132 



ARMY OPERATIONS. 



losmg some men by sunstroke, but finding no 

 enemy. After a severe march they arrived at 

 Frederick quite exhausted, and rested. 



The small force of the enemy which had been 

 in Maryland moved from Hancock on the Cum- 

 berland road, as above stated, the pursuit of 

 Gen. Averill being checked by felling trees, &c. 

 v (Jen. Kelley with his command in Western Vir- 

 ginia now started to intercept this advance. 

 On Monday afternoon the enemy reached 

 Folck's mill, three miles from Cumberland, 

 and attacked Gen. Kelley, who was protecting 

 the town. The skirmish continued until dark, 

 and the enemy during the night fell back 

 to Oldtown, leaving his killed and wounded, 

 some wagons and ammunition. During the 

 afternoon previous a force of five hundred 

 men had been posted at Oldtown, under Col. 

 Stongh, to cut off the enemy's retreat. In 

 the morning this force was attacked by the 

 enemy, and, after a sharp skirmish, routed. 

 The colonel and ninety men were made prison- 

 ers. The loss of the enemy in killed and wound- 

 ed was about thirty ; the Federal loss in this 

 respect was much less. On Thursday, August 

 4th, the enemy made an attack on Gen. Crook, 

 but were foiled, and during the night withdrew 

 on the road to Moorefield. At that place he 

 was overtaken by Gen. Averill and routed with 

 the loss of his artillery, many wagons, and five 

 hundred prisoners. The loss of Gen. Averill 

 was about fifty. On Thursday, the 4th, a panic 

 prevailed in Harrisburg, caused by a report that 

 the enemy had crossed the Potomac, and was 

 invading the North. Gen. Curtis issued a proc- 

 lamation calling out thirty thousand militia, and 

 the inhabitants in the Cumberland valley com- 

 menced another grand removal. 



The result of these operations was to secure 

 an organized defence under the command of 

 Gen. Sheridan for the defence of the valley. 

 This force, by orders of Gen. Grant, consisted 

 of the 6th and 19th corps, the division of in- 

 fantry under Gen. Crook, and the division of 

 cavalry under Gen. Torbert, with four brigades 

 of Gen. Hunter's cavalry. 



The changes made before Petersburg during 

 the operations of the enemy in Maryland, con- 

 sisted chiefly in the transfer of troops to thwart 

 them. The army of Gen. Grant continued more 

 quiet than at any time since his campaign was 

 sommenced. The principal firing during this 

 period was on the right and right centre, where 

 Gen. Grant's lines were persistently pushed for- 

 ward, and Petersburg and the batteries of the 

 enemy monotonously shelled. Some skirmishes 

 at different points also occurred by which a 

 few men were lost on each side. 



On July 1st a movement was made by a body 

 of troops under Gen. Birney from Hilton Head, 

 up the North Edisto River. They disembarked 

 at White Point for the purpose of penetrating 

 the country as far as practicable. The enemy 

 were found in strong positions, and after some 

 skirmishing the force withdrew. An attempt 

 vas also made to seize Fort Johnson on the 



northern end of James Island, by crossing Mor- 

 ris Island. The enemy were found to be strong 

 and on the alert, and the force was with- 

 drawn. 



About the same time, July 3d, Gen. Dennis 

 with a force of three thousand men moved out 

 from Vicksburg to destroy the railroad from 

 Jackson to Canton. Jackson was easily occu- 

 pied, but on the return, an attack of the enemy 

 was made upon the rear, and a sharp skirmish 

 followed. The loss was about two hundred 

 on each side. Some other movements were 

 made at this time in Mississippi and Missouri 

 partaking of a guerrilla character. 



In the latter part of July some changes were 

 made in the commanders of the corps of the 

 army of the James River. An order from the 

 War Department relieving Gen. Butler was 

 rescinded by Gen. Grant, and the former was 

 retained in command. Gen. Smith was relieved 

 from the command of the 18th corps and suc- 

 ceeded temporarily by Gen. Martindale, and 

 then permanently by Gen. Ord, of the 8th corps. 

 Gen. Gilmore was relieved of the command of 

 of the 10th corps, succeeded temporarily by 

 Gens. W. H. H. Brooks and Terry, and perma- 

 nently by Gen. Birney of the 2d corps. 



The line of Gen. Grant extended at this time 

 a distance of twenty miles. On the right, north, 

 of the James, at Deep Bottom, Gen. Foster's 

 division of the 10th corps had been for some 

 time in possession of an intrenched camp. This 

 position served to prevent any sudden demon- 

 stration on the right flank by the enemy, who 

 were in possession of Malvern Hill, and also 

 checked any effort by them to blockade the 

 river against gunboats and transports by field 

 artillery. At the same time it furnished a good 

 base for threatening an advance on Richmond 

 from the southeast, or for making a feint in that 

 direction. In the rear of Gen. Foster's position 

 a pontoon bridge crossed the James which was 

 thoroughly protected by gunboats, but in his 

 front a large force of the enemy prevented an 

 advance. On July 21st a second bridge was 

 thrown across the James at Strawberry Plains 

 a little further down, and on the next day a 

 brigade of the 19th corps crossed over and held 

 the head of the bridge. Constant skirmishing 

 with the enemy followed for some days, and so 

 threatening was the demonstration that a divi- 

 sion was added to their force in front of Gen. 

 Foster. On Tuesday, July 26th, rapid artillery 

 firing, intermingled with musketry, was kept 

 up during the forenoon. At evening it was re- 

 newed with the addition of the gunboats, and 

 continued through the night. At 4 p. M. of the 

 same day the 5th corps moved from the extreme 

 left, followed by the cavalry under Gen. Sher- 

 idan to the James River at Jones's Neck. Be- 

 fore daylight they began to cross on a pontoon 

 bridge, which had been muffled with hay and 

 grass. A line of battle was then formed with 

 Gen. Sheridan's cavalry on the extreme right, 

 and the 2d corps next at Strawberry Plains, the 

 brigade of the 19th corps on its left, and Gen 



