USA > Pennsylvania > The Twenty-second Pennsylvania cavalry and the Ringgold battalion, 1861-1865; > Part 46
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454 TWENTY-SECOND PENNSYLVANIA CAVALRY.
of the 1st Connecticut Cavalry, with a force of 340 cavalry, arrived at Moorfield between one and two o'clock in the night, having ridden through from Winchester in an attempt to intercept and re- capture the prisoners. He immediately sent an officer to communi- cate with the force from New Creek, whose campfires he could see some five miles away. Colonel Greenfield, now in command of that force, sent a message back to Whittaker, desiring to co- operate with him if he intended to pursue. Whittaker's horses were terribly jaded after a long forced march through deep snow, and as the enemy now had twelve hours' start, he considered further pur- suit useless, and all the forces now returned to their respective camps.
The commanding officer of the post received the following order :
GENERAL ORDERS NO. 85. WAR DEPT. ADJT. GENERAL'S OFFICE. Washington, February 21, 1865.
Ordered, That a National salute be fired to-morrow noon, Feb- ruary 22nd, at West Point, and every fort, arsenal and army head- quarters of the United States, in honor of the restoration of the flag of the Union upon Fort Sumpter.
By order of the Secretary of War.
E. D. TOWNSEND, A. A. G.
In compliance with this order, the fort thundered out a salute of 100 guns. On the 24th, the following order was issued to the commanding officers of the Army of the Potomac:
City Point, Va., February 24, 1865.
Announce to your troops the capture of Wilmington on the 22nd instant by the troops of Schofield and Terry. Fire a shotted salute in honor of the event at four o'clock this afternoon.
U. S. GRANT, Lieut. General.
There is a great freshet in the river here (New Creek) to-day (24th). The ice gorge broke and brought with it the wooden rail- road bridge from Westernport : a great gorge formed at the sharp bend in the river below town, the ice and bridge timbers piling up there in great masses. Some of our men ventured out on the gorge to get planks, when suddenly, the ice started and it was with diffi- culty they got ashore.
The 1st West Virginia Infantry left for Beverly last night. and the 2nd West Virginia Veteran Infantry came in and took their place.
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NEW CREEK, FEBRUARY, 1865.
The regimental band of the 2nd Vets, under the leadership of Adju- tant Lucien Gray, came over to hear our band play this morning, and our band returned their visit and heard them play in the after- noon. They have a good band, but ours can compete with them pretty well, even if not yet four months old. The war news is good. General Sherman is marching north through South Carolina ; " Charleston, the cradle of secession," is captured, and the good old flag waves over Fort Sumpter. Glory to God! (Donaldson's Diary.)
Next day (25th), at Colonel Greenfield's request, our band went up to headquarters and played for Mrs. Judge McKennan, of Wash- ington, Pa., who is here on a visit. Mrs. McKennan is an accom- plished musician and complimented us, saying that our band could play better than General Kelley's band at Cumberland.
SPECIAL ORDERS, NO. 37. WAR DEPT. ADJUTANT GENERAL'S OFFICE. Washington, Feb. 26. 1865.
Major General Hancock, U. S. Volunteers, is, by direction of the President, assigned to the command of the Department of West Virginia, and temporarily of all troops of the Middle Military Divi- sion not under the immediate command of Major General Sheridan, U. S. Army in the field.
By order of the Secretary of War.
E. D. TOWNSEND, A. A. G.
On this same day, (Feb. 26) our first squadron (Companies A and B) under command of Lieut. Wm. E. Griffith, was ordered to proceed to Cumberland to be stationed there for picket and patrol duty. Company A was now in command of Lieutenant Gass.
On the 28th, the regiment was mustered for pay. A report was received that Sheridan had moved from Winchester up the Valley with a large force of cavalry, and two sections of artillery. A few days later, it was learned that Sheridan's force consisted of 10,000 cavalry, Devin's and Custer's divisions, all under command of Gen- eral Merritt, General Sheridan, himself accompanying the expedition. This force moved rapidly, driving Rosser's Cavalry before them, and reached Staunton March 2nd. General Early fell back to Waynes- boro, where Sheridan found him posted on a ridge behind breast- works with two brigades of infantry, eleven pieces of artillery and Rosser's Cavalry. Custer sent a flanking force around Early's left, while he charged in front, stampeding the whole force, resulting in
456 TWENTY-SECOND PENNSYLVANIA CAVALRY.
the capture of 1,600 officers and men, all their artillery, their train and seventeen battle-flags, practically the whole force except the cavalry, which ran away. General Early barely escaped, and finally, a few days later, accompanied by one orderly, made his way to Richmond.
