USA > West Virginia > Hampshire County > History of Hampshire County, West Virginia : from its earliest settlement to the present > Part 48
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HISTORY OF HAMPSHIRE.
and listened, but heard no firing or any commotion of any kind, and I concluded that Averell's expected arrival had not yet taken place, and that McCausland was ready for him. I went to the barn and saddled my horse, ready for an emergency. I then returned to the house, just as breakfast was called, and sat down to eat. No one else, except the family, was there. I had buttered a biscuit and was taking the first bite when a young colored girl rushed in and exclaimed: 'Run, Mr. Maloney! De town am full ob yankees! I ran out at the back door to the stable for my horse, and as I went I heard cavalry advancing, the clat- ter of sabers against the saddles and the voices of men; but there was no firing and no yelling. I peeped through a crack of the stable to see where the yankees were and which way I should skip; but, to my surprise, I saw the streets full of rebels and not a yankee in sight. I mounted my horse and went out to the street, and realized the situ- ation. Our men were retreating, and were panic stricken. Every man was trying to save himself.
"I was unable to understand why they were running and so much excited. The street was so crowded and jammed that I was afraid to enter it. Every man was exclaiming, 'Go on! go on!' Nearly opposite me was & street that was not open, except for a short distance. It was closed by a fence. Our men entered this cul-de-sac, and when the front men came to the fence there was a jam. Those be- hind were crowding forward, yelling, 'Go on! go on! the yankees are sabering us! Go on! go on!' I called to them that they could not get out that way, and they turned back in the street, and made the jam and panic worse than ever. The horses were running the best they could, but so crowded was the street that everybody was in danger of being crushed. While I was standing on the sidewalk I caught sight of Isaac Parsons, who had come up with me the day before. He had been caught in the retreat, and was being swept along with the rest. Edward Washing-
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ton was riding a horse and leading another. The horse which he rode ran on one side of Isaac Parsons, and the horse he was leading ran on the other side; the leading rope was stretched under Mr. Parsons' body, across the sad- dle. Washington's horses were going a little too fast for Parsons, and the rope was nearly lifting him out of the saddle at every jump. In vain did he try to free himself from the rope, but he could not; and the last I saw of him he was riding the rope instead of the saddle as he went bobbing and bouncing up and down in the distance.
"In all this time not a yankee was in sight, nor was a gun heard. The noise of the galloping horses had wakened the people of the town, and they appeared at their doors and windows and on their porches. Nearly all of them were our friends, and they looked with disgust at the panic, while not a blue coat was in sight. A lady standing on a porch called to the soldiers: 'Shame! Shame! Oh, shame! Go back and fight! Don't run! Go back and fight! If we had our South branch men here they would not run!' A soldier who heard her looked up and answered: 'Madam, if your South branch men had been over in Pennsylvania stealing as much as we have, they would run, too.'
"I was still by the street, afraid to enter because of the danger of being trampled to death. Just then Lieutenant Gibson came up, with his hat off, and calling me by name, asked me to help him rally the men. I told him it was no use trying, as they were in a panic. He wheeled his horse, rode into the street and tried to stop the stampede. They rode over him and his horse and threw them down. The last I saw of him he was on his feet trying to fight the men back. I think he regained his horse and escaped with the rest of them. When the worst of the rout had passed, I followed after and climbed a hill near by, from which I could overlook the town. The yankees soon appeared and quietly came up the street. They went no further, and after a short time withdrew, and returned the way they
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had come. In all this time I did not hear the firing of a single gun. The fight several miles below Moorefield took place while I was asleep. After Averell left the town I went to the battlefield with others, and brought off the wounded and buried the dead, union as well as confed- erate."
