USA > West Virginia > Randolph County > The history of Randolph County, West Virginia. From its earliest settlement to the present, embracing records of all the leading families, reminiscences and traditions > Part 32
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terey. Imboden believed that an effort would be made to capture him as soon as it was learned he was in the country; but he decided to move on to St. George anyway, and take chances on getting out. The snow storm still continued, but he succeeded in reaching St. George by daylight on Novem- ber 9, and surrounded the town, and captured Captain William Hall and thirty Federals who had fortified the Court-House. The prisoners were paroled after Imboden had stripped them of their overcoats and blankets.
The Confederates retreated up Dry Fork and reached the mouth of Glady Fork at 9 o'clock at night, and halted there till midnight when they resumed the march up Glady Fork, following part of the distance a path which Imboden had cut while on his expedition the previous August. He had received information that an effort would be made from Beverly to head him off, and for this reason he took to the wilderness where he could fight on an equal footing with any force that could be sent against him. At 4 p. m., November 10, he reached a point ten miles east of Beverly, and went into camp. This was the first night's rest for either men or horses since starting. While there, a man who had been in Beverly that day came to him and gave him details of the movements of the Federals, and informed him that Milroy's baggage train was probably at Camp Barstow, on the Greenbrier River, and Imboden decided to attack it and take his chances of escape through Pocahontas County. The next morning he set forward through the woods by the aid of a guide, and traveled all day on a course south 35 degrees east, reaching a place called Upper Sinks late in the afternoon, on the head of Greenbrier, and eleven miles from Camp Barstow. On the morning of November 12, six of his horses were unable to proceed, and they were left, the riders following on foot. The day was dark. The snow had changed to rain. Before noon the guide became be- wildered, and the army was lost in one of the most impenetrable pine for- ests of the Alleghanies. At night they found themselves again at the Sink's whence they had started that morning. A day had been lost, and Im- boden gave up the plan of attacking Milroy's camp. The sun came up clear on the morning of November 13, and the hungry and bewildered Confeder- ates moved forward and that day crossed the Alleghany near the line be- tween Pendelton and Highland counties, to the head of the North Fork. After many narrow escapes, Imboden reached his camp on the South Fork, only to find that General Kelley had destroyed it and killed, captured or dispersed the men he had left there.
CONFEDERATE RAID UNDER JENKINS.
In the later part of August and the first of September, 1862, General A. G. Jenkins with a Confederate cavalry force of 550 men, made his famous raid across West Virginia into Ohio. He passed through Randolph County, and in conjunction with Imboden, planned an attack on Beverly, but be- lieving that large reinforcements had arrived he abandoned the plan and moved to Buckhannon. In his report of the expedition, written September 19, he says of his operations near Beverly:
"I was at the time under the impression that the enemy had but 450 men at Beverly, and intended to attack him at that point; but hearing that General Kelley had reached there with 1500 men, I determined, if possible, to ascertain its correctness. For this purpose we used every effort to cap- ture some of the enemy's scouts as we approached Huttonsville, and when within five or six miles of the latter place, we succeeded in doing so. Of
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the enemy's scouting party of six we captured two and killed one, the latter being one of the two brothers named Gibson. We endeavored to take him alive, but he refused to surrender and resisted to the last. From the two prisoners I learned that General Kelley was certainly in Beverly with some 1500 men. In the meantime I had been communicating with Imboden who was at Cheat Mountain with a small force, and with whom I had con- templated a co-operation. But the enemy's force being nearly twice as large as ours, made even a combined attack impracticable. I now determined, if possible, to throw my force in General Kelley's rear, and learning that an immense amount of supplies, and several thousand stands of arms had been collected at Buckhannon, I concluded to strike at that point. To effect this we had to cross Rich Mountain by a mere bridle path, or rather trail, which was often undiscoverable, and which for thirty miles passed through the most perfect wilderness I ever beheld. It was indeed an ardu- ous task for men and horses. Some of the latter' were completely broken down and left behind, and a few of the men were also physically unable to make the march, and returned to General Loring's camp. After twenty- four hours of continuous marching, with intervals for rest, we suddenly entered upon the fertile country watered by the tributaries of the Buck- hannon River. Here we halted, and after a few hours for rest and food, we proceeded down French Creek toward the town of Buckhannon. The population along this creek is among the most disloyal in all Western Vir- ginia. We emerged so suddenly from the mountains, and by a route hardly known to exist, and if known, deemed utterly impassable for any number of men, that the inhabitants could scarcely comprehend that we were South- ern troops."
