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GOVERNMENT OF VIRGINIA REORGANIZED.

491

Government and the election of officers for a period of six months; also, requiring all officers of the State, counties, and towns to take the oath of allegiance. This movement was purely revolutionary. There was no pretense of secession from Virginia, but a declaration of the people that Governor Letcher and other State officers then in an attitude of rebellion against the National authority had "abdicated government," and were formally deposed, and that a new government for Virginia was formed. Governor Letcher had, by his acts, made war upon the people, and placed himself in the attitude of George the Third when he made war upon the Colonies, and thus, as they expressed it, he "abdicated government here, by declaring us out of his protection and waging war against us." The Convention adopted a Declaration of Independence of the old government on the 17th, which was signed by all the members present, fifty-six in number, and on the 19th the ordinance for the establishment of a Provisional Government was adopted. The Convention had already considered the propriety of forming a new State, separate from the old one; and on the 20th there was a unanimous vote in favor of the ultimate separation of Western from Eastern Virginia. On that day, the new or "restored Government" was organized. Francis H. Pierpont, of Marion County, was, on the nomination of the venerable Daniel Lamb, chosen Provisional Governor, with Daniel Polsley, of Mason County, as LieutenantGovernor, and an Executive Council of five members. The unanimous voice of the Convention was given for these officers.

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FRANCIS IJ. PIERPONT.

Governor Pierpont was a bold, patriotic, and energetic man. His first official act was to notify the President of the United States that the existing insurrection in Virginia was too formidable to be suppressed by any means at the Governor's command, and to ask the aid of the General Government. He organized the militia, and very soon no less than twelve regiments of the loyal mountaineers of Northwestern Virginia had rallied beneath the standard of the Union. Money was needed. There was no treasury, and the Governor borrowed, on the pledge of his own private fortune, twelve thousand dollars for the public service. In every way he worked unceasingly for the permanent establishment of the "restored government," and succeeded, in defiance of the extraordinary efforts of the conspirators at Richmond to crush the new organization, and bring the loyal people into subjection. A Legislature was elected, and they were summoned to a session at Wheeling on the 1st of July. Soon after its assembling, it chose John S. Carlile and Waitman G. Willie to represent the restored Commonwealth in the Senate of the United States.

a 1861.

1861.

In the course of time the long desired dismemberment of Virginia occurred. The Convention reassembled on the 20th of August,

1 The Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776.

b

492

STATE OF WEST VIRGINIA ESTABLISHED.

and passed an ordinance for the erection of a new State, in which Slavery was prohibited, to be called KANAWHA, the name of its principal stream. This ordinance was submitted to the people of the counties represented in the Convention on the 24th of October ensuing, when the vote was almost unanimous in its favor. At a subsequent session of the Convention, on the 27th of November, the name was changed to WEST VIRGINIA, and a State Constitution was formed. On the 3d of May following the people ratified it, and on the same day the Legislature, at a called session, approved of the division of the State, and the establishment of a new Commonwealth. All of the requirements of the National Constitution now having been complied with, West Virginia was admitted as a State of the Union on the 3d of June, 1863, by an Act of Congress, approved by the President on the 31st of December, 1862. A State seal, with appropriate inscriptions and device, was adopted, and the new Commonwealth took its place as the Thirty-fifth State of the Union, covering an area of twenty-three thousand square miles, and having a population, in 1860, of three hundred and ninety-three thousand two hundred and thirty four.

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SEAL OF WEST VIRGINIA.

VIRGINIA.

At the beginning of the efforts of the loyal men of Northwestern Virginia to lay the foundation of a new and Free-labor State, they found it necessary to prepare for war, for, as we have observed, the conspirators were forming camps of rendezvous in their midst, and preparing to hold them in subjection to the usurpers at Richmond. Thousands of loyal men secretly volunteered to fight for the Union; and the National Government made preparations in Pennsylvania and beyond the Ohio River to co-operate with them at a proper moment. Both the Government and the loyal citizens of Virginia abstained from all military movements on the soil

1 The conspirators denounced the action of Congress and the President as usurpation, and a violation of the third section of the fourth Article of the Constitution, which says:

"New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no new State shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any other State, nor any State formed by the junction of two or more States or parts of States, without the consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned, as well as of the Congress." Let us see how this matter will endure the constitutional test. The loyal people of Virginia, and who alone constituted the State as a part of the Republic, deposed Governor Letcher and his fellow-traitors in regular form, and reorganized the Government of the Commonwealth, making Francis H. Pierpont chief magistrate. The Legislature forming a part of this newly organized government agreed that a new State should be made out of a portion of the old one. One part of the Constitutional requirement was thus complied with. The other part was complied with when Congress, on the 31st of December, gave its consent to the transaction.

