516

THE ELEVENTH INDIANA REGIMENT.

and condition ?" Then followed the consent of the Government to 1:ave them considered "contraband of war," already noticed.'

We have observed that the loyal people of the country were greatly disappointed and mortified by the affair at Great Bethel. That disappointment and chagrin were somewhat relieved by a victory obtained over insurgent troops at Romney, in Hampshire County, Northwestern Virginia, achieved on the following day by a detachment of the Eleventh Indiana (Zouaves),

3

commanded by Colonel Wallace, whose speedy organization of the first volunteer regiments of that State we have already observed." That regiment, in material, deportment, drill, and discipline, was considered one of the best in the State. Its colors had been presented by the women of Indiana with imposing ceremonies, and anticipations concerning its services had been raised which were never disappointed.* It expected to accompany the Indiana and Ohio troops whom General McClellan sent to Western Virginia, but was ordered instead to Evansville, on the Ohio, in Southern Indiana, to act as a police force in preventing supplies and munitions of war being sent to the South, and to protect that region from threatened invasion. The regiment chafed in its comparatively inactive service, with an earnest desire for duty in the field, and it was delighted by an order issued on the 6th of June, by the General-in-chief, to "proceed by rail to Cumberland, Maryland, and report to Major-General Patterson," then moving from Pennsylvania toward Harper's Ferry, where the insurgents were in strong force under General Joseph E. Johnstou. This order was the result of the urgent importunities of Colonel Wallace and his friends, to allow his fine regiment an opportunity for active duties. During the few weeks it had encamped at Evansville, it had been thoroughly drilled by the most severe discipline.

ELEVENTII INDIANA REGIMENT.

On the day after the receipt of the order, Wallace and his regiment were passing rapidly through Indiana and Ohio by railway, and were every where greeted by the most hearty demonstrations of good-will. At Grafton, it received ammunition; and on the night of the 9th, it reached the vicinity of

1 See page 501.

2 See page 456.

3 The presentation of colors took place in front of the State House at Indianapolis. The ladies of Terre Haute presented the National flag, and those of Indianapolis the regimental flag. Each presentation was accompanied by an address, to which Colonel Wallace responded. He then turned to his men, reminded them of the unmerited stain which Jefferson Davis had cast upon the military fame of Indianians in connection with the battle of Buena Vista, and exhorted them to remember that vile slander, and dedicate themselves specially to its revenge. He then bade them kneel, and, with uncovered heads and uplifted hands, swear "To stand by their flag, and remember Buena Vista!" They did so, as one man. It was a most impressive scene. The whole affair was spontaneous and without preconcert. The huzzas of the vast multitude of spectators filled the air when they arose from their knees; and "Remember Buena Vista!" became the motto of the regiment.

A large majority of the members of this regiment became officers in the war that ensued; and every member of the Montgomery Guards-Wallace's original Zouave Company, who accompanied him on this tour of duty-received a commission. These commissions ranged from that of second lieutenant to major-general.

EXPEDITION TO ROMNEY PLANNED.

517

a

a June, 1860.

Cumberland, where it remained, near the banks of the Potomac, until the next day. Its advent astonished all, and gave pleasure to the Unionists, for there was an insurgent force at Romney, only a day's march south from Cumberland, said to be twelve hundred strong; while at Winchester there was a much heavier one. General Morris, at Grafton, had warned Wallace of the proximity of these insurgents, and directed him to be watchful. Wallace believed that the best security for his troops and the safety of the railway was to place his foes on the defensive, and he resolved to attack those at Romney at once. He procured two trusty guides at Piedmont, from whom he learned that there was a rude and perilous mountain road, but little traveled, and probably unguarded, leading from New Creek Station, westward of Cumberland, to Romney, a distance of twenty-three miles. That road he resolved to traverse at night, and surprise the insurgents, before he should pitch a tent anywhere.

LEWIS WALLACE.

For the purpose of deceiving the secessionists of Cumberland, Wallace went about on the 10th with his staff, pretending to seek for a good place to encamp, but found none, and he told the citizens that he would be compelled to go back a few miles on the railway to a suitable spot. All that day his men rested, and at evening the train took them to New Creek, where Wal

lace and eight hundred of his command left the cars, and pushed on toward Romney in the darkness, following their guides, one of whom was afterward caught and hanged for his "treason to the Confederacy." It was a perilous and most fatiguing march, and they did not get near Romney until about

1 In this view is seen Romney Bridge and the brick house of Mr. Gibson, between which and the bridge the skirmish occurred. Nearly over the center of the bridge, at a point indicated by a small figure, was the battery of the insurgents, and on the brow of the hill beyond is seen the village of Romney.

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 route 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."

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

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

a June 4,
1861.

June 8.

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."3

FIRST PENNSYLVANIA REGIMENT.

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 general 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.