General Jenkins proceeded to Buckhannon, captured the town, and destroyed considerable quanties of military stores which he could not con- vey away. He then proceeded to Weston, and captured every town he came to on his march to the Ohio River.
THE GREAT RAID OF 1863.
In the spring of 1863 occurred the memorable and destructive raids of General John D. Imboden and General W. E. Jones, whose combined force of 5000 Confederates swept across West Virginia. The principal incidents of the raids are given elsewhere in this book. More particular mention of the raid through Randolph County will now be given. Imboden entered the valley above Huttonsville on the evening of April 23, having marched four days in drenching rains. The country was almost impassable on account of mud, and what otherwise would have been a dashing movement, was a slow and toilsome march, dragging cannon and wagons through mire to the axles, and the cavalry struggling through mud to the saddle skirts. The movement, however, was sufficiently rapid to hurry out every Federal detachment and picket from Beverly to Spencer, north to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Imboden, who passed through Randolph, Barbour, Upshur to Lewis, had little fighting. Jones, who marched from Moorefield by the Northwestern Pike, to Rowlesburg, Morgantown, Fairmont, to Lewis County, had more fighting. Imboden had 3365 men, 700 of them cavalry; Jones had a force about half as strong. In passing over Cheat Mountain before descending into the valley Imboden's men waded through snow twenty inches deep. The Confederates hoped to fall on Beverly by surprise; but in this they were disappointed. The Federal authorities were
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looking for a raid; and when Imboden reached the Greenbrier River he learned that John Slayton, a Federal scout, with a squad of seven soldiers, had passed there at sunrise that morning, hurrying to Beverly with intelli- gence that the Rebels were coming. Imboden had anticipated something of the kind, and thought he had taken ample steps to prevent it,. He had sent a squad of soldiers from Pocahontas County on April 20 to the Green- brier River to stop any one passing who might alarm Beverly, but Slayton took to the mountains north of the pike, and although Imboden sent twenty men in pursuit of him, they failed to stop him, and the Confederate general presumed that he could not take Beverly by surprise. Nevertheless, he pushed on to Huttonsville, and found that the Union picket of thirty men usually kept there had been withdrawn at 11 o'clock that morning. This convinced him that the forces at Beverly were ready to fight or retreat, and he went into camp at Huttonsville. A little after midnight his advance picket reported a body of Federals as having passed up on the east side of the river to a mountain, overlooking the Confederate camp, and after an hour the same party returned toward Beverly. Imboden had sent a com- pany of infantry on the first alarm to attempt to cut them off, but they failed to do so. He at that time estimated the Union force at Beverly at 1500. The actual force there was 878 men, with two cannon. Colonel George R. Latham was in command of the Federal force. The next morning, April 24, Colonel Latham advanced toward Huttonsville to meet the Con- federates, and met the advance guard five miles above Beverly and skir- mishing began. He was unable to hold them in check. They steadily advanced, and he as steadily fell back, unable to see much on account of the fog which had settled down on the valley and hills, but judging from the assurance with which they advanced he concluded that they meant to march to Beverly. He also listened to the portentous rumble of the cannon over the few places in the roads where the deep mud did not deaden the noise, and his scouts counted six pieces of Rebel artillery moving down the valley. By noon the Union force had been pushed back within two and a half miles of Beverly, and one hour later the fog lifted, and the Confederate army was in full view. In his official report Colonel Latham says:
"I took a strong position on the south side of the town, commanding the entire valley and the Staunton turnpike above, but flanked by back ridges on each side. About 2 o'clock the action was opened with artillery and infantry, skirmishing at long range. A large force of the enemy's cav- alry and a part of his artillery were now seen advancing on the back road west of the valley, toward the road leading from Beverly to Buckhannon, and actually turning our right. This movement it was impossible for us to counteract, though the river intervening we were not in much danger of an actual attack from this force. The object of this movement was to prevent our retreat toward Buckhannon. Three regiments of his infantry were at the same time continually advancing through the woods, pressing back our skirmishers toward our front and left, his artillery playing directly in front, with two regiments of infantry in reserve. At 4 p. m. the action had be- come quite brisk along our whole line; our skirmishers were driven in on our front, and the enemy had advanced within canister range. The com- mands of his officers could be distinctly heard, and he was pressing well beyond our left. Shortly after this I received orders to fall back. I imme- diately set my train in motion; destroying my public stores of all kinds, and about 5 p. m. drew off my forces. The movement was executed in perfect
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order, and though the enemy pressed our rear for six miles, and twice charged us with his cavalry, there was no confusion, no hurry, no indecent haste. His cavalry charges were handsomely repulsed, and he learned to follow at a respectful distance. We marched nine miles, and having gained a safe position, rested for the night, our pickets and those of the enemy being a mile apart."
