USA > Virginia > Virginia and Virginians; eminent Virginians, executives of the colony of Virginia, Vol. I > Part 35
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On the one hand lay the States still composing the Federal Union, while on the other were those which had cast their fortunes with the Southern Confederacy. . Virginia hesitated long. A majority of her people in the east favored secession, while in the west, a large majority was opposed to such action. But the time for final action had come. Early in the year Governor John Letcher, influenced by the pressure of the times, issued a proclamation, convening the State Legislature in extra session ; and, in obedience to the summons, that body convened in the city of Richmond, January 7, 1861. Then commenced the stormiest session in the history of that body.
Seven days after the meeting, a bill was passed calling for a conven- tion of the people of Virginia, the delegates to which were to be chosen in the manner prescribed for the election of members of the legisla- ture. The convention was to consist of one hundred and fifty-two members equal to the number of members composing the house of delegates.
In compliance with the above act, the election of delegates was held on the 4th day of February, 1861, and the convention met at Richmond on the 13th of the same month.
THE CONVENTION.
Never before, in the history of the State, had a body convened present- ing such an array of talent. Among its members sat John. Tyler, ex-president of the United States; Henry A. Wise, ex-governor of Vir- ginia, and many others who had held positions of cabinet ministers in the Federal government, or had been representatives in the councils of the nation. There sat her most renowned jurists by the side of her pro- foundest philosophers and literary characters.
That body organized by electing John Tancy, Esq., a delegate from Loudoun county, president of the convention, and John L. Eubank sec- retary of the same. A committee on Federal Relations was appointed, consisting of Messrs. Robert Y. Conrad, A. H. H. Stewart, Henry A. Wise, Robert E. Scott, W. B. Preston, Lewis L. Harvio, Sherrard Clemens, W. H. MeFarland. William McComas, R. L. Montague, Samuel Price, Valentine W. Southall, Waitman T. Willey, James C. Bruce, W. W. Boyd, James Barbour, S. C. Williams, William C. Rives, Samuel MeD. Moore, George Blow, Jr., and Peter C. Johnson. Stewart and Clemens asked to be, and were, excused from serving.
On the 18th day of February there appeared before the convention the commissioners on the part of South Carolina, Georgia and Mississippi, to ask the co-operation of Virginia in establishing an independent govern- ment for the seceded States. The first speaker was the Hon. Fulton
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Anderson, of Mississippi, followed by Hon. Henry L. Benning, from Georgia. Then came the commissioner from South Carolina. All, in speeches resplendent with rhetorical flourish and literary- excellence, held up to view a new government, of a new union, in which Virginia. should she pass an ordinance of secession, would become the chief corner-stone. The effect produced by this visit of the commissioners was truly powerful, and, in fact, determined the future action of the convention.
On the 9th of March, the committee on Federal Relations submitted a lengthy report, in which it was set forth that any State had a consti- tutional right to withdraw from the federative union whenever a ma- jority of the people of that State chose to do so. One of the most spirited debates of modern times now began, and continued until the 17th of April, when the ordinance of secession was voted upon. The vote stood eighty-one for, and fifty-one against it. Nearly all the delegates voting against it were from the western part of the State. The following is a verbatim copy of that document, now the most remarkable State paper in the archives of Virginia :
"AN ORDINANCE, To repeal the ratification of the Constitution of the United States by the State of Virginia, and to resume all the rights and powers granted under the said constitution.
" THE PEOPLE OF VIRGINIA, in their ratification of the Constitution of the United States of America, adopted by them in convention on the twenty-fifth day of June, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-eight, having declared that the powers granted under the constitution were derived from the people of the United States, and might be resumed whenever the same should be perverted to their injury and oppression, and the Federal Government having per- verted said powers, not only to the injury of the PEOPLE OF VIRGINIA but the oppression of the Southern slave-holding States:
"Now, therefore, we, the People of Virginia, do DECLARE and ORDAIN, That the ordinance adopted by the people of this State in convention on the twenty-fifth day of June, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-eight, whereby the Constitution of the United States of America was ratified; and all the acts of the General Assembly of this State ratifying or adopting amendments to said constitution are here- by repealed und abrogated; that the union between the State of Virginia and the States under the constitution aforesaid, is hereby dissolved, and that the State of Virgin'a is in the full possession and exercise of all the rights of sovereignty which belong and appertain to a free and independ- ent State. And they do further declare, that said Constitution of the United States of America is no longer binding on any of the citizens of this State.
