USA > Virginia > Clarke County > Clarke County > History of Clarke County, Virginia and its connection with the war between the states > Part 18
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The command had been but a few days in its old quar-
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ters near Harrisonburg, when it was summoned to re-join General Stuart at Brandy Station, near Culpeper Court House, and at once took up its march for that destination.
On the 8th day of June, a grand review was held in the neighborhood of Brandy Station, of all of the cavalry attached to General Lee's army. General Lee was present in person and took part in the review. It was said that eight thousand cavalrymen were in the procession.
General Lee was then preparing to move his army north- ward from Culpeper Court House on his Pennsylvania campaign, and with the view of shielding his army from the view of the enemy and preventing his getting any in- formation of the direction in which he was moving he de- termined upon a reconnoissance in force by his cavalry on the north side of the Rappahannock River, his cavalry to be so disposed as to effectually cloak the infantry and artillery. After the review spoken of above, and with the purpose of beginning the crossing of the Rappahannock, early on the morning of the 9th, he disposed his cavalry as follows: General Hampton's brigade was placed about two miles south of Brandy Station in the direction of Stevensburg; William F. H. Lee's brigade was stationed in front of Wellford's Ford, or in a position from which it could move across and take part in the reconnoissance of the following morning; Beverly Robertson's brigade of North Carolina cavalry was posted on the plateau north of Fleet Wood Hill, charged with the duty of picketing Kelly's Ford; William E. Jones' brigade was stationed four and a half miles east of Brandy Station near St. James church in front of Beverly's ford, and was charged with the duty of picketting there. General Stuart's head- quarters the night of the 8th were on Fleet Wood Hill, one-half mile east of Brandy Station. St. James church stood about two hundred and fifty yards to the westward
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of the road leading to Beverly's Ford, and near this church all of the brigade of General Jones went into bivouac the night of the 8th, except the 6th regiment. On the east side of the Beverly's Ford road, and nearly opposite St. James church, stood the Gee house, surrounded by a grove of oaks and crowning a slight eminence. In this grove the 6th Regiment bivouaced. The artillery was camped in front of Jones' brigade near the edge of a body of timber. St. James church stood about two miles south-westward from the river at Beverly Ford. Extending from the church a distance of a half mile was an open field. North- eastward from the edge of the field a body of timber, per- haps a mile in depth, extended towards the river and to the hills overlooking the river bottom. The horses of the men, after they went into bivouac on the night of the 8th were turned loose to graze, as were the horses of the battery camped in the edge of the field near the woods spoken of above. Company A, of the 6th Regiment, was detailed to do picket duty at Beverly's Ford. General Stuart was wholly unconscious of a purpose then enter- tained by General Pleasanton, commanding the cavalry of the Federal army, to make on the early morning of the 9th a reconnoissance towards Culpeper Court House for the purpose of ascertaining the situation, position and, as well as he could, the purpose of General Lee and his army. Thus the two commanding officers of the two bodies of cavalry each had in mind to cross to the opposite side of the Rappahannock River on the morning of the 9th. Each was unaware of the position and purpose of the other. General Pleasanton had massed his cavalry on the northern bank of the Rappahannock. At early daybreak of the morning of June 9th, he suddenly threw the 2nd and 3rd Cavalry Division and General Russell's Brigade of in- fantry across the Rappahannock River at Kelly's Ford,
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several miles below Beverly's Ford, which ford as stated above was under the guardianship and care of General Robertson. At the same time his 1st Division of Cavalry and General Aimes' Brigade of infantry, all under the command of Brigadier General Buford, suddenly, a little before daybreak, began the fording of the Rappahannock at Beverly's Ford, moving with great precipitation and spirit. It there encountered the company of the 6th, Company A, of Loudoun County, on picket duty at that point. The enemy soon pressed back this Company and reached the southern bank of the river. From that point the road, a narrow one, led through the hills overlooking the river, and thence on by way of St. James church to Brandy Station. The narrowness of the road and the timber land spoken of above, afforded Captain Gibson, of Company A, the opportunity to put up a very spirited de- fense, which he did, with the result of greatly impeding and delaying the movements of General Buford's Cavalry. Realizing at a glance the seriousness of the situation, he dispatched a messenger to Major