Sheridan pushed on for more than 200 miles, over almost bot- tomless roads, encountering difficulties, insurmountable to any other than a Sheridan, and on the 18th of March, twenty-one days after · he started from Winchester, reached White-house on the Pamunky River, where Grant had ordered supplies to meet him. In his modest way, Sheridan says :
" The hardships of this march far exceeded those of any prev- ious campaigns by the cavalry. Almost incessant rains had drenched us for sixteen days and nights, and the swollen streams and well-nigh bottomless roads east of Staunton presented grave difficulties on every hand, but surmounting them all, we destroyed the enemy's means of subsistence, in quantities beyond computation, and perma- nently crippled the Virginia Central Railroad as well as the James River Canal."
Major General Hancock arrived at Winchester and took com- mand of our department (Middle Military Division) about March 1st. He found by the reports that there were about 60,000 men for duty in his department, including twelve new regiments from Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and Indiana. These were men who had enlisted in response to the President's last call.
A large portion of this force was necessary to protect the rail- roads and lines of communication. In his report Hancock says: "I found that in case a movement was ordered, I could march with about 25,000 infantry, 3,000 cavalry and a proper proportion of artillery."
He set about organizing and disciplining this force for active movements either up the Valley or wherever it might be ordered, in the meantime keeping the detachments of cavalry out scouting in every part of his department.
When report of the great and successful march made by Sheri- dan with Merritt's 10,000 troopers reached our camp, it thrilled the men, and many were the expressions of regret that the 22nd Pennsylvania Cavalry had not been permitted to share the hardships of that march and serve under Sheridan in the Army of the Potomac. Major Work, of our regiment, addressing the troops at this time. said: "Boy's, within thirty days, we'll all be back in the Valley
457
NEW CREEK, MARCH, 1865.
taking part in the greatest campaign of the war." The remark evoked a hearty cheer.
The enemy's cavalry which had been wintering in the mountain counties west of the Valley, was now called into active service. Most of it was drawn after Sheridan toward Lee's army, but Moseby, McNeill and other bands remained and kept up a vigorous guerrilla warfare, in consequence of which the Union cavalry were kept very . busy. We find the following in Colonel Greenfield's journal :
" March 1, 1865. Assistant Surgeon S. M. Finley, just released from Rebel prison, returned to camp to-day and tells an interesting story of his imprisonment in Libbey, Danville and Salisbury. At the battle of Weyer's Cave, September 27, 1864, Adjutant Isenberg was very badly wounded ; his wounds were supposed to be mortal and he was left at a farmhouse in the neighborhood where Dr. Finley volunteered to remain to care for him. General Early sent for Dr. Finley and questioned him about the strength of our force opposing him in the fight. When the doctor told him that the only troops عد سـ opposing him were the 22nd Pennsyl- vania Cavalry and a detachment of the 8th Ohio, in all, 600, Early said, 'You're Dr. S. M. Finley. a liar and I'll make you a prisoner for that,' and sent him to Richmond.
" March 13, 1865. Received telegram from General Carroll to report to him immediately. Took S:20 train.
"Received instructions to take 300 men and proceed in the direc- tion of Moorfield and Petersburg. after which I was ordered to use my own discretion. Next morning, left New Creek with 250 men ; marched to Burlington, halting for supper. Left at 9:30 for Moor- field. Weather cloudy.
" Arrived at Moorfield at 6 A. M., making an all night march. Sent Captain McNulty with detachment eight or ten miles up South Fork. Dispersed a party of guerrillas, killing or mortally wounding two and capturing five, with a number of horses. Annoyed somewhat by the citizens. Arrested Duffee's hired man as deserter. notwith- standing the earnest protestations of his fair daughter. Recrossed the river and encamped at Mr. William Vanmeters. Intended re-
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458 TWENTY-SECOND PENNSYLVANIA CAVALRY.
crossing to Moorfield side this morning (March 16th) but owing to heavy rain yesterday morning, swelling the stream, was unable to do so. Had four horses washed down the river some distance yester- day, and came near having two men drowned.
