USA > West Virginia > Barbour County > The history of Barbour County, West Virginia, from its earliest exploration and settlement to the present time > Part 16
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"Can this Government stand if it indulges constitutional constructions by which men in open rebellion against it are to be accounted, man for man, the equals of those who maintain their loyalty to it? Are they to be accounted even better citizens, and more worthy of consideration, than those who merely neglect to vote ? If so, their treason against the Constitution enhances their constitutional value. Without braving these absurd conclusions we cannot deny that the body which consents to the admission of West Virginia is the Legislature of Virginia. I do not think the plural form of the words 'Legislatures' and ' States' in the phrase of the constitution ' without the con- sent of the Legislatures of the States concerned ' has any reference to the new State concerned. That plural form sprang from the contemplation of two or more old States contributing to form a new one. The idea that the new State was in danger of being admitted without its own consent was not provided against, because it was not thought of, as I conceive. It is said 'the Devil takes care of his own.' Much more should a good spirit-the spirit of the Constitution and the Union-take care of its own. I think it cannot do less and live.
"But is the admission of West Virginia into the Union expedient ? This, in my general view, is more a question for Congress than for the Executive. Still I do not evade it. More than on anything else, it depends on whether the admission or rejection of the new State would, under all the circumstances, tend the more strongly to the restoration of the National authority throughout the Union. That which helps most in this direction is the most expedient at this time. Doubtless those in remaining Vir- ginia would return to the Union, so to speak, less reluctantly without the division of the old State than with it, but I think we could not save as much in this quarter by reject- ing the new State as we should lose by it in West Virginia. We can scarcely dispense with the aid of West Virginia in this struggle; much less can we afford to have her against us, in Congress and in the field. Her brave and good men regard her admission into the Union as a matter of life and death. They have been true to the Union under very severe trials. We have so acted as to justify their hopes, and we cannot fully retain their confidence and co-operation if we seem to break faith with them. In fact they could not do so much for us if they would. Again, the admission of the new State turns that much slave soil to free, and this is a certain and irrevocable encroachment upon the cause of the rebellion. The division of a State is dreaded as a precedent. But a measure made expedient by a war is no precedent in times of peace. It is said that the admission of West Virginia is secession. Well, if we call it by that name, there is still
* See " Works of Abraham Lincoln," by John Nicolay and John Hay, vol. 2, p. 285.
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difference enough between secession against the constitution and secession in favor of the constitution. I believe the admission of West Virginia into the Union is expedient."
However, there was yet something to be done before West Virginia became a State. The bill passed by Congress and signed by President Lincoln went no further than to provide that the new State should become a member of the Union when a clause concerning slavery, contained in the bill, should be made a part of the constitution and be ratified by the people. The convention which had framed the State Constitution had adjourned to meet at the call of the chairman. The members came together on Febru- ary 12, 1863. Two days later John S. Carlile, who had refused to resign his seat in the Senate when asked by the Virginia Legislature to do so, made another effort to defeat the will of the people whom he was sent to Congress to represent. He presented a supplementary bill in the Senate providing that President Lincoln's proclamation admitting West Virginia be withheld until certain counties of West Virginia had ratified by their votes the clause regarding slavery contained in the bill. Mr. Carlile be- lieved that those counties would not ratify the constitution. But his bill was defeated in the Senate by a vote of 28 to 12.
The clause concerning slavery, as adopted by the constitutional con- vention on re-assembling at Wheeling, was in these words: " The children of slaves, born within the limits of this State after the fourth day of July, 1863, shall be free, and all slaves within the said State who shall, at the time aforesaid, be under the age of ten years, shall be free when they arrive at the age of twenty-one years; and all slaves over ten and under twenty- one years shall be free when they arrive at the age of twenty-five years; and no slave shall be permitted to come into the State for permanent resi- dence therein." The people ratified the constitution at an election held for that purpose. The majority in favor of ratification was seventeen thousand.