The next morning the Federals continued their retreat to Belington, thence to Philippi where they camped over night, and the next day, April 26, reached Buckhannon, where other Union forces were gathered, making a total of 2800, which was sufficient to have stopped the advance of Imbo- den, especially as General Mulligan was holding his own in Barbour County, and keeping back the Confederates who were trying to reach Philippi. But the Union troops at Buckhannon were ordered by General Roberts to retreat to Clarksburg, and the way was open for Imboden to advance, and he was not slow in taking advantage of it. No better history of the raid, as it affected Randolph County, has been written than that contained in General Imboden's official report from which the following somewhat leng- thy extract is taken, beginning with the march from Huttonsville toward Beverly:
"It continued to rain all night, and the morning of the 24th was one of the most gloomy and inclement I ever saw. At an early hour I started all my infantry down through the plantations on the east side of the river, where they were joined by four guns of my battery seven miles above Bev- erly. The cavalry and a section of artillery took the main road on the west side of the river, under Colonel George W. Imboden, with orders as soon as they discovered the enemy to be in Beverly to press forward and gain pos- session of the road leading to Buckhannon, and cut off retreat by that route. About five miles above Beverly the cavalry advance met a man, who, as soon as he saw them, fled. They fired upon him, but he escaped. It turned out to be the bogus State Sheriff of Randolph County, named J. F. Phares, who, though shot through the lungs, succeeded in reaching Beverly and gave the alarm. About the same time, on the east side of the river we captured a storage train and its escort. I learned from the prison- ers that the enemy was in ignorance of our approach; but as soon as Phares reached town and gave the alarm, the whole force was drawn up to fight us. About a mile above the town they opened upon the head of my column with artillery. On reconnoitering their position, I found them strongly posted on a plateau fifty or sixty feet above the river bottom and commanding it and the road for more than a mile so completely that to attack in front would probably involve the loss of hundreds of my men before I could reach them. I at once resolved to turn their position by making a detour of over two miles across a range of steep and densely- wooded hills, and attempt to get round to the north of the town. To occupy their attention I placed a rifle piece on the first hill and engaged their battery. The cavalry, under a dangerous fire, dashed forward and gained the Buckhannon road west of the river, and cut off retreat by that route. The enemy immediately began to fall back below the town, leaving a strong force of skirmishers in the woods, which my infantry had to pass. A running fight was kept up more than two miles through these woods, and a little before sunset I had succeeded in gaining the north side of the town, but too late to cut off retreat toward Philippi. The enemy was in full retreat and about one third of the town in flames when I gained their origi-
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nal flank. We pursued until dark but could not overtake them. My cav- alry attempted to intercept them from the west side of the river at or near Laurel Hill, but the difficulty and the depth of the ford and the lateness of the hour prevented it.
"I have been thus minute in these details to explain why we did not capture the whole force at Beverly. Slayton was unable to cross Cheat River, owing to the high water, and they were really ignorant of our ap- proach until the wounded man gave the alarm. We found him in almost a dying condition, though he will probably recover. The attack was so sudden that the enemy could not remove his stores or destroy his camp. His loss was not less than $100,000, and about one-third of the town was destroyed in burning his stores. I lost three men, so badly wounded that I had to leave them in Beverly. The enemy's loss was trifling.