" This ordinance shall take effect and be an act of this day, when rati- fied by a majority of the votes of the people of this State cast at a poll
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to be taken thereon on the fourth Thursday in May next, in pursuauce of a schedule hereafter to be enacted.
"Done in convention, in the city of Richmond, on the seventeenth day of April, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, and in the eighty-fifth year of the Commonwealth of Virginia.
"Attest :
JNO. L. EUBANK, "Secretary of the Convention."
One hundred and forty-two signatures were attached to the ordinance. At the election in May a majority of the votes cast were in favor of se- cession. The governor issued a proclamation declaring Virginia out of the Union, and placing the whole military force, offensive and defensive, of the commonwealth under the chief control and direction of the presi- dent of the Confederate States. Thus Virginia withdrew from the Union.
MILITARY OPERATIONS.
Pending the final action at Richmond, companies and regiments were being mustered and armed all over the State, ready for service in the Confederate army. Early in the spring of 1861, a considerable force, under conunand of General Joseph E. Johnston, was concentrated at Harper's Ferry, where possession of the government property was taken. Other forces were collected at Philippi, under command of Generals Fegram and Garnett. But while the forces were being collected in Western Virginia, events of much greater magnitude were occurring in the East. Regiment after regiment reported ready for the fray and took post along the Potomac, ready to repel any invasion.
FIRST FEDERAL TROOPS IN VIRGINIA.
The day after the fall of Fort Sumter, President Lincoln issued a proclamation calling for 75,000 men. The call was responded to with alacrity by the Northern States, and by the first of May the required number had been raised and concentrated at Washington and other points along the borders of the seceded States; and although by far the greater number lay at the capital, yet no advance was made until the 23d of May. The force destined for the invasion of Virginia consisted of 8,000 infantry, two companies of cavalry, and two sections of Sher- man's artillery battalion, the whole under the command of General Mansfield. Four thousand New York troops, under command of Gen- eral MeDowell, were to co-operate with Mansfield's force. The object of the advance was to take possession of Alexandria and drive the Con- federates from their position on Arlington Heights. The 1st Michigan regiment was the first to enter Alexandria. They immediately took
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possession of the depot and made prisoners of one hundred Confederate cavalry stationed at that place. A Zonave regiment under Colonel Ellsworth was the second that reached Alexandria, and at once began to tear up the Richmond railroad. As they passed the Marshall hotel. Ellsworth discovered a Confederate flag flying from the balcony. He rushed through the hall, up a flight of stairs, pulled down the flag, and was returning, when he was met by Jackson, the enraged proprietor. who discharged the contents of a double-barreled shot-gun into his body. Ellsworth fell to rise no more; but no sooner had the fatal shot beer - fired than a private, named Brownell, shot Jackson through the heart, and he and his victim expired at the same moment.
The first engagement of a serious nature occurred at Big Bethel, near Fortress Monroe. Early in June, General Pierce with four regiments. was sent by General Butler to occupy Newport News. From here they pushed on to Big Bethel, where they were met and defeated by a body of Confederates. Pierce fell back with a loss of forty killed and wounded.
MILITARY MOVEMENTS IN WESTERN VIRGINIA.
The first engagement west of the mountains took place at Philippi, in Barbour county, on the 3d day of June, between a Confederate force of two thousand, under Colonel Potterfield, and a Federal force numbering four thousand, commanded by Colonels Lander and Kelley. The Con- federates were beaten, and retreated with heavy loss. Colonel Kelley was severely wounded, but afterwards recovered and was promoted to the rank of brigadier-general
BATTLE OF RICH MOUNTAIN.