Keyser Captured .- On November 28, 1864, General Rosser with a force of confederates captured New Creek, now Keyser, and destroyed large quantities of military stores. That town was among the first places occupied and fortified by the federal forces in the war. General Lew Wallace took possession of it carly in June, 1861. Its importance, from a military standpoint, is easily under- stood. It lies at the eastern base of the Alleghany moun- tains, at the mouth of New creek. Roads lead to that place from Franklin in Pendleton county; from Petersburg, Grant county; Moorefield, Hardy county, and from Rom-
ney, Hampshire county. At the period when Lew Wal- lace occupied New Creek, all of the towns mentioned were in possession of the confederates, or, at least, were not in possession of union forces, and might be occupied at any time by the confederates, who were masters of the situa- tion cast of the Alleghanies. A march of eighteen miles from Romney would have placed them at New Creek. Petersburg was forty miles distant; Moorefield not so far; while Winchester was only sixty miles distant. It can thus be seen that New Creek was exceptionally open to at- tack from the confederates; and if once in their possession, and so long as in their possession, the Baltimore and Ohio railroad would be useless to the federal government. It was, therefore, early determined by the government that New Creek should be occupied and held, and this policy was never departed from throughout the war. At times the place was strongly garrisoned, and it was frequently made the center from which important military movements were made. From there the troops were sent which occu-
AVERELL DEFEATS M'CAUSLAND. 661
pied Romney in June, 1861. Again, in September of the same year, Colonel Cantwell marched to Romney from New Creek. In October General Kelley went from the same place to attack Romney. From there General Mil- roy marched to Petersburg, Grant county, and made a fortified camp. From the same place marched General Fremont into Pendleton county early in 1862. General Averell started from New Creek on the famous Salem raid in December, 1863. The troops were sent from New Creek which overtook McNeill below Moorefield when he was carrying Generals Crook and Kelley off, but they failed to retake their generals. Various other circum- stances and movements might be mentioned to show the importance of the place as a military headquarters; and it is not to be wondered at that the confederates considered it very much in the way of their operations. They never seriously contemplated capturing it and holding it for themselves; but they cherished the hope of destroying the stores at that place and harrassing it as much as possible. General McCausland made an attack upon it in August, 1864, while returning from his Chambersburg raid; but was defeated with considerable loss.
In November, 1864, General Rosser prepared to attack the town and moved against it from Moorefield. His de- sign was unsuspected by federal officers. They did not know that a strong confederate force was at Moorefield, otherwise they would not have sent a small body of troops to certain destruction; for they dispatched several compa- nies to Moorefield, presuming that the only confederates there were McNeill's men, with perhaps a few others. The particulars of this ill-fated expedition may properly be given here, as it was directly connected with Rosser's march to New Creek: Colonel Latham, acting under orders from General Kelley, ordered Colonel R. E. Fleming to Burlington, thirteen miles from New Creek, with instruc- tions to march to Moorefield and endeavor to capture Mc-
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Neill, who was believed to be in the vicinity with his com- pany. Colonel Fleming undertook to surround McNeill, the more certainly to effect his capture, and for that pur- pose sent Major Potts with two hundred men to the rear of Moorefield, while, with the remaining one hundred, Col- onel Fleming proceeded directly to Moorefield, reaching the north bank of the South branch on the evening of No- vember 27, 1864, and there encamped. Within less than half an hour the intelligence was brought by scouts that a large force of confederates had been seen just south of Moorefield. Colonel Fleming remounted his men, sent a small detachment across the river to gain more exact in- formation, and awaited developments. He had not long to wait. The scouts came back with the report that General Rosser, with more than three thousand men, was in the vicinity. The federals had only one piece of artillery. This was placed in position on the river bank, and as the confederates approached, fire was opened upon them. General Rosser returned the fire from the opposite bank. Colonel Fleming held his ground until he discovered that Rosser was about to surround him by sending troops across the river, both above and below. Retreat in double- quick time was all that remained for the federals, and they fell back, hotly pursued by the confederates.
The only avenue of escape was a narrow wagon road leading through a gap between two mountains. The artil- lery was placed in front and the retreat began. It was a running fight all the way to the gap. The narrowness of the road prevented Rosser from making use of his superior numbers, otherwise the whole command of Fleming would have been captured in a short time. In the gap the artilllery broke down and was abandoned. A hand-to-hand fight with szhers occurred in the narrow pass, as darkness was clos- ing the scene. Only one termination was possible. The federals were defeated and almost annihilated. Fifty men were left dead or wounded on the field. The fugitives
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fled in the darkness, and reached New Creek in four hours, a distance of nearly forty miles, carrying the report that General Rosser, with at least three thousand men, was advancing. The report proved correct. Colonel La- tham, who was in command at the place, had little time in which to prepare for the attack.