At midsummer, 1863, Virginia presented a curious political aspect. Its deposed Governor, Letcher, at Richmond, claimed jurisdiction over all the State. Governor Pierpont, at Alexandria, rightfully claimed authority over the whole State, excepting the fifty-one counties that composed the new State; and Governor Boreman, at Wheeling, legitimately exercised authority in that new State.

2 The above picture represents the lesser seal of West Virginia, which bears the same words and devices as the great seal. The latter is two inches and one-half in diameter. On one side are the words, "STATE OF WEST VIRGINIA," and "MONTANA SEMPER LIBERI "-that is to say, "Mountaineers are always free." In the center of the seal is seen a rock, on which ivy is growing, symbolizing stability and continuance, and bearing the inscription, "JUNE 20, 1863," the date of the organization and foundation of the State. On the right of the rock is seen a farmer dressed in the hunting-shirt worn in that region, his right hand resting on a plow-handle, and on his left is reposing a woodman's ax, indicating the great business of the people to be the clearing of the forest and cultivating the soil. There is also a sheaf of wheat and a corn-stalk near. On the left of the rock is seen a miner with his pickax, with barrels and lumps of minerals at his feet. An anvil and sledge hammer are also seen, typical of the mechanic arts. Two rifles lie in front, their junction covered by the Phrygian hood, or Cap of Liberty, indicating that the independence of the State was won and will be maintained by arms.

TROOPS ORDERED TO WESTERN VIRGINIA.

493

of that State before the votes of the people had been given on the Ordinance of Secession, on the 23d of May, for it was determined that no occasion should be afforded for a charge, which the conspirators would be quick to make, that the votes had been influenced by the presence of military power. The reverse of this policy, as we have seen, had been pursued by the conspirators, and while the entire vote of the State showed a large majority in favor of the Ordinance, that of Western Virginia was almost unanimously against it. This verdict of the people on the great question relieved the Government and the loyal Virginians from all restraints; and while Ohio and Indiana troops. were moving toward the border, the patriots of Western Virginia, and especially of the river counties, rushed to arms. Camp Carlile, already formed in Ohio, opposite Wheeling, was soon full of recruits, and the First Virginia Regiment was formed. B. F. Kelley, a native of New Hampshire, but then a resident of Philadelphia, was invited to become its leader. He had lived in Wheeling, and had been commander of a volunteer regiment there. His skill and bravery were appreciated, and in this hour of need they were required. He hastened to Wheeling, and, on the 25th of May, took command of the regiment.

a

May 14,

1861.

George B. McClellan had been called to the command of the Ohio troops, as we have observed. He was soon afterward commissioned a Major-General of Volunteers," and assigned to the command of the Department of the Ohio, which included Western Virginia. He was now ordered to cross the Ohio River with the troops under his charge, and, in conjunction with those under Colonel Kelley and others in Virginia, drive out the "Confederate" forces there, and advance on Harper's Ferry. He visited Indianapolis on the 24th of May, and reviewed the brigade of Indianians. who were at Camp Morton, under Brigadier-General T. A. Morris. In a brief speech at the Bates House, he assured the assembled thousands that Indiana troops would be called upon to follow him and win distinction.' Two days afterward,' he issued an address to the Union citizens of Western Virginia, in which he praised their courage and patriotism, and warned them that the "few factious rebels" in their midst, who had lately attempted to deprive them of their rights at the polls, were seeking to "inaugurate a reign of terror," and thus force them to "yield to the schemes and submit to the yoke of the treacherous conspiracy dignified by the name of the Southern Confederacy.'" He assured them that all their rights. should be respected by the Ohio and Indiana troops about to march upon their soil, and that these should not only abstain from all interference with the slaves, but would, "on the contrary, with an iron hand, crush any attempt at insurrection on their part." At the same time he issued a stirring address

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› May 26,
1861.

GEORGE B. M'CLELLAN.

1 Indiana's Roll of Honor: by David Stevenson, Librarian of Indiana, pace 39.

494

INSURGENTS DRIVEN SOUTHWARD.

to his soldiers, telling them that they had been ordered to "cross the frontier;" that their mission was "to protect the majesty of the law, and secure our brethren from the grasp of armed traitors." He knew they would respect the feelings of the Virginians and their rights, and preserve perfect discipline. He believed in their courage. He begged them to remember that their only foes were "armed traitors;" and he exhorted his soldiers to show them mercy when they should fall into their hands, because many of them were misguided. He told them that when they had assisted the loyal men of Western Virginia until they could protect themselves, then they might return to their homes "with the proud satisfaction of having preserved a gallant people from destruction."