"On the morning of the 25th my cavalry reported the road toward Philippi impracticable for artillery or wagons, on account of the depth of the mud, in places coming up to the saddle-skirts of the horses. I also ascertained that General Roberts, with a considerable force was at Buck- hannon, and I doubted the prudence of going directly to Philippi until this force was dislodged from my flank. I sent off two companies of cavalry, under Major D. B. Lang, to try to open communication with General Jones, * from whom I had not heard anything, and resolved to cross Rich Mountain, and either move directly on Buckhannon, or by a country road leaving the turnpike four miles beyond Roaring Creek, get between Phil- ippi and Buckhannon, and attack one or the other, as circumstances might determine.
"On the evening of the 26th I crossed Middle Fork and encamped about midway between Philippi and Buckhannon, some twelve miles from each, sending all my cavalry forward to seize and hold the bridge across Buckhannon River, near its mouth. Considerable cannonading was heard at this time in the direction of Philippi, which I supposed to proceed from the enemy we had driven from Beverly, in an attempt to prevent Major Lang from going towards the railroad, where I expected him to find General Jones; but at 11 p. m. Colonel Imboden informed me that the Beverly force had passed up toward Buckhannon at sunrise that morning, and that there was a fresh brigade at Philippi, reported by citizens to have arrived the night before from New Creek, under command of General Mulligan, and that the cars had been running all the night previous, and other troops were in the vicinity. He requested me to send two regiments of infantry and a section of artillery to the bridge that night, as he was apprehensive of attack. He also informed me that he had captured a courier from Buckhannon, and that two others had escaped and gone back to the place. This information was all confirmed by two citizens who arrived at my camp from Webster. I resolved to send forward the reinforcements asked for, and as my troops were all very tired, I sent for my colonels to ascertain which regiments were in the best condition to make the march that night. Knowing that General Mulligan was east of the Alleghanies when our expedition set out, and not hearing from General Jones, it was the opinion of all present that he had failed to reach or interrupt commu- nication on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and that our position was exceedingly critical if. the enemy had control of that road, as he could
*General Jones was then moving through Preston, Monongalia and Marion Counties.
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throw the whole division upon us in a few hours, and, if we were beaten, could cut off our retreat at Laurel Hill, Beverly and at Buckhannon or Weston. I concurred in the opinions of my colonels that in the face of this new information it would be extremely imprudent to advance farther or remain where we were, with the danger of being overwhelmed and cut off in a few hours, and that the safety of the command required that we should fall back to a position where escape would be possible if we were overpowered .* Accordingly we marched back to Roaring Creek on the 27th. The road was so bad that it took from 5 a. m. until 2 p. m., nine hours, to accomplish two miles, and the command did not reach the camp until in the night. Having recalled my cavalry from Buckhannon Bridge, I sent forward a scout that night toward Buckhannon, which returned after midnight, reporting that the enemy had burned the bridges across Middle Fork and the Buckhannon Rivers, and retreated that night from Buckhan- non, blockading the road behind them.
"On the 28th I passed on to within four miles of Buckhannon, and the next morning took possession of the town with a regiment, which I crossed over on the debris of the burnt bridge. The enemy had burned all his stores here and destroyed two pieces of artillery, which he was unable to move. On account of the extraordinary bad roads, I had been compelled to leave at the Greenbrier River, east of Cheat Mountain, forty-odd barrels of flour, and also several barrels in Beverly. Our horses were giving out in large numbers, and some dying from excessive labor and insufficient
sustenance. Not being able to cross my artillery and horses over the river, on my arrival I ordered a raft to be constructed, and the country to be scoured in every direction for corn and wheat: impressed two mills and
run them day and night. Grain was very scarce and had to be procured in small quantities, sometimes less than a bushel at a house. I employed a considerable portion of my cavalry in collecting cattle and sending them to the rear. I required everything to be paid for at fair prices, such as were the current rates before we arrived in the country. This gave general sat- isfaction in the country, and our currency was freely accepted. On the 29th I received my first information from General Jones, and on the same day I ascertained that the enemy was massing his troops at Janelew, a village about midway between Buckhannon and Clarksburg, and fortifying his position. The 30th was spent in collecting corn and cattle.
