518

1861.

SKIRMISH AT ROMNEY BRIDGE.

eight o'clock in the morning." In a narrow pass, half a mile from the bridge which there spans the south branch of the Potomac, the advanceJune 11, guard was fired upon by mounted pickets, who then dashed ahead and alarmed the camp of the insurgents, on a bluff near the village, where they had planted a battery of field-pieces. The guard followed, crossed the bridge on a run, and drew several shots from a large brick dwelling-house near the bank of the stream, which was used as a sort of citadel. Wallace immediately led a second company across, drove the foe from the house to the shelter of the mountains, and then pushed four companies, in skirmish order, directly up the hill, to capture the battery. This was unexpected to the insurgents, who supposed the assailants would follow the winding road, and they fled in terror to the forest, accompanied by all the women and children of the village, excepting negroes, who seemed to have no fear of the invaders. Having no cavalry with which to pursue the fugitives, and knowing that at a hundred points on the road between Romney and New Creek a small force might ruin or rout his regiment, Wallace at once retraced his steps, and returned to Cumberland. In the space of twenty-four hours he and his men had traveled eighty-seven miles without rest (forty-six of them on foot), engaged in a brisk skirmish, and, "what is more," said the gallant Colonel in his report, " my men are ready to repeat it to-morrow."

991

This dash on the insurgents at Romney had a salutary effect. It inspirited the loyal people in that region, thrilled the whole country with joy, and, according to the Richmond newspapers, so alarmed Johnston by its boldness, and its menaces of his line of communication with Richmond, and Manassas (for he believed these troops to be the advance of a much larger force), that he forthwith evacuated Harper's Ferry, and moved up the Valley to a point nearer Winchester.

INSURGENTS AT HARPER'S FERRY.

519

CHAPTER XXII.

THE WAR ON THE POTOMAC AND IN WESTERN VIRGINIA.

HE fulfillment of the prediction, that "Poor old Virginia will have to bear the brunt of battle," had now commenced. The clash of arms had been heard and felt within her borders. The expectations of her conspirators concerning the seizure of the National Capital had been disappointed; and thousands of armed men were marching from all parts of the Free-labor States, to contend for nationality upon her soil with herself

and her allies whom she had invited to her aid.

Since the 19th of April, the important post of Harper's Ferry, on the Upper Potomac, had been occupied by a body of insurgents,' composed chiefly of Virginia and Kentucky riflemen. A regiment of the latter, under Colonel Blanton Duncan, took position on Maryland Hights, opposite the

KENTUCKY RIFLEMAN.

Ferry, where they constructed a stockade and established a fortified camp. Early

a 1861.

in June, the number of troops at
and near the confluence of the Potomac and
Shenandoah Rivers was full twelve thousand,
composed of infantry, artillery, and cavalry.

On the 23d of May, Joseph E. Johnston took the command of the insurgent forces at Harper's Ferry and in the Shenandoah Valley. He was a veteran soldier and meritorious officer, having the rank of captain of Topographical Engineers under the flag of his country, which he had lately abandoned. He now bore the commission of brigadier in the service of the conspirators, and was charged with the duty of holding Harper's Ferry (which was the

520

UNION TROOPS ADVANCING.

key to the Shenandoah Valley, in its relation to the Free-labor States), and opposing the advance of National troops, both from Northwestern Virginia and from Pennsylvania, by whom it was threatened. Major-General McClellan was throwing Indiana and Ohio troops into that portion of Virginia; and Major-General Robert Patterson, a veteran of two wars, then at the head of the Department of Pennsylvania,' was rapidly gathering a large force of volunteers at Chambersburg, in that State, under General W. H. Keim.2

a June 4,
1861.

June 8.

General Patterson took command at Chambersburg, in person, on the 3d of June. His troops consisted mostly of Pennsylvania militia, who had cheerfully responded to the call of the President, and were eager for duty in the field. The General had proposed an attack on the insurgents on Maryland Hights, and his plan was approved by General Scott. He was about to move forward for the purpose, when the cautious General-in-chief ordered him to wait for re-enforcements. These were soon in readiness to join him, when Scott sent Patterson a letter of instruction,' in which he informed him what re-enforcements had been sent, and that he was organizing, for a diversion in his favor," a small side expedition, under Colonel Stone," of about two thousand five hundred men, including cavalry and artillery, who would take post on the Potomac, opposite Leesburg, and threaten Johnston's rear. He directed Patterson to take his measures with circumspection. "We must sustain no reverses," he said. "But this is not enough," he continued; "a check or a drawn battle would be a victory to the enemy, filling his heart with joy, his ranks with men, and his magazines with voluntary contributions. . . . Attempt nothing without a clear prospect of success, as you will find the enemy strongly posted, and not inferior to you in numbers."

FIRST PENNSYLVANIA REGIMENT.

913

Patterson advanced from Chambersburg with about fifteen June 8. thousand men. Already the insurgents, as we have seen, had been smitten at Philippi, and, just as this movement had fairly commenced,

1 When the war broke out there were only two military departments, named respectively the Eastern and the Western. By a genéral order issued on the 27th of April, 1861, three new departments were created, namely, the Department of Washington, Colonel J. K. F. Mansfield, Commander; the Department of Annapolis, Brigadier-General B. F. Butler, Commander; and the Department of Pennsylvania, Major-General Robert Patterson, Commander.