Flournoy, commanding the 6th Cavalry, to inform him of what was transpiring. This messenger found the men asleep, and their horses as stated above, scattered in the fields grazing. The order was at once given to the men to mount their hourses as quickly as possible, and without waiting to fall into line of battle or column, to move as rapidly as they could to the aid of Captain Gibson. About one hundred men of the 6th promptly succeeding in catching their horses. Some mounted without saddles, some without coats or hats. Everything was hurry and scurry to dash to the assistance of Captain Gibson. This body of men moving in some confusion, when they had penetrated about two- thirds of the distance of the woodland, encountered Cap- tain Gibson's men retreating rapidly before the enemy,
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who were pursuing as fast as they could. This un-or- ganized crowd of the 6th made a bold dash at the enemy and succeeded in checking his advance. In the mean- while notice was promptly sent to General Stuart of the situation at his bivouac on Fleet Wood Hill, two miles in the rear. William F. H. Lee's brigade was hurried from Wellford's Ford down the river so as to assail Bu- ford's command in flank. Robertson was dispatched with his entire command to guard Kelly's Ford. Hamp- ton was recalled from his position on the Stevensburg road to the assistance of General Jones at St. James church. It should have been stated that Fitz Lee's brigade on the evening of the 8th had been sent up the Rappahannock river some miles in order that he might interpose his men between any cavalry of the enemy that might move up in that direction, and the column of General Lee then oc- cupying the road on its march toward the Valley.
Buford, while somewhat delayed by the onslaught of the men of the 6th above mentioned, soon forced them back into the field south of the woods. A few men tarried in the woods to observe the enemy's movements, among them Lieut. R. O. Allen, of the Clarke Cavalry, whose at- tention was attracted to Col. B. F. Davis, of the 8th New York Cavalry, that day in command of the brigade, who was seated on his horse in the road with his back to Lieu- tenant Allen, waiving his sword as though to encourage his men to advance. Lieutenant Allen had shot from his pistol all but one load. Seeing the position of Colonel Davis in front of his men, indeed the men themselves were concealed from his view by a bend in the road, he advanced upon him without attracting his attention until he was within a very short distance. Colonel Davis, perceiving his danger, made a vicious stroke at Lieutenant Allen with his sword. The Lieutenant was a capital horseman, pos-
R. O. ALLEN LIEUTENANT, "CLARKE CAVALRY" (COMPANY D, SIXTH VIRGINIA CAVALRY)
He was the eldest of three brothers who served in the Confederate Army, two of whom lost their lives in the service (David H., who was mortally wounded at the First Battle of Manassas, and A. S., at Chan- cellorsville.) These young men were of patriotic and fighting stock. as their paternal great-grandfather fought in the Revolutionary War and was presented a sword by the House of Burgesses of Virginia.
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sessing the skill of an Indian in the management of a horse and in his seat upon it. Throwing himself quickly on the side of his horse, the sweep of Davis' sword passed over him and in an instant Allen fired his remaining shot at Davis with an aim so true that he fell dead from his horse and Allen galloped off unharmed. One of the men in the woods with Lieutenant Allen was Nicholas Moore, of the Clarke Cavalry, who received a very severe wound from a pistol shot which caused him to fall forward on his horse and to loose control of it. He, however, managed to re- tain his position on his back and was brought off of the field.
The enemy now pressed forward to the open field that has been mentioned, lying between St. James church and the woodland, and there a tremendous struggle occurred, the Confederate and Federal soldiers being commingled and fighting at arm's length. This struggle resulted in the enemy being forced back into the timber and gave opportunity to the officers commanding the Con- federate cavalry to get into some formation. General Stuart was now on the ground and was in position to di- rect the fight. In the struggle that had occurred in the field the artillery, especially Chew's battery, contributed very largely to forcing the enemy to retreat into the tim- ber. The artillery took an advanced position and poured shell and cannister and grape shot successfully into the ranks of the enemy. The enemy, however, was not to be disposed of by what had occurred. They rallied and made one or two desperate charges across the field in an effort to capture the artillery which had taken up a position on the southern side of it, and not far from St. James church. They were foiled in this, and about this time William F. H. Lee's brigade had reached the hills overlooking the road by which the enemy were moving, and making a vigorous
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flank attack upon them withdrew for the time their at- tention from the force about St. James church.