On the 23d day of June, General Mcclellan assumed command of all the Federal forces in Western Virginia, and immediately began a series of movements which met with no successful resistance until the Con- federates were compelled to retreat beyond the mountains. He at once marched against General Pegram, who, with a force of 4,000 infantry. had taken up a strong position on Rich Mountain. MeClellan, after reconnoitering the position, sent General Rosecranz with two Indiana regiments, and one from Ohio, together with a body of Cincinnati cavalry, to take position in their rear. The Federals intended to keep the Confederates in ignorance of the movement, but a messenger with dispatches and a copy of the diagram of the route was captured, and the plan of attack thus revealed. Pegram sent 2,500 men and a bat- tery of artillery to resist the advance of Rosecranz. They were the first to reach the summit of the mountain, and here the Federals were
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LARGE PENDANT, OR BROAD SEAL OF THE COLONY of Virginia, in the reign of Queen Anne, 1710.
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greeted by a discharge of artillery, and their advance checked. Soon, however, they were reinforced by an Indiana regiment, a charge was made along the entire line, the Confederates fell back, and at once began a hasty retreat. The mountain was strewn with the dead and wounded, 150 being buried on the field. Pegram, finding no way of escape, a few days later surrendered his entire force prisoners of war.
ENGAGEMENT AT CARRICKS FORD.
At this time General Garnett was lying near Beverly, in Randolph county, with a force of 6,000 men, and when he heard of Pegram's de- feat, began a retreat through the mountains to the east. He was hotly pursued until he reached Carricks Ford, on Cheat river, where he made a stand, but his forces were defeated, and he was left on the field among the slain. He was a brave and meritorious officer, having won distinction in the Mexican war.
The whole Confederate army in Western Virginia was at this time (July 1) estimated at 10,000 strong. Of this force a considerable por- tion was in the Great Kanawha Valley, under command of ex-Governor Henry A. Wise. He made an advance down the river, but was con- fronted by a Federal force commanded by General Cox, of Ohio. Wise fell back toward the mountains, was overtaken at Gauley Bridge, but continued his retreat without risking a battle.
ALONG THE POTOMAC. - " ON TO RICHMOND."
While these events were transpiring in Western Virginia, two power- ful armies were being concentrated on the banks of the Potomac, and were quietly preparing for a great battle. General Beauregard, who had taken command in Virginia, after the fall of Fort Sumter, was at the head of a powerful army at Manassas Junction, while General Joseph E. Johnston was in command of 30,000 men in the neighborhood of Harpers Ferry. General Patterson was in command of a Federal force concen- trating at Hagerstown, Maryland, for the purpose of preventing Johnston from joining Beauregard when an attack should be made upon the latter. An army of 40,000 men had now been collected at Washington, and public opinion at the North demanded that an attack be made at once upon the forces of General Beauregard, who had changed his location and taken a strong natural position at Bull Run, about thirty miles from the national capital.
General Irwin MeDowell was placed in command, and on the 17th of July all things were inreadiness. It was Saturday, and at 4 o'clock A. M. the orders to march were given. Forty thousand men filed out from Washington on the road leading to Centreville. It was the grandest
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pageant that had yet been witnessed on the continent. Banners were flying in every direction, and strains of martial music filled the air. Little thought any one that ere thirty-six hours had passed away, that magnificent army would be but a shattered fragment of its former self. But behind the fortifications at Bull Run lay 30,000 brave men await- ing the shock of battle. With the rising of the sun on that Sabbath morning, came the sound of battle, and for thirteen dreadful hours 70,000 men struggled for the mastery. As the day waned away, so ap- peared to wane the cause of the Southern arms, and just when the victory of the Federals seemed assured, a long-expected reinforcement arrived and turned the tide of battle. As Blicher slipped away from Grouchy at Wavres, to decide the fate of Napoleon at Waterloo, so John- ston had stolen away from Patterson, and by forced marches arrived just in time to save the day and make a Waterloo for the Federal arms at Bull Run. He poured 10,000 fresh troops in upon the now exhausted regiments, and then at once began one of the most disastrous retreats an account of which is recorded in history. The Federal army fell back to Washington and the Confederates remained in possession of Bull Run. Four thousand men lay dead upon the field. Thus terminated the first great battle of the Civil War.
BATTLE OF CARNIFEX FERRY.
