cherry Run, forded the river and proceeded on to Martinsburg, where we camped for. the night. Next day, 15th, our brigade moved out to the farm of Mr. Parker, three miles from town and camped. Here we re- mained until the morning of the 18th.
We have given considerable space to the burning of Chambers- burg, not for the purpose of fanning the dying embers of the old strife, or to demonstrate that the act was unjustifiable and " wholly indefensible " in this age of Christian civilization, but because Chambersburg was a Pennsylvania town, and-without detriment to the other gallant troopers that formed the pursuing force-the Pennsylvania cavalry did themselves proud in the pursuit and de- struction of the raiders, the gallant 14th Cavalry, under Major Gibson, charging and knocking to pieces McCausland's line of bat- tle at Moorfield, and Major Work with a detachment of eighty-five veteran Ringgold-Battalion troopers of the 22nd Cavalry, charging two brigades of the retreating enemy and putting them to utter rout, capturing more than 100 horses and half as many prisoners as he had men and bringing all for seventeen miles, part of the way under fire, to General Averill at Moorfield-one of the very bril- liant feats of the war.
318
TWENTY-SECOND PENNSYLVANIA CAVALRY.
FEINTS BY EARLY.
On the 29th of July, the day that McCausland started on his Chambersburg raid, the Confederate infantry divisions of Rodes and Ramseur, moved to the Potomac at Williamsport, and part of this force crossed the river and drove our forces back through Hagerstown. Next day, 30th, these forces recrossed the river and fell back, reaching Bunker Hill, Va., on the 31st, where Early's entire forces of infantry and artillery remained until the 4th of August. On this latter date, the entire force again moved to the Potomac and next day crossed into Maryland, Rodes and Ramseur at Williamsport and Gordon and Wharton at Shepherdstown. The latter marched to Williamsport and on the next day, 6th, all re- crossed the river at Williamsport and fell back to Bunker Hill, reaching that place on the 7th.
On the 30th of July, General Crook's forces, together with the 6th and 19th Corps, fell back from Halltown, crossing the river at Harper's Ferry and marching to the neighborhood of Frederick. remained there, watching Early, under the direction of General Halleck, until the 5th of August.
Averill's departure left Duffee's Division of cavalry about 1,300 strong with five pieces of artillery. The signal officer reported a large force of the enemy with a large wagon train having crossed the Potomac into Maryland ; our division was moved to McConnellsburg on the morning of the 6th, hoping to strike the enemy or head them off. When it was learned that the enemy had recrossed the river to Virginia, our division returned to Hancock. August 10, a scouting party of our regiment was sent to Hedgesville, Va., after a small force of the enemy reported there; the latter had gone in the direc- tion of Winchester before our party arrived.
* THE DISMOUNTED DETACHMENT.
The dismounted detachment left the Shenandoah River at Snicker's Ferry on Friday morning, July 22nd, and started in the direction of Berryville. We supposed we were going to Martins- burg to receive our horses; but when we came to Winchester, in- stead of going to the right, we took the left hand road, which caused cursings loud and deep from the men who were anxious to be mounted. We marched beyond Winchester one and a half miles, where we camped for the night, without rations, and in no
* Sergeant Gehrett.
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THE DISMOUNTED DETACHMENT.
amiable frame of mind. The muskets were pitched in every direc- tion, and many of them were never picked up by the men who had been carrying them.
Saturday morning, July 23rd, we fell into line, marched back through Winchester on the Martinsburg Pike for Harper's Ferry, where we were to draw our horses this time for sure. It was said that Colonel Higgins and Major Myers had personally represented the regiment at headquarters, and in view of the past good service of the men, the fact that they had taken the muskets voluntarily and with the distinct understanding that it was to be only for the emer- gency, and also that we were nearly all barefoot, it was decided to bring us back to Harper's Ferry and give us horses. We marched as far as Charlestown that day and next morning, the 24th, moved on to Harper's Ferry.
Heavy cannonading was heard in the direction of Winchester and reports came that our forces were driven back to Bunker Hill. We were marched up on Bolivar Heights and formed in line of battle to be ready for the Johnny Rebs, in case they put in an appearance. Tuesday, 26th, we worked all day, throwing up entrenchments. In the evening we were relieved by the 1st New York Veteran Cavalry, when we moved further up the line and took the place of a battery.
Thursday, 28th, a very warm day, we marched down through Bolivar, Harper's Ferry, crossed the river, then through Sandy Hook and out on the Pleasant Valley road a short distance and en- camped for the night. Next morning, 29th, we again fell into line, marched back over the river, up through Harper's Ferry and when within half a mile of Halltown, we countermarched and came back to Harper's Ferry and to Pleasant Valley.
Saturday, 30th, we moved further out the Valley, and pitched our tents ; in the evening, an inventory of our guns and equipments was taken, which indicated that we would soon bid farewell to the muskets and receive our horses.
* THE DISMOUNTED DETACHMENT IS FINALLY MOUNTED.
" Tuesday evening, August 2nd, a number of horses were drawn by our regiment, thirty-two being received by our company (K) and not a blooded steed among them. We were very glad, however, to change our method of travelling, and were not by any means over- particular whether our steeds were thoroughbreds.
* Sergeant Gehrett.
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TWENTY-SECOND PENNSYLVANIA CAVALRY.
" Thursday, August 4th, those of us who were not yet mounted were ordered into line and marched to the corral, where we received our horses. It was my good fortune to secure a bright sorrel mare, good size, easy rider, quite intelligent, a real gem for the cavalry ยท service or anything else, and quite a friendship grew up between us worthy of future mention. Many of the horses had more sense than their riders, and many of them were most brutally used by the very men whose interest it was to treat them with the greatest kindness.
" Mounted drill proved to be very exciting with some of the untrained and vicious horses, but under the discipline of sharp spurs and severe riding, the evil was soon sweated out of them. But the trouble was not always with the horses, for some few of the men had never bridled a horse nor touched a saddle, and it was real amus- ing to see the awkward effort made in doing so. Then the curbed bridle-bits with chin straps and chain were not relished by horses that had been trained with something less severe.
Many of the men became greatly attached to their horses. The Indian may set his heart on his faithful dog, but his attachment cannot surpass that of the cavalryman for his horse. The narrow straits through which they pass causes their affection to become strong, and the animal responds to kindness quite as evidently as a human being. Sometimes there were forced marches going right on for days and nights, as on a raid, not halting long enough to unsaddle, and the horses would become so galled that the hair would come off with the blanket at its first removal. But these suf- ferings only caused the rider to more greatly sympathize with his poor beast. Many a man would suffer himself in order to save his horse, and great pains were often taken to care for a sick or wounded horse. Each regiment had its veterinary surgeon, who was kept busy and whose skill was taxed in ministering to his four-footed patients.
The parting of horse and rider on a field of battle, when the former was mortally wounded, was often touching.
Frequently, on a march, the cavalryman, having no object to which he might hitch his horse at night, would lie down with his saddle for a pillow, and tying his halter to it, he would sleep soundly, his faithful horse standing as a guardian by his side; and at other times walking around, eating the grass as far as he could reach, sometimes standing over his rider; but I never knew of an instance
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