The arrival of Lee's brigade on the enemy's flank and the lull in their attack upon the Confederates at St. James church was a most fortunate circumstance, for at this mo- ment a courier dashed up with the startling intelligence that the enemy was directly in the rear of the Confederates, between them and Brandy Station, and about one-half mile from the latter place, where they occupied Fleet Wood Hill. At first General Stuart could not credit this infor- mation, but the sound of artillery from the direction of Fleet Wood Hill soon dispelled all doubts in his mind.
It turned out that the force of the enemy that had crossed at Kelly's Ford had succeeded in passing along the front of General Robertson's brigade, who as stated above, had been sent to guard that approach. A part had marched rapidly to Stevensburg and a part direct to Brandy Station and Fleet Wood Hill. Near Stevensburg they encountered a part of General Hampton's brigade where a very sharp engagement ensued, resulting in Hamp- ton's regiment being forced back. General Stuart had had his headquarters on Fleet Wood Hill several days, but on the morning of the 9th, in preparation for his movement across the Rappahannock, he had had his headquarters baggage packed, and with his wagons sent off to Culpeper Court House. But for this it would un- questionably have fallen into the enemy's hands.
Most fortunately one of Chew's guns that had exhausted its ammunition in the fighting at St James church had retired from the field there and gone back to the foot of Fleet Wood Hill. By good luck a few solid shot and two or three defective shells were found in the limber of the gun, and Lieutenant Carter, who had charge of it, prompt- ly moved his gun to the top of Fleet Wood Hill and opened
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on the approaching column of the enemy. He and his gunmen were without support, and constituted the only force of Confederates there at the time. The bold front shown by Lieutenant Carter impressed the enemy with the idea that he was supported by a body of Confederate Cavalry, and caused him to halt to make his dispositions for attack.
This was the situation reported to Gen. Stuart at St. James church as above mentioned. General Buford's being called off by the threatened attack of William H. F. Lee on his flank, enabled General Stuart to withdraw his force by degrees and as rapidly as the situation admitted of to meet the attack at Fleet Wood Hill. His regiments moved back at a rapid gallop, which brought them upon the ground in a very straggling and ill-formed condition, but the front ranks without waiting to close up dashed at the enemy, drove them back and recovered the guns of Chew's battery they had captured, and a general melee ensued in which the other regiments as they came upon the ground from St. James church participated. The fight was pro- longed and severe. In a charge made by the 6th Cav- alry, Lieutenant Allen, who had wrought such doughty service down in front of St. James church as above stated, received a cannister shot through his shoulder which disa- bled him from further active service in the army. The re- sult of the fight at Fleet Wood Hill was that the enemy was driven off, losing one of their own batteries to the Confed- erates, as well as the one they had captured before the arrival of the forces from St. James. The fight at the two points lasted almost throughout the entire day, and is re- garded as the severest cavalry fight that occurred during the war between the States. The enemy hastily withdrew across the Rappahannock River, and on the morning of the next day General Lee, taking up his march northward with
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his army, General Stuart crossed the river a little higher up than had been his purpose, but at a point which enabled him to interpose his cavalry between Lee's army and the enemy.
CHAPTER XXVIII
G ENERAL LEE marched to the Shenandoah Val- ley and rested his army for a few days in the neighborhood of Berryville and Millwood, General Stuart being charged with the duty of watching the move- ments of General Hooker's army and guarding the passes of the Blue Ridge Mountain. He distributed his cavalry from Upperville to Snickersville, and Aldie, where he was vigorously attacked by the enemy's cavalry, supported by two brigades of infantry. This fight continued through two days and resulted in what may be considered a drawn battle. While his cavalry was thus engaged, Hooker was moving his army northward, approaching the Poto- mac River through the counties of Fairfax and Loudoun. General Lee crossed the Potomac in the neighborhood of Shepherdstown and gave directions to General Stuart to cross with his cavalry on either side of the enemy's army that in his discretion he thought best. Acting under the discretion given him, General Stuart concluded to move around the rear of the enemy's army and pass his cavalry between it and the City of Washington, the directions re- ceived by him from General Lee being to join General Ewell's corps in Pennsylvania, and that he would prob- ably find him in the neighborhood of York, Pa.
General Stuart left behind to watch the enemy and the passes through the Blue Ridge Mountain, the brigade of General Robertson and General Jones, and as this has more to do with the Clarke Cavalry than the movement
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of other parts of the Southern army, nothing further will be said with reference to General Stuart's movements.