General Rosser stripped the uniforms from the dead, wounded and captured union soldiers, and dressed his own soldiers in blue, and sent them as an advance guard toward New Creek, while his main army followed. This was done for the purpose of getting into New Creek before the gar- rison should discover that the men were rebels in disguise. The plan succeeded. The front of the rebel column, dressed in yankee uniform, approached the town. The union pickets supposed some of their own men were get- ting in, and allowed them to approach unchallenged. In fact, so little did they suspect the truth that as Rosser's men drew near New Creek a yankee picket, supposing that he was addressing yankees, called out familiarly : "Well, you got whipped again, did you!" The pickets, taken by surprise, were overpowered, and the capture of New Creek was quickly done. The chief part of the garrison escaped across the river into Maryland, where, from the wooded hills, they witnessed the destruction of the military stores and the burning of public property. General Rosser set fire to the magazines, and the bursting of shells made the mountains echo for twenty miles around, leading the citi- zens to believe that a heavy battle was in progress. George W. Washington wrote in his diary that day: "I heard heavy firing in the direction of New Creck;" and later he added: "The report is that General Rosser has cap- tured New Creek and burnt the government stores there. I think it is doubtful."
General Rosser did not attempt to establish himself there, but withdrew his force after a few hours, having destroyed many thousand dollars' worth of military stores and rail-
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road property. The next day the union troops returned and re-established the camp. Colonel Latham, who had given up the place almost without resistance, was relieved from duty and Colonel Fleming placed in command, and remained there till January 12, 1865.
CHAPTER LIX,
CAPTAIN McNEILL'S COMPANY.
The history of the McNeill Rangers would fill a volume, but only a few of the men were from Hampshire county, and it is impossible to give a full history of the company in this book. However, as some of the best soldiers in McNeill's command were from Hampshire, and as some of his most important movements were within Hampshire county, it is proper to give an account of the movements, some of which were the most remarkable in the war. The Hampshire men in his company numbered seventeen, as follows: Joseph L. Vandiver, George Vandiver, J. W. Markwood, James Crawford, Isaac Oates, Herman Allen, W. H. Maloney, Patrick Kenney, Sanford Rollins, George Carroll, John C. High, John L. Harvey, Martin Ohaver, Thornton Neville, W. C. Bierkamp, George Markwood, James Welch.
In 1863 General Milroy was moving his army down the South branch from the direction of Pendleton county, and had advanced into Hardy without meeting any rebels. He had a large wagon train, which moved in the middle of his army, half his troops being behind and half in front. Cap- tain McNeill, with sixty men, was a few miles below Moorefield, and conceived the idea of attacking Milroy, but of course without any expectation of gaining any advant- age over him. He well knew that the federals would make quick work of his men if given the opportunity. He ac- cordingly selected a spot near Old Fields where he could attack and escape. When half of Milroy's army had passed and the wagons were exposed, McNeill's men made
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a descent upon them, and captured forty-seven horses be- fore a general alarm was given. The union troops were taken as much by surprise as if an enemy had dropped from the clouds. Some of the teamsters were panic- stricken and cut their horses from the wagons and mount- ing them, fled along with the rebels, in their confusion mistaking them for friends. Several were thus taken pris- oner. McNeill made his escape.
Hay Train Captured .- In 1862 the federal forces in Romney were in the habit of procuring hay from Mill creek. It was known that bodies of confederates occasion- ally came into the county, and as a precaution a guard was always sent with the wagons when they went after hay. Late in the winter a number of teams made the usual trip, and a guard of about twenty-five men accompanied. The wagons proceeded to the vicinity of Moorefield Junction, where they loaded with hay and set out upon the return. Captain McNeill had been on the lookout, and charged the train, scattering or capturing the guard, securing the horses and wagons, and taking several of the drivers pris- oner. It was impossible to carry the wagons away, so the horses and harness were taken and the wagons and hay were burned.