"On May 1, hearing nothing further from General Jones, I sent Colo- nel Imboden to Weston with his regiment of cavalry. He found the place evacuated and the stores destroyed, but got confirmation of the fact that . the enemy was at Janelew. Fearing that General Jones had been cut off in his effort to join me, I gave orders that night to move early the next morning to Philippi. My raft was completed and I was ready to cross the river. Just as we commenced moving on the morning of the 2nd, a courier arrived with the intelligence that General Jones was within six miles. On receiving this information I changed my direction of march toward Weston,
*General Jones had, at that time, succeeded in cutting the Baltimore and Ohio Rail- road, but he had been delayed five hours at Greenland Gap, Grant County, by 80 Union troops under Captain Martin Wallace, who fortified themselves in a log church in the pass and held the Confederates in check until General Mulligan had passed west over the railroad with his command. Soon after Mulligan had passed, General Jones stormed tlie church, and sent cavalry to Oakland to cut the railroad. They arrived too late to inter- cept Mulligan, but prevented reinforcements from following him. For further particu- lars of the movements of Jones and Mulligan see a preceding chapter of this book.
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feeling confident that with General Jones' brigade and my own force united we would be strong enough to hold our own and probably defeat the enemy at Janelew or Clarksburg.
WILLIAM L. JACKSON'S RAID.
The next military movement in Randolph County was the advance of General William L. Jackson with 1200 Confederates against Beverly; his skirmishes with Colonel Thomas M. Harris, and his retreat before General Averell who came up with reinforcements. The Confederates entered Ran- dolph July 1, 1863, by three routes, intending to surround Beverly and cap- ture the Union force of about 800 stationed there. One division of Confed- erates advanced from Pocahontas County, by way of Valley Head; another division advanced by the Staunton and Parkersburg pike, through Cheat Pass, while a third division made its way through woods and by mountain paths by way of Slaven's Cabin, and emerged below Beverly on the Phil- ippi pike. This detachment was under Colonel A. C. Dunn, and he was to attack Beverly from the north when he heard the cannon which would be fired as a signal for attack. Jackson made all his arrangements to sur- round Beverly and leave no room for retreat for the Union forces. He sent two companies under Major J. B. Lady to make their way through the woods along the base of Rich Mountain, and seize and hold the Buckhannon road, and also to attack Beverly when the signal cannon were heard, Asa guard against an attack on Major Lady's rear from the direction of Buck- hannon, Sergeant Rader with a squad of twenty men was sent to the Middle Fork Bridge, eighteen miles west of Beverly. He seized the bridge and held it. On July 2 Jackson's main forces reached Huttonsville, and he threw his scouts around the Federal picket posts and captured every picket on the Huttonsville road to within a mile and a half of Beverly-twenty- eight in all. He believed he was about to surprise the town, but his plans were betrayed by a woman, whose name he does not mention in his report of the expedition. She informed the Federals of the proximity of Confed- erates, and Colonel Harris telegraphed to General Averell for re-inforce- ments, and Averell advanced with three regiments of cavalry from Phil- ippi, having first telegraphed Harris to hold out if possible. Averell had but lately taken charge of the Union forces in this section, having succeed- ed General Roberts in command.
Gen. Jackson moved cautiously toward Beverly, sending 200 men across the river to attack the right of the Union position, and purposely delaying his attack to give Colonel Dunn time to get in position. When the Confed- erates reached the Burnt Bridge, two miles above town, the skirmishing began, the Federals falling back slowly toward the town, and the Confeder- ates advancing. Believing that all was in readiness for the attack and that he had Beverly surrounded, Jackson, at 2 o'clock on the afternoon of July 2, fired the signal cannon for the battle to begin. There was no response from Dunn, and General Jackson, from the summit of a hill, searched the country beyond Beverly to see where the troops under Dunn were. Noth- ing of them could be seen, and the attack was still further delayed to give them more time to get into position. Finally Jackson began the battle, but found that his artillery was no match for that of the union forces. Not more than one shell in fifteen exploded, while scarcely a Federal shell failed to
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