The Great Kanawha Valley was the principal salt-producing region of the South, and hence of vast importance to the Confederate government. After Wise was compelled to leave the valley, another force was sent to Western Virginia, under ex-Secretary Floyd, who took position at Carnifex Ferry, on Gauley river. General Rosecranz, with several regi- ments, among which was the 12th Ohio, was sent against him. Detach- ments of the two armies met at Summerville, near the county-seat of Nicholas county, and a severe engagement ensued. The Federals re- treated with a loss of 200 killed and prisoners. On the 10th of August, Rosecranz attacked Floyd's forces and a general engagement followed. lasting four hours, when night put an end to the action. Floyd took advantage of the darkness and fell back into the mountains. The Federal loss was 225, among which was Colonel Lowe, of the 12th Ohio, who fell at the head of his regiment.
GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE SENT TO WESTERN VIRGINIA.
Wise and Floyd both having shown themselves unable to hold a posi- tion in West Virginia, General Lee, the ablest officer in Virginia, marched at the head of 9,000 men against General Reynolds, who was lying with a considerable force at Cheat Mountain. The attack was made on the 14th of September, and after several hours' severe fighting
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Lee was forced to retreat, leaving 100 dead upon the field. Among the latter was Colonel John Washington, a recent proprietor of Mount Ver- non. Lee's army halted on the banks of Greenbrier river, and began to intrench itself. General Reynolds, after receiving reinforcements, set ont on the 2d of October from Cheat Mountain with a force of 5,000 men to drive Lee from his position. Colonel Kimball, with the 14th Indiana, led the advance, while General Milroy, with a portion of his brigade, was to deploy to the left, drive in the pickets and force the Con- federates within their intrenehment. At daylight he arrived at Green- brier bridge and found it occupied. A charge was made, the bridge carried, and a crossing effected. Then began an artillery duel which fairly shook the surrounding mountains. Soon, however, three of Lee's guns were disabled, and he again retreated. The Federal loss was eight killed and thirty-two wounded.
Lee left General Johnston, of Georgia, with 2,000 men on the summit of the Alleghanies and continued his march to Staunton. Milroy marched against Johnston, taking with him the 13th Indiana and two other regiments, and on the 15th of December reached Camp Alleghany, where he found the Confederates strongly fortified. An engagement took place, the results of which were not advantageous to either side, the loss being about 130 on both sides. Milroy withdrew and fell back to Cheat Mountain. This practically put an end to the war in Western Virginia.
ALONG THE POTOMAC.
After the reverse at Bull Run, it became evident that a war of gigantic proportions was now in progress. Throughout the North regiments were equipped and hurried to the seat of war. Recruiting went on with equal rapidity in the Southern States, so that by the first of' October two of the largest armies ever mustered on the continent were fronting each other on the banks of the Potomac, and it seemed as if another was to be added to the list of the great battles of the world. But such was not to be, for a masterly inactivity seemed to charac- terize both.
FIGIIT AT BOLIVAR HEIGHTS.
The extreme left of the Confederate line now Jay near Leesburg, on the Potomac. On the 8th of October, Major Gould crossed the river at Harpers Ferry for the purpose of seizing a quantity of wheat, and when about to recross, on the 16th, he was attacked by a force of Confederates on Bolivar Heights, and, at the same time, a bartery of artillery opened fire from Loudon Heights, within cannon range of the Ferry. Then a cavalry charge was made, but was repulsed by the 13th Massachusetts regiment, under Colonel Sehriber. Major Gould had sent for reinforce-
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ments, and Lieutenant Martin with a battery of artillery now arrived upon the scene. Unlimbering his guns in the street, he poured such a destructive fire upon the Heights that the line stationed there began to waver, and by a bayonet charge on the part of the Federals were compelled to retreat and leave the field, with a loss of 100 killed and wounded. A few days later an engagement took place at Balls Bluff, in which Colonel Baker, a United States ex-senator from Massachusetts, was killed and the Federal troops defeated with great slaughter.
DRAINSVILLE.