2 General Patterson comprehended the wants of the Government, and while the National Capital was cut off from communication with the loyal States, he took the responsibility of officially requesting [April 25, 1861] the Governor of Pennsylvania to direct the organization, in that State, of twenty-five regiments of volunteers, in addition to the sixteen regiments called for by the Secretary of War. The Governor promptly responded to the call, but the Secretary of War, even when the term of the three months' men was half exhausted, declined to receive any more regiments. Fortunately for the country, Governor Curtin induced the Legislature to take the twenty-five regiments into the service of that State. This was the origin of that fine body of soldiers known as the Pennsylvania Reserves, who were gladly accepted by the Secretary of War after the disastrous battle of Bull's Run, and who, by hastening to Washington, assisted greatly in securing the National Capital from seizure immediately thereafter. 3 General Scott's Letter of Instruction to General Patterson, June 8, 1861.

EVACUATION OF HARPER'S FERRY.

a June 11, 1861.

June 13.

521 the blow struck by Wallace at Romney had filled them with alarm. Johnston clearly perceived that he could not safely remain at Harper's Ferry, and he took the responsibility of abandoning that post. He withdrew his troops from Maryland Hights," and blocked up the railway and canal near the Ferry, by casting down by gunpowder blasts immense masses of stone that overhung them, including the famous Bolman's Rock, which always attracted the attention of tourists and of travelers on that road. At five o'clock the next morning, with fire and gunpowder, he destroyed the great bridge of the Baltimore and Ohio Railway Company at the Ferry, a thousand feet in length, and much other property belonging to that corporation and the National Government. Then he spiked the heavy guns that could not be taken away, burned another Potomac bridge a few miles above, and, on the 15th, marched up the Valley toward Winchester, and encamped near Charles. town. On that day Patterson, who had received intimations from the General-in-chief that he was expected to cross the Potomac after driving Johnston from the Ferry, was at Hagerstown, in Maryland, a few miles from that stream. He pushed his columns forward, and on the following day (Sunday) and the next, about nine thousand of his troops crossed the river, by fording, at Williamsport, twenty-six miles above Johnston's late encampment. These troops consisted of two brigades (the First and Fourth), led by Brigadier-General George Cadwalader, at the head of five companies of cavalry. The Potomac had been slightly swollen by recent rains, and the foot-soldiers were often breast-deep in the flood. Eye-witnesses described the scene as most exciting. The soldiers took to the water in high glee, singing popular songs, in the chorus of which the voices of whole regiments were heard.'

BOLMAN'S ROCK.

e June 16

and 17.

d June 16.

While this movement was going on, General Patterson received from General Scott three dispatches by telegraph in quick succession, which surprised and embarrassed him. The first inquired what movement in pursuit of the fugitives from Harper's Ferry he contemplated, and if none (and he recommended none), then "send to me," he said, "at once, all the regular troops, horse and foot, with you, and the Rhode Island [Burnside's] Regiment." Patterson replied, that on that day and the next, nine thousand of his troops would be on the Virginia side of the Potomac, there to await transportation, and to be sent forward toward Winchester in detachments, well sustained, as soon as possible. He requested that the Regulars might remain; and he expressed a desire to make Harper's Ferry his base of operations; to open and maintain a free communication along the Baltimore and Ohio Railway; to hold, at Harper's Ferry, Martinsburg, and

1 The favorite song among the soldiers at the beginning of the war was one entitled, John Brown's Soul is Marching on!

522

TEMPORARY INVASION OF VIRGINIA.

Charlestown a strong force, gradually and securely advancing a portion of them toward Winchester, and with a column from that point, operate toward Woodstock, thus cutting off all the communication of the insurgents with Northwestern Virginia, and force them to retire and leave that region in the possession of the loyal people. By that means he expected to keep open a free communication with the great West, by the Baltimore and Ohio Railway. The General-in-chief disapproved the plan; repeated the order to send to Washington the designated troops; told Patterson that McClellan had been ordered to send nothing across the mountains to support him, and directed him to remain where he was until he could satisfy his Chief that he ought to go forward. This was followed by another, saying: "You tell me you arrived last night at

ROBERT PATTERSON.

Hagerstown, and McClellan writes that you are checked at Harper's Ferry. Where are you?" Early the next morning the Chief telegraphed a June 17. again, saying: "We are pressed here. Send the troops I have twice called for, without delay."

This order was imperative, and was instantly obeyed. The troops were sent, and Patterson was left without a single piece of available artillery, with only one troop of raw cavalry, and a total force of not more than ten thousand men, the most of them undisciplined. A larger portion of them were on the Virginia side of the Potomac, exposed to much peril. Cadwalader had marched down toward Harper's Ferry as far as Falling Waters, to cover the fords; and Johnston, with full fifteen thousand well-drilled troops, including a considerable force of cavalry and twenty cannon, was lying only a few miles off. Patterson had only the alternative of exposing the greater part of his army to destruction, or to recall them. He chose the latter, mortifying as it was, and they re-crossed the river at Williamsport, with the loss of only one man. Patterson was severely censured by the public, who did not know the circumstances, for not pushing on against the insurgents; but the welfare of the cause compelled him to keep silence and bear the blame.'

At that time there was an indescribable state of feverish anxiety in Washington City. It was shared by the Government and the General-in-chief. Exaggerated accounts of immense forces of insurgents at Manassas were continually reaching the Capital. It was known that General Beauregard, whose success at Charleston had made him famous, had been placed in command of the troops at Manassas at the beginning of June; and there was a general

1 Report of the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War, ii. 78, 79, and 80. Narrative of the Campaign in the Valley of the Shenandoah: by Major-General Robert Patterson.

2 John Sherman, a representative of Ohio in Congress, was on General Patterson's staff at that time. On the 30th of June, he wrote to the General from Washington, saying:-"Great injustice is done yon and your command here, and by persons in the highest military positions. I have been asked, over and over again, why you did not push on to Martinsburg, Harper's Ferry, and Winchester. I have been restrained, by my being on your staff, from saying more than simply that you had execnted your orders, and that, when you were prepared to advance, your best troops were recalled to Washington."