" Sent Captain McNulty with 120 men via Petersburg and Will- iamsport. Returned with command by Burlington, arriving at P. M., in a heavy rain storm."
Numerous inspections were held in the early part of March. An officer of the regular army inspected the post on the 5th. General Carroll, in command at Cumberland, came up and inspected the troops later in the month. Examinations of the officers were held as to their knowledge of military tactics, education, military laws and usages, etc., etc. Some of our officers, who had three years of a splendid fighting record in the field, were unable to get on paper to the satisfaction of the examining board, and were con- sequently discharged. This was done but a few weeks before the final muster-out of the volunteer troops and was certainly a mo-t unjust proceeding.
At 10 P. M., on the night of the 30th, "To Horse" was sounded, and Colonel Greenfield and Captain McNulty, with 200 cavalry, set out to head off and capture a band of guerrillas that had held up and robbed the west bound express near Patterson's Creek. The pursuit proved fruitless, as the job had been done by experts in that line, who, being well mounted, got away with their plunder before their pursuers were under way.
HOW IT WAS DONE.
General Carroll, in his report of the affair, says:
" A party of McNeill's band of maurauders, numbering some thirty or forty, last evening shortly before dusk, came to the railroad about three miles east of Patterson's Creek; finding a small party of railroad trackmen there, they forced them to take up a few rails and turn the track so as to throw the engine off, headed in an ent- bankment. About seven o'clock, as the train from the east a ;- proached, they fired a few shots when the engineer immediatel; whistled down brakes, and the speed was slackened enough to prevent a complete smash-up, though the engine and two cars ran off the track. The guerrillas then entered the cars and robbed the male pa .. . engers of their money and watches, and in some cases, of their bat -. coats and boots, opened some of the mail bags, taking part of the ::
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459
NEW CREEK, APRIL, 1865.
contents. They then fired the train and took with them two captains and two lieutenants that were aboard the train as passengers. They did not have the train in their possession more than twenty minutes. No one was hurt."
General Hancock in command of the department, proposed to supply a guard for each passenger train on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, which would have effectually prevented depredations of this kind, but the railroad company declined to carry guards for their own protection without compensation from the Government, so Hancock dropped the matter.
Reports were received on April 1st and 2nd that Grant's whole army was advancing, and that a great battle was in progress. Next day (April 3rd) reports reached our camp that Lee was retreating, and that Richmond and Petersburg were occupied by our troops, but this news was not confirmed until the following day (April 4th). The fort on the hill fired a salute of 100 guns over the victory, and our camp was wrought up to a high pitch of enthusiasm.
On this same 4th of April, General Emory at Cumberland, in command of our division, received the following instructions from General Hancock's headquarters at Winchester :
" A movement up the Valley is liable to be ordered at any mo- ment, and the General desires you to see that the troops available have their transportation, ammunition and supplies on hand. It is probable that a concentration would be made at Beverly of the 14th, 17th and 2nd West Virginia, the 28th Ohio, the 3rd Maryland, the 74th Pennsylvania and 22nd Pennsylvania Cavalry with two bat- teries, to move into the Valley by way of Warm Springs. General (R. B.) Hayes will be assigned to the command. The General desires all arrangements short of actual concentration, to be made at once."
Lee with his great Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, was trying to escape; he might go by way of Lynchburg, or he might go south. The foregoing instructions to General Emory, were preparatory to a flank movement on Lee's army, in case he came by Lynchburg.
Company C, in command of Captain C. J. McNulty, was now sent to camp at Green Spring Run, fourteen miles below Cumber- land, to operate against the guerrilla bands from that point, while Company D was stationed at Black Oak Bottom for the same pur- pose. Companies A and B had been stationed at Cumberland for a month, and this left but eight companies of the regiment at New Creek.
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460
TWENTY-SECOND PENNSYLVANIA CAVALRY.
Two large train loads of exchanged prisoners passed by, gong west ; emaciated, pitiable objects they were.
April 6th. Many Rebel deserters coming in and taking the oath of allegiance. War news still good; enthusiasm runs high. The regimental band is in great demand these days playing for guard- mount, inspection, drill and dress-parade ; and also called out on the arrival of every general or military dignitary who visits this post. On the evening of this day, the band serenaded the Ringgold Battalion's e -- teemed friend, Miss Anna Babb of Greenland Gap, who is visiting at Hughes.
