Ohio Railroad, moved it thence on the Beverly road, via Buchannon, to the front of Pegram's position. His army on this road numbered about 10,000. Gen. Wm. S. Rosecrans, the second in command, led a brigade; Gen. N. Schleigh, a three-months' general from Ohio, and Col. Robert L. McCook (9th O.V.I.), also in some temporary way commanded brigades. The 3d Ohio Infantry was of Schleigh's brigade. While the troops were encamped at Buchannon, Schleigh, on July 6th, without the knowledge of McClellan, sent two companies under Captain Lawson of the 3d Ohio on a reconnoitring expedition to ascertain the position of the enemy. Lawson found the enemy's advance pickets at Middle Fork Bridge, and a spirited fight occurred in which he lost one man killed and inflicted some loss on the enemy. This unauthorized expedition caused McClellan to censure Schleigh, who was only to be excused on the score of inexperience. By the evening of July 9th the Union army reached and camped on Roaring Creek, near the base of Rich Mountain, about one and a half miles from the front of Pegram's fortified position. General Morris was ordered at this time to take up a position immediately confronting Garnett's entrenched position at Laurel Hill, to watch his movements, and, if he attempted to retreat, to attack and pursue him. On the 10th of July the 4th and 9th Ohio Regiments with Capt. C. O. Loomis' battery (Cold Water, Mich.), under the direction of Lieut. O. M. Poe of the engineers, made a reconnoissance on the enemy's front, which served to lead McClellan to believe the enemy's" intrenchments were held by a large force, with several guns in position to command the front approaches, and that a direct assault would result in a heavy and unnecessary loss of life." This belief, he says, determined him to make an effort to turn the enemy's flank and attack him in the rear. Rosecrans, however, has the honor of submitting, about 10 P.M. of the night of July 10th, a plan for turning the enemy's their part. Now that we are in your midst, I call upon you to fly to arms and support the General Government. "Sever the connection that binds you to traitors. Proclaim to the world that the faith and loyalty so long boasted by the Old Dominion are still preserved in Western Virginia, and that you remain true to the Stars and Stripes." 1 This proclamation won no friends for the Union in the mountains of Western Virginia, where slaves were few and slavery was detested. The mountaineers were naturally for the Union, and such an appeal was likely to do more harm than good. The proclamation, however, was in harmony with the then policy of the Administration at Washington and with public sentiment generally in the North. Colonel George A. Porterfield, on May 4th, was ordered by Robert E. Lee, then in command of the Virginia forces, to repair to Grafton, the junction of the two branches of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and there assemble the Confederate troops with a view to holding that part of the State of Virginia; in case, however, he failed in this and was unable permanently to hold that railroad, he was instructed to cut it. On June 8th, General R. S. Garnett was assigned by Lee to the command of the Confederate troops of Northwestern Virginia. The Union forces under Col. B. F. Kelly, Ist Virginia Volunteers, occupied Grafton May 30th, the forces under Porterfield having retired without a fight to Phillippi, about sixteen miles distant on a turnpike road leading from Webster (four miles from Grafton) over Laurel Hill to Beverly. As roads are few in Western Virginia, and as this road proved to be one of great importance in the campaign upon which we are just entering, it may be well to say that it continues through Huttonville, across Tygart's Valley River, through Cheat Mountain Pass over the summit of Cheat Mountain, thence through Greenbrier to Staunton at the head of the Shenandoah Valley. 1 War Records, vol. ii., p. 48. At Beverly it is intersected by another turnpike from Clarksburg, through Buchannon via Middle Fork Bridge, Roaring Creek (west of Rich Mountain), Rich Mountain Summit, etc. From Huttonville a road leads southward up the Tygart's Valley River, crossing the mouth of Elk Water about seven miles from Huttonville, thence past Big Springs on Valley Mountain to Huntersville, Virginia. The region through which these roads pass is mountainous. Ohio and Indiana volunteers made up the body of the army under McClellan. These troops assembled first in the vicinity of Grafton. The first camp the 3d Ohio occupied was at Fetterman, two miles west of Grafton. Porterfield made a halt at Phillippi, where he gathered together about eight hundred poorly-armed and disciplined men. Detachments under Col. B. F. Kelly and Col. E. Dumont of Indiana, surprised him, June 3d, by a night march, and captured a part of his command, much of his supplies, and caused him to retreat with his forces disorganized and in disgrace. There Colonel Kelly was seriously wounded by a pistol shot. General Garnett, soon after the affair at Phillippi, collected about four thousand men at Laurel Hill, on the road leading to Beverly. This position was naturally a strong one, and was soon made formidable with earthworks and artillery. He took command there in person. At the foot of Rich Mountain (western side), on the road leading from Clarksville through Buchannon to Beverly, a Confederate force of about two thousand, with considerable artillery, was strongly fortified, commanded by Colonel John Pegram, late of the U.S.A. Beverly was made the base of supplies for both commands. Great activity was displayed to recruit and equip a large Confederate force to hold Western Virginia. They had troops on the Kanawha under Gen. Henry A. Wise and Gen. J. B. Floyd. The latter was but recently President Buchanan's Secretary of War. Brig.-Gen. Thomas A. Morris of Indiana was given about 4000 men after the affair at Phillippi to hold and watch Garnett at Laurel Hill. McClellan having concentrated a force at Clarksburg on the Parkersburg stem of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, moved it thence on the Beverly road, via Buchannon, to the front of Pegram's position. His army on this road numbered about 10,000. Gen. Wm. S. Rosecrans, the second in command, led a brigade; Gen. N. Schleigh, a three-months' general from Ohio, and Col. Robert L. McCook (9th O.V.I.), also in some temporary way commanded brigades. The 3d Ohio Infantry was of Schleigh's brigade. While the troops were encamped at Buchannon, Schleigh, on July 6th, without the knowledge of McClellan, sent two companies under Captain Lawson of the 3d Ohio on a reconnoitring expedition to ascertain the position of the enemy. Lawson found the enemy's advance pickets at Middle Fork Bridge, and a spirited fight occurred in which he lost one man killed and inflicted some loss on the enemy. This unauthorized expedition caused McClellan to censure Schleigh, who was only to be excused on the score of inexperience. By the evening of July 9th the Union army reached and camped on Roaring Creek, near the base of Rich Mountain, about one and a half miles from the front of Pegram's fortified position. General Morris was ordered at this time to take up a position immediately confronting Garnett's entrenched position at Laurel Hill, to watch his movements, and, if he attempted to retreat, to attack and pursue him. On the 10th of July the 4th and 9th Ohio Regiments with Capt. C. O. Loomis' battery (Cold Water, Mich.), under the direction of Lieut. O. M. Poe of the engineers, made a reconnoissance on the enemy's front, which served to lead McClellan to believe the enemy's" intrenchments were held by a large force, with several guns in position to command the front approaches, and that a direct assault would result in a heavy and unnecessary loss of life." This belief, he says, determined him to make an effort to turn the enemy's flank and attack him in the rear. Rosecrans, however, has the honor of submitting, about 10 P.M. of the night of July 10th, a plan for turning the enemy's |