President Lincoln issued his proclamation April 20, 1863, and sixty days thereafter, that is June 20, 1863, West Virginia was to become a State without further legislation. In the meantime, May 9, a State Convention assembled in Parkersburg to nominate officers. A Confederate force under General Jones advanced within forty miles of Parkersburg, and the con- vention hurried through with its labors and adjourned. It nominated Arthur I. Boreman, of Wood County, for Governor; Campbell Tarr, of Brooke County, for Treasurer; Samuel Crane, of Randolph County, for Auditor; Edgar J. Boyers, of Tyler County, for Secretary of State; A. B. Caldwell, of Ohio County, Attorney General; for Judges of the Supreme Court of Appeals, Ralph L. Berkshire, of Monongalia County; James H. Brown, of Kanawha County, and William A. Harrison, of Harrison County. These were all elected late in the month of May, and on June 20, 1863, took the oath of office and West Virginia was a State. Thus was fulfilled the prophecy of Daniel Webster in 1851 when he said that if Virginia took sides with a secession movement, the result would be the formation of a new State from Virginia's Transalleghany territory.
The creation of the new State of West Virginia did not put an end to the Re-organized Government of Virginia. The officers who had held their seat of government at Wheeling moved to Alexandria, and in 1865 moved to Richmond, where they held office until their successors were elected. Governor Pierpont filled the gubernatorial chair of Virginia about seven years.
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In the summer of 1864 General Benjamin F. Butler, in command of Union forces in eastern Virginia, wrote to President Lincoln, complaining of the conduct of Governor Pierpont and the Secretary of State, intimating that they were not showing sufficient devotion to the Union cause. On August 9, 1864, Lincoln replied, and in the following language put a squelch on General Butler's meddling:
" I surely need not to assure you that I have no doubt of your loyalty and devoted patriotism, and I must tell you that I have no less confidence in those of Governor Pier- pont and the Attorney General. The former-at first as the loyal Governor of all Vir- ginia, ineluding that which it now West Virginia, in organizing and furnishing troops, and in all other proper matters-was as earnest, honest and efficient to the extent of his means as any other loyal Governor. ** * * * * The Attorney General needs only to be known to be relieved from all question as to loyalty and thorough devotion to the national cause. "*
* Works of Lincoln, vol. 2, p. 620.
CHAPTER XV.
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. In a work of this sort it should not be expected that a full account of the Civil War, as it affected West Virginia, will be given. It must suffice to present only an outline of events as they occurred in that great struggle, nor is any pretence made that this outline shall be complete. The vote on the Ordinance of Secession showed that a large majority of the people in this State were opposed to a separation from the United States. This vote, while it could not have been much of a surprise to the politicians in the eastern part of Virginia, was a disappointment. It did not prevent Vir- ginia, as a State, from joining the Southern Confederacy, but the result made it plain that Virginia was divided against itself, and that all the part west of the Alleghany Mountains, and much of that west of the Blue Ridge, would not take up arms against the general government in furtherance of the interests of the Southern Confederacy.
It therefore became necessary for Virginia, backed by the other South- ern States, to conquer its own transmontane territory. The commencement of the war in what is now West Virginia was due to an invasion by troops in the service of the Southern Confederacy in an effort to hold the territory as a part of Virginia. It should not be understood, however, that there was no sympathy with the South in this State. As nearly as can be esti- mated the number who took sides with the South, in proportion to those who upheld the Union, was as one to six. The people generally were left to choose. Efforts were made at the same time to raise soldiers for the South and for the North, and those who did not want to go one way were at liberty to go the other. In the eastern part of the State considerable success was met in enlisting volunteers for the Confederacy, but in the western counties there were hardly any who went with the South. That the government at Richmond felt the disappointment keenly is evidenced by the efforts put forth to organize companies of volunteers, and the dis- couraging reports of the recruiting officers.