Next day (April 7th) General Rutherford B. Hayes, commanding our brigade, visited camp and witnessel dress-parade. The war news is still glorious.
Sunday, April 9th. The band played for guard-mount; then for inspection at ten o'clock; then for preaching services. Gen. R. B. Hayes. and for dress-parade at five o'clock. Orders were read on dress-parade to pre- pare for a march with three days' cooked, and eight days' un- cooked rations.
GLORIOUS NEWS.
April 10th. The news of Lee's surrender to Grant yesterday reached us early this morning. It was glorious news and caused great excitement and enthusiasm, but the magnitude of the victory and what it meant was neither fully believed not comprehended until the morning train from the east came in, bringing the Baltimore paper .. filled with accounts of the running fight of eleven days, resulting :: the surrender of the entire Confederate Army of Northern Virginia to General Grant at Appomattox. Then the excitement became in- tense ; all business, civil and military, was suspended, and a general jollification begun. Now that General Lee and his veteran army had surrendered. it was evident the war was over, and the soldiers were inexpressibly happy. After playing at Guard-mount, the band !! 3- called to the upper porch of the hotel at the station, where an in- promptu jollification mass-meeting was held, the speakers and nu-i- cians occupying the porch, while all the ground within hearing di ::-
461.
NEW CREEK, APRIL, 1865.
tance was packed with soldiers from the neighboring camps, whose enthusiastic cheers at the mention of Grant, Sherman, Sheridan and Lincoln, often made it difficult for the speakers to proceed. Soon Fort Fuller on the hill began to thunder a salute of 200 guns in honor of the great victory. Whiskey, wine and brandy were abun- dant and flowed freely, both on the rostrum and in the great assembly, with the usual result of producing many intoxicated men. The noon dinner hour passed, the men forgetting all about dinner until late in the afternoon.
After this great day, the minds of the soldiers were turned to- ward home, and the pursuits of peace. They had enlisted " for the war." and now that the war was about to close, they expected a speedy discharge from the army.
THE ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN.
On the morning of the 15th, a telegram announcing the assas- sination and death of President Lincoln threw the camp into deep gloom and sorrow, arousing in the men a spirit of revenge, not against the Confederate soldiers who, in the open, had fought to the last ditch and accepted defeat like men, but against the bitter, irrec- . oncilables and the great disloyal element in the North, which, at the time, was supposed to be in collusion with the conspirators who instigated this crime.
On the 19th, while the funeral exercises were being held in Washington over the murdered President, in accordance with an order from the General-in-Chief, an artillery salute was fired from the fort, and the troops formed at their various camps to hold funeral services. Our regiment marched out without arms and formed on three sides of a square, while the field officers, the speakers, the band and quite a concourse of citizens occupied the other side. Lieuten- ant Welch of Company C, made an eloquent and touching address in eulogy of the lamented President. He was followed by Chaplain Patterson. The men retained their places in silence, giving most respectful attention. The band played appropriate music and the exercises closed. Nearly all the officers wore badges of mourning. Business was suspended and flags draped and hung at half-mast.
Next day, the funeral train proceeded from the Capitol to Springfield, Illinois, the former home of President Lincoln. Quiet was broken at daylight by a salute of thirteen guns from Fort Fuller. which was followed by a gun every half-hour throughout the day. In accordance with an order, the regiment was paraded at ten o'clock.
462 TWENTY-SECOND PENNSYLVANIA CAVALRY.
During the last week of April, many Confederates came in and took the oath of allegiance to the United States. On April 24th, Captain Jesse McNeill, with about thirty of his officers and men. came down to the outer picket post with a flag of truce. They held a conference with General Rutherford B. Hayes, asking for an armis- tice or suspension of hostilities in Hardy County until they could get information from their superior officers as to what course they were to pursue. General Emory instructed General Hayes not to grant an armistice. They were given permission to camp over night outside the pickets.
Next day (April 25), General Emory ordered that Colonel Greenfield be sent with a battalion of cavalry into Hardy County to capture, if possible, the party that refused to surrender, as they were preventing others who wanted to surrender from coming in. Colonel Greenfield, with 200 men, arrived at Moorfield at daylight next morning and, surrounding the town, captured thirty prisoners.