Capture of Piedmont .- On the night of May 3, 1864, Captain McNeill, with sixty-one cavalry, set forward from near Moorefield with the design of burning the rail- road shops at Piedmont. He went by way of Elk Garden and Bloomington, and arrived within a mile of Piedmont at daybreak May 4. At that time a large force was at New Creek, five miles distant, and Colonel James A. Mulli- gan, with a union force, was at Petersburg, in the present county of Grant. At the moment when McNeill reached the Baltimore and Ohio railroad a train, loaded with horses, was passing, and it refused to stop in obedience to orders. The engineer threw open the throttle and ran through at full speed. NcNeill saw a valuable prize escape. He left ten
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CAPTAIN M'NEILL'S COMPANY.
men, under command of John C. Pierce, as a guard at Bloomington, and with the rest of his command hastened into Pie Imont and set the railroad shops on fire. Before they could cut the wires, the alarm was sent to New Creek. The columns of smoke from the burning shops confirmed the report that the rebels had captured the town. While this was taking place two freight trains came down the Seventeen Mile grade from the west, and were run on the switch by the men under Pierce at Blooming- ton and set on fire. Scarcely had the match been applied to the freight cars when a passenger train, loaded with United States troops, came thundering in from the west. It stopped in obedience to a demand from Pierce. Captain Buck had command, and there were one hundred and three men under him. They had been on furlough and were returning to the field. They had guns but no ammuni- tion.
When the train came to a stop, it was boarded by Pierce, who demanded an immediate surrender, threatening to fire on the train with artillery in case of refusal. Captain Buck accordingly surrendered. The men were marched out, ยท gave up their guns and were parolled. When the captain learned that he had surrendered to a squad of ten men, he vented his rage in the most tremendous oaths, and de- clared that had he known how few the rebels were he would have fought them with the butts of the guns. But it was then too late, and he submitted with great disgust. Among the passengers on the captured train were the wife and two daughters of General Schenck. They were permitted to proceed on their journey. By the time the prisoners were parolled, Captain McNeill had returned from Piedmont, one mile distant, and was preparing to re- treat, for he knew he could not hold the place against the force which would soon arrive from New Creek. The yankees came sooner than was expected. They appeared on the Maryland side of the river and opened fire with
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artillery and repeating rifles, and made it too hot for Mc- Neill, who had several horses killed, but saved his men by getting out as quickly as possible. The union fire had one deplorable result, a somewhat common one in war- several women and children, who were standing in their yards watching the soldiers, were wounded. McNeill made good his retreat and was not pursued. He captured a number of horses from Henry G. Davis, who was at that time buying horses for the government, and who after- wards represented West Virginia in the United States Senate.
Four weeks after the capture of Piedmont-that is, June 1, 1864-Colonel Mulligan withdrew his force from Peters- burg. That was the last large body of union troops to occupy the upper part of the South branch valley during" the war, although other troops occasionally marched through it, remaining a day or two.
On June 25, 1864, a troop of federal cavalry passed through Romney on the way to Springfield. Captain Mc- Neill followed down the South branch to the wire bridge and sent out scouts, who discovered the federals in camp near Springfield. They evidently were not in fear of an attack, as they posted but few pickets, while the greater portion of them proceeded to take a bath in a brook near by. Their horses were turned into meadows in the vicin- ity. Seeing that he could strike them before they could get into position to fight, Captain McNeill made a charge, drove in the pickets and broke into the camp. The union soldiers not only were unarmed, but most of them were without clothes, and, after a vain endeavor to escape by flight, about sixty of them surrendered. McNeill captur- ed two hundred and forty horses, nearly all the arms in the camp and retreated up the South branch.
On October 30, 1864, a cold and bleak day, McNeill's men made a dash to Green Spring, on the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, between Patterson creek and the South
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branch, and surprised a company of union cavalry at that place. There was some resistance, but McNeill won the fight, capturing eighteen prisoners and forty horses.