The battle of Drainsville, near Washington, took place on the 20th of December. It was the first engagement of any importance in which the army of the Potomac was successful. On the above date General Ord, with his brigade, advanced toward Drainsville for the purpose of securing forage for his animals. With him were the Pennsylvania Buck- tails, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Kane, brother of E. K. Kane, the Arctic explorer, and an Eastern battery of light artillery. When near Drainsville they encountered a force about 6,000 strong. A battle ensued, which lasted about five hours, and resulted in a complete rout of the Confederates. Federal loss was sixty-seven, while that of the Confederates was 240. This, with the exception of a slight engagement at New Market bridge, near Newport News, was the last fighting in Vir- ginia during the year 1861.
FORMATION OF THE NEW STATE OF WEST VIRGINIA.
We must now turn aside from the records of war, and notice the rise of a new commonwealth-the only one ever formed within the territory of an organized State.
As has been stated, the people of the western portion of Virginia were opposed to the sessation of the State; this was evidenced by the vote upon that question, a majority of which in all the western coun- ties was against it, and in several the negative vote was almost unan- imous. Soon after the election of 1860, the inhabitants of this section began to express their feelings upon the questions which then agitated the country.
The first meeting that was held to give expression to the sentiments of the people, took place in Preston county, on the 12th of November, 1860. Men of all shades of political opinion participated in the pro- ceedings. Resolutions were adopted opposing sessation, and declaring that any attempt on the part of the State to sever her connection with the Union, would meet with the disapproval of the people of that county.
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On the 24th of November, a meeting was held in Harrison county, which declared that they would exhaust all constitutional remedies for redress, before they would resort to any violent measures; that the bal- lot-box was the only medium known to the Constitution for a redress of grievances, and to that alone would they appeal. The people of Monon- galia county convened at their court house on the 26th of November, and passed a series of resolutions declaring that the election of the can- didates of the Republican party did not justify sessation, and that the Union as it was, was the best guarantee of the people's future welfare. A meeting of the people at the court house of Taylor county, on the 3d of December following, declared that they were opposed to any action looking to the dissolution of the Union for existing causes.
The citizens of Ohio county convened in the city of Wheeling on the 14th of the same month and adopted resolutions similar to the foregoing. In many other western counties meetings of like import and significance were held.
The Virginia Convention passed the Ordinance of Secession on the 17th of April, 1861, and then began a series of meetings and an ex- pression of public sentiment, before unparalleled in the history of Vir- ginia. All united in a solemn protest against the sessation of the State and asserted that the Union was the object of their undying attachment, and that they would cling to it, despite the efforts of the East to plunge them into the gulf of sessation and consequent ruin; that sessation was only unmitigated treason against the Constitution and the government of the United States; that Western Virginia, for a half century, had patiently submitted to the oppression of Eastern Virginia, but that now the measure of tyranny was full, and that if, as was claimed, sessation was the only remedy for supposed State wrongs, the day was not far distant when the West would arise in its majesty, sever all political and civil relations with the East, organize a new State, and remain firmly attached to the Union.
A mass meeting of the citizens of Taylor county, held on the 13th of April, declared that the government of the United States ought to be maintained, and all constitutional laws enforced ; and if the eastern part of the State should secede from the Union, then they were in favor of establishing an independent government in the western portion of the State. Moved by a similar sentiment, the people of Wetzel county, on the 22d of the same month, resolved that if the State cast her fortunes with those of the Gulf States, then, as citizens of Western Virginia, they would deem it a duty to themselves and posterity to use such measures as would result in a division of the State.
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CONVENTION AT CLARKSBURG.
Up to this time all had been independent action on the part of the several counties, but now a united effort was to be made. On the 22d of April, 1861, a meeting of twelve hundred citizens, held under the auspices of John S. Carlisle, the late delegate from Harrison county in. the Richmond convention, met at Clarksburg, and in a long preamble declared that the means resorted to by the secessionists to transfer the State from its allegiance to the Federal Government to the so-called Confederate States, was wholly unjustifiable, and resolved that they would resist such action to the last extremity. Before adjournment the convention recommended to the people in each of the counties composing Western Virginia, to appoint not less than five delegates of their "wisest, best and discreetest men," to meet in convention at Wheeling, on the 13th day of May following, "to determine upon such action as the people of Western Virginia should take in the present fearful emergency."
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