Robert E. Loe was appointed commander-in-chief of the military and naval forces of Virginia, April 23, 1861, and on the same day he wrote to Governor Letcher accepting the office. Six days later he wrote Major A. Loring, at Wheeling, urging him to muster into the service of the State all the volunteer companies in that vicinity, and to take command of them. Loring was asked to report what success attended his efforts. On the same day Lieutenant-Colonel John McCausland, at Richmond, received orders from General Lee to proceed at once to the Kanawha Valley and muster into service the volunteer companies in that quarter. General Lee named four companies already formed, two in Kanawha and two in Putnam Counties,
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and he expressed the belief that others would offer their services. McCaus- land was instructed to organize a company of artillery in the Kanawha Val- ley. On the next day, April 30, General Lee wrote to Major Boykin, at Weston, in Lewis County, ordering him to muster in the volunteer com - panies in that part of the State, and to ascertain how many volunteers could be raised in the vicinity of Parkersburg. General Lee stated in the letter that he had sent two hundred flint-lock muskets to Colonel Jackson (Stone- wall) at Harper's Ferry, for the use of the volunteers about Weston. He said no better guns could be had at that time. The next day, May 1, Gov ernor Letcher announced that arrangements had been made for calling out fifty thousand Virginia volunteers, to assemble at Norfolk, Richmond, Alex- andria, Fredericksburg, Harper's Ferry, Grafton, Parkersburg, Kanawha and Moundsville. On May 4 General Lee ordered Colonel George A Por- terfield to Grafton to take charge of the troops in that quarter, those already in service and those who were expected to volunteer. Colonel Porterfield was ordered, by authority of the Governor of Virginia, to call out the vol- unteers in the counties of Wood, Wirt, Roane, Calhoun, Gilmer, Ritchie, Pleasants and Doddridge, to rendezvous at Parkersburg; and in the coun- ties of Braxton, Lewis, Harrison, Monongalia, Taylor, Barbour, Upshur, Tucker, Marion, Randolph and Preston, to rendezvous at Grafton. General Lee said he did not know how many men could be enlisted, but he supposed five regiments could be mustered into service in that part of the State.
In these orders sent out General Lee expressed a desire to be kept in- formed of the success attending the call for volunteers. Replies soon be- gan to arrive at Richmond, and they were uniformly discouraging to Gen- eral Lee. It was early apparent that the people of Western Virginia were not enthusiastic in taking up arms for the Southern Confederacy. Major Boykin wrote General Lee that the call for volunteers was not meeting with success. To this letter General Lee replied on May 11, and urged Major Boykin to persevere and call out the companies for such counties as were not so hostile to the South, and to concentrate them at Grafton. He stated that four hundred rifles had been forwarded from Staunton to Beverly, in Randolph County, where Major Goff would receive and hold them until further orders. Major Boykin requested that companies from other parts of the State be sent to Grafton to take the places of companies which had been counted upon to organize in that vicinity, but which had failed to ma- terialize. To this suggestion General Lee replied that he did not consider it advisable to do so, as the presence of outside companies at Grafton would tend to irritate the people instead of conciliating them.
On May 16 Colonel Porterfield had arrived at Grafton and had taken a hasty survey of the situation, and his conclusion was that the cause of the Southern Confederacy in that vicinity was not promising. On that day he made a report to R. S. Garnett, at Richmond, Adjutant General of the Vir- ginia army, and stated that the rifles ordered to Beverly from Staunton had not arrived, nor had they been heard from. It appears from this report that no volunteers had yet assembled at Grafton, but Colonel Porterfield /" -. said a company was organizing at Pruntytown, in Taylor County; one at Weston, under Captain Boggess; one at Philippi, another at Clarksburg, and still another at Fairmont. Only two of these companies had guns, flint- locks; and no ammunition. At that time all of those companies had been ordered to Graftou. Colonel Porterfield said, in a tone of discouragement, that those troops, almost destitute of guns and ammunition, were all he had
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to depend upon, and he considered the force very weak compared with the strength of those in that vicinity who were prepared to oppose him. He complained that he had found much diversity of opinion and "rebellion " among the people, who did not believe that the State was strong enough to contend against the Government. "I am, too, credibly informed," said he, "to entertain doubt that they have been and will be supplied with the means of resistance. * * * * Their efforts to intimidate have had their effect, both to dishearten one party and to encourage the other. Many good citizens have been dispirited, while traitors have seized the guns and am- munition of the State to be used against its authority. The force in this section will need the best rifles. There will not be the same use for the bayonet in these hills as elsewhere, and the movements should be of light infantry and rifle, although the bayonet, of course, would be desirable."