General Robertson, who was the senior brigadier gen- eral and in command of his own and General Jones' bri- gade, was directed to hang upon the enemy's left flank and rear and as soon as he was satisfied that he was mov- ing across the Potomac River, to cross the Blue Ridge Mountain and join General Lee in Maryland or Pennsyl- vania, as the case might be. Accordingly when Hooker's army was fully occupied with crossing the river, General Robertson withdrew the two brigades from the east of the mountain into the Valley, and marching by Millwood and Berryville, crossed the Potomac River at Williamsport, moving thence to Chambersburg and from Chambers- bugr direct to Gettysburg, where what may be termed the decisive battle of the war was fought within the next few days.
Robertson's cavalry was kept upon the right flank of General Lee's army during the first two days' engagement at Gettysburg. On the third General Lee informed Gen. William E. Jones that the enemy's cavalry was assailing his wagon trains from the direction of Em- mitsburg, Md., and directed him to proceed rapidly with his brigade to the defense of the trains. General Jones at once moved out towards Emmitsburg, and on his arrival in the neighborhood of the village of Fairfield, Pa., encountered the advance of the enemy's cavalry, which happened to be the 6th Regiment of United States Regu- lars. The 7th Virginia Cavalry held the advance of Jones' brigade, and for some reason gave way before the combined attack of the enemy's mounted men and dis- mounted sharpshooters, when General Jones made a per- sonal appeal to the 6th Virginia Cavalry to drive the enemy from the field. The Clarke Cavalry held, as it usually did,
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a position at the head of the regiment, and acting under the orders of Major Cabell Flournoy, moved hurriedly down a lane bounded on either side by a stout, well-built post and rail fence. The head of the enemy's mounted column was soon observed moving in the direction of the 6th Virginia, while the enemy's dismounted sharpshooters from a field on the right of their mounted men received the 6th Virginia with a hot fire from their carbines. The 6th, with drawn sabers, dashed most gallantly down the road at the head of the emeny's column, which it broke by its impact and put to rout. Unfortunately for the en- emy the led horses of the dismounted men were brought along the lane in their rear, so that when the mounted men were forced back and encountered the led horses they were caught between the Confederates in their rear and the immovable mass of dismounted horses in their front. Their escape from the Confederates was thus impeded, with the result that a great many of them were killed and wounded. The writer observed in the pursuit that there was hardly a fence corner along the lane on either side of it that was not occupied by a dead or wounded Yankee.
Major Starr, who commanded the United States Regu- lars, was desperately wounded and captured, and the sec- ond in command was likewise badly wounded, the result being to destroy for some time the usefulness of the 6th United States Cavalry.
This victory for the Confederate Cavalry accomplished the purpose for which they had been sent in the direction of Emmitsburg, and after the fight they went into bivouac near the village of Fairfield. On this day had been fought the last day's fight at Gettysburg, and General Lee di- rected his wagon trains to draw back toward the Poto- mac River, he remaining, however, the following day in line offering to give battle to the enemy if he desired it,
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but the enemy had no stomach for further fighting, and on the following day General Lee withdrew his army and moved back to Hagerstown, where he halted for several days and renewed his offer of battle to the enemy, which again was declined, and General Lee then moved his army over the Potomac River into the lower Valley of the Shen- andoah. The Cavalry was engaged during the halt in Hagerstown, in numerous encounters with the enemy on General Lee's front, and finally guarded the rear of the army when it was making passage of the Potomac river.
After some days of rest in the Lower Valley, the enemy having moved in the direction of Warrenton, General Lee took up his line of march to place himself across the enemy's front and between him and Richmond, going by way of Front Royal and Chester's Gap, the cavalry re- maining behind to guard the approach across the Blue Ridge Mountain and to protect the rear of the army from attack, followed on and re-joined the army in Culpeper County.
During the following months the regiment to which the Clarke Cavalry was attached, was occupied with picketting and scouting and performing the ordinary du- ties of the cavalry branch of an army. General Lee finally withdrew across the Rapidan River, leaving the cavalry still northward and north-eastward of Culpeper Court House.
