156 



ARMY OPERATIONS. 



They are known to have been severe. "With 

 the exceptipn of a few affairs of small conse- 

 quence, this closed the military operations in 

 the Shenandoah valley for the remainder of 

 the year; Gen. Early's force took a position 

 further up the valley, while Gen. Sheridan's 

 army was scattered in detachments widely 

 separated. On Nov. 14th the President issued 

 the following order : 



WAR DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON, Nov. 14th, 1864. 



Ordered by the President ; 1. That the resignation 

 of George B. McClellan as major-general in the 

 United States Army, dated November 8th, and re- 

 ceived by the Adjutant-General on the 10th inst., be 

 accepted as of the 8th of November. 



2. That for personal gallantry, military skill, and 

 just confidence in the courage and patriotism of his 

 troops displayed by Philip H. Shendan on the 19th 

 of October, at Cedar Run, whereby, under the bless- 

 ing of Providence, his routed army was reorganized, 

 a great national disaster averted, and a brilliant vic- 

 tory achieved over the rebels for the third time in 

 pitched battle within thirty days, Philip H. Sheridan 

 is appointed Major-General m the United States 

 Army, to rank as such from the 8th day of Novem- 

 ber, 1864. 



By order of the President of the United States. 

 E. D. TOWNSEND, 



Assistant Adjutant-General. 



All that district of country west of Wash- 

 ington and immediately south of the Potomac 

 River was infested with guerrillas throughout 

 the year. Col. Mosby was their leader. Many 

 of their expeditions were conducted with great 

 boldness. Sometimes they came within a few 

 miles of Washington. On one occasion during 

 the year they captured a passenger train on the 

 Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, between Harper's 

 Ferry and Martinsburg. A rail was removed, 

 and the train thus running off the track was 

 brought to a stop. Their proceedings have 

 been thus graphically described : 



In an instant we heard the guerrillas entering the 

 cars from both ends. Surmising their errand, I 

 jerked my watch from my pocket, handed it to a lady 

 companion, telling her to secrete it, which she did. 

 Just then one of the fellows stood before me with a 

 pistol close to my head and demanded my pocket 

 book. I obeyed with commendable diligence. He 

 passed on to relieve my neighbor of hat, coat, watch 

 and pocket book. Another of the band approached, 

 pistol in hand, "Here, you d d Yank, hand over 

 your watch." "You're too late," I answered 

 promptly, '_'i* is gone." The fellow seemed satis- 

 fied with this and went on. 



A very demonstrative fat lady, seated near the end 

 of our car, just then jumped up, caught one of the 

 rebels in her arms. " Oh my love, my dear man, 

 you will not kill me," she screamed, and at the same 

 time clinging to him until in ungallant anger he 

 roared, " Confound you, let me go ; I will lose my 

 part of the plunder with your stupidity." We were 

 then ordered out, as the train was to be set on fire. 

 On leaving the cars we had to climb a steep sand 

 bank about twenty feet high, there to await further 

 orders. The passengers in the sleeping-cars fared 

 worse, as all, with one exception, lost their hats, 

 coats, boots, watches, and money. When they were 

 ejected from their quarters, and ascended the hill, 

 they presented a sorry appearance just conscious 

 of their loss, trembling with cold, and fearing they 

 might be invited to visit Richmond. In one car 

 there were sixty German emigrants bound for Ohio, 

 vrho, when the thieves demanded their money, 



showed fight. To intimidate the rest, two nen were 

 instantly shot by the butchers and a woman wound- 

 ed. The remainder were then ordered to leave the 

 cars, but did not understand the command. Mosby 

 ordered his men to fire the cars and burn the " damn 

 Dutch." The conductor begged of him to hold on 

 until he could find a man who could speak German. 

 The poor creatures were at last made to understand. 

 They left the car ; it was set on fire, and the two men 

 and one wounded woman left in the flames. 



There were about thirty Union soldiers on board, 

 unarmed, returning to their commands. Those were 

 taken prisoners, and also forty or fifty of the passen- 

 gers were ordered to fall in line to be taken off". 

 About this time I felt a little nervous, not having any 

 strong desire to visit Libby ; but fortunately as I had 

 a screaming babe in my arms I was not one of the 

 chosen. The whole party were soon ordered to 

 march. Then followed hurried, agonizing farewells, 

 and the victims moved forward. We all supposed 

 they were on their way to Richmond, but only the 

 soldiers met with this fate. The citizens were taken 

 a short distance to a piece of woods and thoroughly 

 searched and robbed of whatever money they had 

 left and the best of their clothes. Then arose a cry 

 that the Yanks were in the woods ; the guerrillas 

 mounted and started off in a hurry, but in five 

 minutes they were back and exclaimed, " a false 

 alarm !" and they fell to plundering still further. 

 By this time the mail, express, and baggage had been 

 robbed, and what they generally did not want was in 

 flames, and the gentlemen were left no extra clothing, 

 and certainly no surplus cash. 



One of the ladies of our party lost all her baggage, 

 In vain she begged a plethoric-looking guerilla to 

 spare her clothing and that of her child. " There 

 are no valuables in the trunk ; you certainly can do 

 nothing with its contents," she pleaded. "Pooh," 

 sneered the " chivalry," as he swaggered past her, 

 " they will do to help on the flame, and help the 

 flames they accordingly did. 



It was then announced by one of the oflicers that 

 every rider had a place for a woman in front of him 

 on his horse, but this beastly threat was not carried 

 out. They then made a final search, and saw the 

 work was complete ; the train had been burned, a 

 paymaster with $63,000 robbed, the passengers 

 plundered of their hats, coats, boots, watches and 

 money, and, locking and burning the mail, express, 

 and baggage, they made us a boisterous farewell. 



Missouri became the scene of a hostile inva- 

 sion under Gen. Price, in the autumn. Vari- 

 ous rumors and threats had been in circula- 

 tion among the enemy for some months pre- 

 vious. About the 21st of September these 

 rumors ripened into a certainty by a move- 

 ment of Gen. Sterling Price across the Arkansas 

 with two divisions of cavalry and three bat- 

 teries of artillery. He joined Gen. Shelby near 

 Batesville, sixty miles south of the boundary 

 line of the Missouri, and was prepared to ad- 

 vance with 15,000 to 20,000 mounted veterans. 

 The Federal force then in the Department 

 under Gen. Rosecrans consisted of 6,500 mount- 

 ed men for field duty scattered over a country 

 four hundred miles long, and three hundred 

 broad, with partially organized new infantry 

 regiments and dismounted men. These latter 

 were employed to cover the great depots at St. 

 Louis, Jefferson City, St. Joseph, Macon, 

 Springfield, Rolla, and Pilot Knob, to guard 

 railroad bridges and protect as far as possible 

 the lives and property of citizens from the 

 guerillas who swarmed over the whole country 