About this time, that is near the middle of May, 1861, General Lee ordered one thousand muskets sent to Beverly for the use of the volunteer companies organizing to the northward of that place. Colonel Heck was sent in charge of the guns, and General Lee instructed him to call out all the volunteers possible along the route from Staunton to Beverly. If the authorities at Richmond had learned by the middle of May that Western Virginia was not to be depended upon for filling with volunteers the ranks of the Southern armies, the truth was still more apparent six weeks later. By that time General Garnett had crossed the Alleghanies in person, and had brought a large force of Confederate troops with him and was en- trenched at Laurel Hill and Rich Mountain, in Randolph County. It had been claimed that volunteers had not joined the Confederate standard be- cause they were afraid to do so in the face of the stronger Union companies organizing in the vicinity, but that if a Confederate army were in the coun- try to overawe the advocates of the Union cause then large numbers of recruits would organize to help the South. Thus Garnett marched over the Alleghanios and called for volunteers. The result was deeply mortifying to him as well as discouraging to the authorities at Richmond. On June 25, 1861, he wrote to General Lee, dating his letter at Laurel Hill. He complained that he could not find out what the movements of the Union forces were likely to be, and added that the Union-men in that vicinity were much more active, numerous and zealous than the secessionists. He said it was like carrying on a campaign in a foreign country, as the people were nearly all against him, and never missed an opportunity to divulge his movements to MeClellan, but would give him no information of what McClel- lan was doing. "My hope," he wrote to Lee, "of increasing my force in this region has so far been sadly disappointed. Only eight men have joined me here, and only fifteen at Colonel Heck's camp -- not enough to make up my losses by discharges. The people are thoroughly imbued with an igno- rant and bigoted Union sentiment."
If more time was required to ascertain the sentiment in the Kanawha Val- ley than had been necessary in the northern and eastern part of the State, it was nevertheless seen in due time that the Southern Confederacy's supporters ers in that quarter were in a hopeless minority. General Henry A. Wise, ex Governor of Virginia, had been sent into the Kanawha Valley early in 1861 to organize such forces as could be mustered for the Southern army. He was one of the most fiery leaders in the Southern Confederacy, and an able man, and of great influence. He had, perhaps, done more than any other
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man in Virginia to swing that State into the Southern Confederacy. He it was who, when the Ordinance of Secession was in the balance in the Rich- mond Convention, rose in the convention, drew a horse-pistol from his bosom, placed it upon the desk before him, and proceeded to make one of the most impassioned speeches heard in that tumultuous convention. The effect of his speech was tremendous, and Virginia wheeled into line with the other Confederate States. General Wise hurried to the field, and was soon in the thick of the fight in the Kanawha Valley. He failed to organize an army there, and in his disappointment and anger he wrote to General Lee, August 1, 1861, saying: "The Kanawha Valley is wholly disaffected and traitorous. It was gone from Charleston to Point Pleasant before I got there. Boone and Cabell are nearly as bad, and the state of things in Braxton, Nicholas and part of Greenbrier is awful. The militia are nothing for warlike uses here. They are worthless who are true, and there is no telling who is true. You cannot persuade these people that Virginia can or will reconquer the northwest, and they are submitting, subdued and de- based." General Wise made an urgent request for more guns, ammunition and clothing.
While the Confederates were doing their utmost to organize and equip forces in Western Virginia, and were meeting discouragements and failure nearly everywhere, the people who upheld the Union were also at work, and success was the rule and failure almost unknown. As soon as the fact was realized that Virginia had joined the Southern Confederacy; had seized upon the government arsenals and other property within the State, and had commenced war upon the government, and was preparing to continue the hostilities, the people of Western Virginia, who had long suffered from the injustice and oppression of the eastern part of the State, began to pre- pare for war. They did not long halt between two opinions, but at once espoused the cause of the United States. Companies were organized every- where. The spirit with which the cause of the Union was upheld was one of the most discouraging features of the situation, as viewed by the Con- federates who were vainly trying to raise troops in this part of the State. The people in the Kanawha Valley who told General Wise that they did not believe Virginia could re-conquer Western Virginia had reasons for their conclusions. The people along the Ohio, the Kanawha, the Monongahela; in the interior, among the mountains, were everywhere drilling and arming.