On the 13th of September, 1863, the enemy's cavalry made a very determined attack upon the Confederates, one column attacking the brigade of which the 6th was a part, at Brandy Station, and the other coming in from the direction of Rickettsville, where it met and gradually drove back Wickham's brigade to Culpeper Court House. There Jones' brigade, having fallen back slowly fighting
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every foot of the way, joined it. A spirited charge was made by the enemy at Culpeper Court House, and just south of it, but it was met with equal spirit and courage, and greater efficiency, and was held in check until night- fall, when the Confederates, under orders from General Lee, fell back to the Rapidan, where they joined the main body of the army. The enemy's cavalry pressed for- ward to the Rapidan and displayed themselves in the fields bordering it on the north. Major Flournoy re- quested permission to take his regiment, the 6th Cavalry, over and drive them back and administer punishment to them for their audacity. Permission being granted, he moved his regiment over the river, and drawing it up in squadron formation, made a very gallant and effective charge upon the enemy, wounding and capturing some of them and driving the rest of them back into the timber, when upon orders from General Lee it withdrew across the Rapidan. This charge was made in sight of General Lee's army, and of General Lee himself, and won for Major Flournoy his commission as Lieutenant Colonel of the Regiment.
There followed this what is known as the Bristoe Cam- paign in which General Lee moved his army forward with an effort to repeat the movement made by General Jack- son in 1862 of getting in the rear of the Federal army, now commanded by General Meade, and administering a castigation. The enemy, however, had learned from experience, and moved so quickly back from its position on the Rapidan River that the effort was generally speak- ing a fruitless one, and the army was withdrawn to its old quarters south of the Rapidan. The cavalry attended General Lee on this movement and rendered the usual service of guarding his flanks and cloaking and conceal- ing the movements as well as could be done.
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After the return of General Lee's army to its old quar- ters south of the Rapidan, the enemy essayed a forward movement. Crossing the Rapidan River, it approached General Lee's position on a little stream known as Mine Run, which gave the name to this campaign, and it is from the name of the stream known as the Mine Run Cam- paign. General Meade moved forward and took a po- sition in front of General Lee, giving every indication of a purpose to deliver battle. General Lee anticipating an attack from the enemy remained in his position until suddenly the enemy seemed to lose heart and withdrew across the Rapidan without accomplishing anything by his forward movement. There can be little doubt that had General Lee known that Meade's heart would fail him and that he would not attack, that he, General Lee, would himself have been the assailant and that a battle would have occurred at this time south of the Rapidan River.
The Mine Run campaign closed active operations for the season. The Clarke Cavalry, with the regiment to which it was attached, went into winter quarters between Orange Court House and Barnett's Ford on the Rapi- dan and was engaged throughout fall and early winter months in picketting the Rapidan River. About the 1st of January, owing to the scarcity of food for horses, the cavalry command was permitted to go to their homes and remain until their assistance was needed in the spring.
About the 1st of March, 1864, the 6th Regiment was assembled and went into camp at Ashland, about sixteen miles north of the City of Richmond. It remained here for some weeks in great discomfort, when it marched to the neighborhood of Fredericksburg, where it remained a few days. From its bivouac there it moved to Spotsyl- vania Court House, and went into camp and continued
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there until Grant crossed the Rapidan River for his cam- paign of 1864.
To Fitz Lee's division, of which the Clarke Cavalry formed a part, was committed the duty of holding the ex- treme right of General Lee's army. The campaign opened early in May of that year, and for three days the command would move out regularly in the morning, take its position, fight throughout the day, always holding the enemy in check, and returning each evening to its place of bivouac. On the morning of the third day General Grant began his move- ment by his left flank, endeavoring to interpose his army between that of General Lee and the city of Richmond. This movement brought upon the cavalry defending the right wing of General Lee's army pressure, both by their cavalry and infantry supported by artillery, before which it was compelled to give way. The fighting during the preceding days had been in a body of timber land just south of which, extending toward Spotsylvania Court House, was a large body of cleared land, an open unob- structed field, and when Fitz Lee's division was forced back from the position it had occupied on General Lee's right it retired across this body of cleared land, mov- ing slowly and presenting a front to the enemy's move- ments. The enemy followed with a large body of infantry, having withdrawn its cavalry, and moved in battle for- mation to and across the field in the direction of Fitz Lee's retiring division. It was estimated that the enemy brought into the field a force of not less than ten thousand infantry, which marched in line of battle, and before this battle line the cavalry slowly retired until it reached a body of timber on the south side of the cleared land spoken of above, which extended from the cleared land immediate- ly to the neighborhood of Spotsylvania Court House. At this point a dispatch was received from General An-
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