McClellan's addresses were read in Camp Carlile on the evening of the 26th, and Colonel Kelley and his regiment, full eleven hundred strong, immediately thereafter crossed over to Wheeling and moved in the direction of Grafton, where Colonel Porterfield was in command, with instructions from

General Lee to gather volunteers there to the number of five thousand. His recruits came in slowly, and he had written to Lee, that if re-enforcements were not speedily sent into Northwestern Virginia, that section would be lost to the "Confederates."

On the evening of the 27th, Kelley reached Buffalo Creek, in Marion County, when Porterfield, thoroughly alarmed, fled from Grafton with about fifteen hundred followers, and took post at Philippi, a village on the Tygart's Valley River, a branch of the Monongahela, about sixteen miles southward from Grafton. He had destroyed two bridges in Kelley's path toward Grafton, but these were soon rebuilt by the loyal Virginians, who, under their commander, entered the deserted camp of Porterfield on the 30th. On that day, the latter issued a frantic appeal from Philippi to the people of Northwestern Virginia, begging them to stand by the "legally constituted authorities of the State," of which he was the representative, and assuring all Unionists that they would be treated as enemies of the Commonwealth. He told the people that he came to protect them from "invasion by foreign forces," and secure to them the enjoyment of all their rights. "It seems to me," he said, most inappropriately, "that the true friend of National liberty cannot hesitate" to defend Virginia. "Strike for your State!" he exclaimed. "Strike for your liberties! Rally! rally at once in defense of your mother." His appeal had very little effect upon the sturdy people of the mountain region, and his efforts were almost fruitless.

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VIRGINIA VOLUNTEER INFANTRY.

While Colonel Kelley was pressing toward Grafton, the Ohio and Indiana troops were moving in the same direction. A part of them crossed the Ohio River at Wheeling, and another portion at Parkersburg; and they were all excepting two regiments (the Eighth and Tenth Indiana), at or near Grafton on the 2d of June, on which day General Morris arrived. Kelley was on the

495

NIGHT MARCH TOWARD PHILIPPI

Kelley's

point of pursuing Porterfield. His troops were in line. Morris sent for him, and a new plan of operations was agreed to, by which Porterfield and his command at Philippi might be captured rather than dispersed. troops returned to camp, and the impression went abroad that the National forces would not leave the line of the Baltimore and Ohio Railway. Word to this effect was sent to Porterfield by the secessionists in Grafton, and thus aid was unintentionally given to the "invaders" of Virginia.

The new plan was immediately executed. The forces at Grafton were arranged in two columns, commanded respectively by Colonels Kelley, of Virginia, and E. Dumont, of Indiana. Kelley's column was composed of his own regiment (the First Virginia), the Ninth Indiana, Colonel Milroy, and a portion of the Sixteenth Ohio, under Colonel Irwin. Dumont's column consisted of eight companies of his own regiment (the Seventh Indiana); four companies of the Fourteenth Ohio, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Steedman; four companies of the Sixth Indiana, under Colonel Crittenden, and a detachment of Burnet's Ohio Artillery, under Lieutenant-Colonel Sturgis. Dumont's column was accompanied by the gallant Colonel F. W. Lander, who was then a volunteer aid on General McClellan's staff, and represented him.

THORNTON

FETTERMAN

HAILROAD

GRAFTON

PRUNTYTOWN

WEBSTER 抽
ALTIMOR

CLAYSVILLE

RIVER

KNOTTS
VILLE

C

The two columns were to march upon Philippi by couverging routes. Both left Grafton on the afternoon of the 2d; Kelley's for Thornton, a few miles eastward, and Dumont's for Webster, a few miles westward. Kelley was to strike the Beverly Road above Philippi, in the rear of Porterfield, and Dumont was to appear at the same time on the hights overlooking that village, and plant cannon there. The hour appointed for the attack, simultaneously by both columns, was four o'clock on the dawn of the 3d. Kelley had to march twenty-two miles, and Dumont twelve miles. The day was very hot, and the night was excessively dark, because of a heavy rain-storm, that commenced at sunset and continued until morning. In that darkness and in the drenching rain the two columns moved toward Philippi, over rugged hills, along slippery slopes, through humid valleys, and across swollen streams.

• June, 1861.

TAYLORSVILLE

THE NARROWS

B

MARCH

PHILIPPI

TO

PHILIPPI

At the appointed time Dumont's column approached its destination. It was discovered by a woman, who fired a pistol twice at Colonel Lander, who was riding ahead of the column, and then sent her boy to alarm Porterfield. The boy was caught and detained; and while Porterfield's camp was in commotion, on account of the report of the woman's pistol, Dumont's column took position on the hights,

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