There was some delay and disappointment in securing arms for the Union troops as they were organized in West Virginia. Early in the war, while there was yet hope entertained by some that the trouble could be ad- justed without much fighting, there was hesitation on the part of the Gov- ernment about sending guns into Virginia to arm one class of the people. Consequently some of the first arms received in Western Virginia did not come directly from the Government arsenals, but were sent from Massa- chusetts. As early as May 7, 1861, a shipment of two thousand stands of arms was made from the Watervleit arsenal, New York, to the northern Panhandle of West Virginia, above Wheeling. These guns armed some of the first soldiers from West Virginia that took the field. An effort had been made to obtain arms from Pittsburg, but it was unsuccessful. Campbell Tarr, of Brooke County, and others, went to Washington as a committee, and it was through their efforts that the guns were obtained. The govern- ment officials were very cautious at that time lest they should do something without express warranty in law. But Edwin M. Stanton advised that the
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guns be sent, promising that he would find the law for it afterwards. Gov- ernor Pierpont had written to President Lincoln for help, and the reply had been that all help that could be given under the constitution would be furnished.
The Civil War opened in West Virginia by a conflict between the Con- federate forces in the State and the Federal forces sent against them. The first Union troops to advance came from Wheeling and beyond the Ohio River. Colonel Benjamin F. Kelley organized a force at Wheeling, and was instructed to obey orders from General Mcclellan, then at Cincinnati.
The first order from Mcclellan to Kelley was that he should fortify the hills about Wheeling. This was on May 26, 1861. This appears to have been thought necessary as a precaution against an advance on the part of the Confederates, but Mcclellan did not know how weak they were in West Virginia at that time. Colonel Porterfield could not get together men and ammunition enough to encourage him to hold Grafton, much less to advance to the Ohio River. It is true that on the day that Virginia passed the Ordi- nance of Secession Governor Letcher made an effort to hold Wheeling, but it signally failed. He wrote to Mayor Sweeney, of that city, to seize the postoffice, the custom house, and all government property in that city, hold them in the name of the State of Virginia. Mayor Sweeney replied: "I have seized upon the custom house, the postoffice and all public buildings and documents, in the name of Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, whose property they are."
Colonel Kelley, when he received the order to fortify the hills about Wheeling, replied that he did not believe such a step was necessary, but that the proper thing to do was to advance to Grafton and drive the Con- federates out of the country. McClellan accepted the suggestion, and ordered Kelley to move to Grafton with the force under his orders. These troops had enlisted at Wheeling and had been drilled for service. They were armed with guns sent from Massachusetts. They carried their am- munition in their pockets, as they had not yet been fully equipped with the accoutrements of war. They were full of enthusiasm, and were much grat- ified when the orders came for an advance. The agent of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad at Wheeling refused to furnish cars for the troops, giving as his reason that the railroad would remain neutral. Colonel Kelley an- nounced that if the cars were not ready by four o'clock next morning he would seize them by force, and take military possession of the railroad. The cars were ready at four the next morning .* While Kelley's troops were setting out from Wheeling an independent movement was in progress at Morgantown to drive the Confederates out of Grafton. A number of companies had been organized on the Monongahela, and they assembled at Morgantown, where they were joined by three companies from Pennsyl- vania, and were about to set out for Grafton on their own responsibility, when they learned that Colonel Kelley had already advanced from Wheel- ing, and that the Confederates had retreated. Colonel Porterfield learned of the advance from Wheeling and saw that he would be attacked before his looked-for reinforcements and arms could arrive. The poorly-equipped force under his command were unable to successfully resist an attack, and he prepared to retreat southward. He ordered two railroad bridges burned,
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