A few days later, a body of fifty Confederates, (not McNeill's) came in and surrendered, and were paroled to go free. They had no arms; their horses were private property; their saddles were United States or Confederate States, but they were allowed to keep them; in fact, they surrendered nothing but their allegiance to the defunct Confederacy. They were rather good-looking men, and had plenty of money which they spent freely. They purchased quite a lot of clothing, shoes, etc., and scattered to their homes. Almost daily after this, bands of Confederates came in and surrendered. Citizens from away back in the mountains began to come to market. Many of them were evidently dressed in the clothing they had at the out- break of the war, now so patched and reinforced with materials of various fabrics and colors that they were a sight, indeed.
During the first week of May, our regimental camp in the bottom above the railroad station was completely reconstructed. The streets and sidewalks were nicely graded and thoroughly ditched, the quarters dismantled of their winter armor and made to present an attractive front, while hundreds of beautiful pine trees of the very large Christmas-tree order, were planted along the sidewalks and about the officers' quarters until the camp took on the appearance of a summer resort in the mountains. The picture here given is from a photograph taken at the time.
The war is over : the great Confederate armies had surrendered and the paroled soldiers had scattered to their homes. General Robert E. Lee, their great commander, had counselled them to pursue peace.
CAMP OF 22ND PA. CAVALRY. NEW CREEK (KEYSER), W. VA., MAY. 1865, Back of camp in foreground. Officers' quarters on farther side. Allegheny Mountains in background.
Fort on hill.
Company M.
Companies L, K.
Companies I, H.
Companies G, F.
E, D.
463
THE WAR IS OVER.
and to proceed to rehabilitate their farms and their devastated coun- try. The United States Government had some apprehension of trouble in the Trans-Mississippi region, owing to the previous bellig- erent attitude of the French in Mexico, and the knowledge of an ef- fort on the part of some of the irreconcilable Confederate leaders to form a coalition with Lewis Napoleon and establish a great empire, including Mexico and the Trans-Mississippi part of the late Confed- eracy. There was no fear of organized opposition in the other South- ern States, but it was thought that during the period of reconstruct- ing the State Governments, conditions of anarchy might prevail in some sections, and that a military force might be needed to maintain order.
The Government therefore deemed it wise to retain a part of the volunteer army until conditions were more settled.
On the 12th of May, we learned that the War Department had issued an order to muster out all cavalry whose term of service expired before October. This order included the five old com- panies, enlisted in 1862, C to G inclusive ; the officers of those com- panies now became very busy, " calling in " horses, arms and equip- ments, settling clothing accounts with the men and preparing their accounts for muster out. Several companies were mustered out about the first of June. Some of the others did not get away until July.
The five companies of the New Battalion, H, I, K, L and M, had enlisted during January and February 1864, to serve for three years or during the war ; many men of the old companies, A and B, which went out in 1861, re-enlisted in the spring of 1864 for another three years ; there were also some fifty or more recruits in the other five companies who had enlisted at the same time for three years, These recruits were now assigned to fill up the depleted ranks of companies A and B, and some other companies.
HOME AGAIN.
The railroad was full of long train-loads of happy, cheering sol- diers from the great armies disbanding at the Capitol, now on their way home. The men of our companies being mustered out were in high spirits at the prospect of going home in a few days. This was particularly hard on the men who had to remain, as they, too, ex- pected to get home when the war ended, and were therefore greatly disappointed. These seven companies, aggregating upwards of six hundred men, were now commanded by Colonel Greenfield, with
464 TWENTY-SECOND PENNSYLVANIA CAVALRY.
Henry A. Myers and Elias Troxell as Majors. Major George T. Work had resigned.
On June 11th, Colonel Greenfield was orderd to Moorfield with the regiment, and occupied that place the next day. He received from General Emory's headquarters a long letter of instructions, the keynote of which is given in the first paragraph as follows :
"Colonel: The following instructions are communicated by direction of the General commanding for your guidance while sta- tioned at Moorfield.
" The military force at interior points is expected to assist in the enforcement of the laws and the preservation of good order in the community. To this end, the highest discipline in the command will be maintained. The rights of persons and property will be respected. and every aid and facility will be given to the reorganization of the civil courts and to the enforcements of the mandates issued there- from after they are in working order. Questions that properly be- long to the civil authorities will be left as far as may be to their deci- sion, etc."
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