The Wire Bridge Cut Down .- On August 2, 1864, the wire bridge which spanned the South branch at the lower Hanging Rocks, about eight miles below Rom- ney, was cut down by order of Captain McNeill, who had his orders from General Early. Twice before that time McNeill had been ordered to destroy the bridge; but not wishing to do so he had found excuses for disobeying or- ders, and the bridge remained unharmed. But about the time McCausland went on his raid, General Early sent a peremtory order to McNeill to destroy the bridge. It was claimed by the confederates that the citizens of that vicin- ity, who sympathized with the south, had frequently and urgently demanded that the bridge be destroyed, giving as their reason that yankee scouting parties and horse thieves were in the habit of crossing the bridge to steal and plun- der. Be this as it may, McNeill destroyed the bridge. One of the cables was cut with an ax and the structure fell into the river. This was two days before McCausland came by on his retreat from Pennsylvania. Since the war there has been much controversy as to who was responsi- ble for the destruction of the bridge. Captain McNeill shifted the responsibility to General Early; General Early said the citizens in the vicinity had urged him to destroy the bridge, and he had given the order at their request. No citizen has been found since the war who can remem- ber that he ever made any such request or that he knew any- thing about it till it was done. It is fortunate that there is a contemporaneous document showing how one of the prominent citizens felt on the subject. George W. Wash- ington, who lived just above there, and who kept a diary, and who had kept it for thirty years, and who continued to keep it several years after the war closed, made this entry in his book August 2, 1864: "I heard a lot of rebels
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had gone down this morning on their way to Cumberland. I met Michael Blue, who informed me the rebels had thrown down the wire bridge. When I got there, sure enough, I found it in the river. What could have induced so foolish an act is a mystery to me. They must have known it would be a great public loss. I wish, from the bottom of my heart, the originator of the thing had been caught under it and sent to the bottom of the river. I heard they were fighting in Cumberland. About twelve o'clock there came a lot of Gilmor's men stealing horses, and I expected to lose everything on the farm in the shape of a horse. They succeeded in getting two, and finding they could not catch the others, the devils shot at them and tried to kill them. Here we are. The artillery camp- ing in my fields; the men stealing everything they can lay their hands on. From the beginning they have made, they will leave us nothing. All the men below ine, through whose neighborhoods they have passed, are here hunting horses they stole from them. They stole every horse they could find as they passed up. So I am not alone."
A Soldier Reading Prayers .- Early in 1865 Col- onel Young of the union army, was passing down the South branch and a portion of his men stopped at the house of David T. Parsons, seven or eight miles above Romney. It happened that W. H. Maloney, one of McNeill's company, was in the house at the time. The federals wore gray clothes. and were mistaken for confederates until so near the house that escape was impossible. They were unusu- ally rough, and came in, flourishing their pistols and kick- ing doors open, threatening the people of the house, and demanding money and jewelry. Mr. Maloney looked upon his case as hopeless, but he ran into a back room and shut the door. He wore a confederate coat, but had on citizens' pants. The case was urgent, and what he intended doing he must do quickly. He pulled off his coat and hid it, and picking up a prayer-book, threw himself on the lounge, and
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began to read prayers with the apparent devotion of an octogenarian anchorite. At that moment a yankee kicked the door open and bolted in. Maloney sprang up as though much surprised. "What command do you belong to?" de- manded the soldier. "I don't belong to any command," replied Maloney, letting the book fall, in not altogether feigned consternation. "Who are you?" demanded the soldier. Maloney gave some name. The soldier had a cocked revolver in his hand, and he demanded: "What are you doing here?" "Working on the farm." With this the soldier punched Maloney in the face with his revolver and holding it to his head, said with an oath, "Give me your money." "I have no money." "What do you do with your money if you are working on the farm?" "I support my mother with it." By this time another yankee had come in, and was punching Maloney in the ribs with a pistol and ordering him to give up his money. But the young rebel was lustily denying that he had any money, and was danc- . ing about the room in such a lively manner that the yankees could not get their hands in his pockets, although they were trying to do so. He was not concerned so much about his money as about certain letters which he was car- rying from citizens of Hampshire to soldiers in the south, and which would at once have betrayed his identity. Finally an officer in the outer room, seeing the soldiers be- setting him, ordered them to let him alone. They reluct- antly gave up their fight for his money and left the room. He thus made a narrow and unexpected escape. These were the soldiers who an hour later murdered Captain Stump.
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