746 



VIRGINIA, WESTERN. 



abstained from sending troops across the Ohio, or even 

 from posting them along its banks, although frequently 

 urgea by many of your prominent citizens to do so. 

 It determined to wait the result of the State election, 

 desirous that no one might be able to say that the 

 slightest effort had been made from this side to influ- 

 ence the free expression of your opinions, although 

 the many agencies brought to bear upon you by the 

 rebels were well known. You have now shown, under 

 the most adverse circumstances, that the great mass 

 of the people of Western Virginia are true and loyal 

 to that beneficent Government under which we and 

 our fathers lived so long. 



As soon as the result of the election was known, the 

 traitors commenced their work of destruction. The 

 General Government cannot close its ears to the de- 

 mand you have made for assistance. I have ordered 

 troops to cross the river. They come as your friends 

 and brothers as enemies only to armed rebels, who 

 are preying upon you ; your homes, your families, and 

 your property are safe under our protection. All your 

 rights shall be religiously respected, notwithstanding 

 all that has been said by the traitors to induce you to 

 believe our advent among you will be signalized by 

 an interference with your slaves. Understand one 

 thing clearly : not only will we abstain from all such 

 interference, but we will, on the contrary, with an 

 iron hand crush any attempt at insurrection on 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 ; pro- 

 claim 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. G. B. McCLELLAN, 



Major-General Commanding. 



On the same day he issued the following 

 proclamation to his troops : 



SOLDIERS : You are ordered to cross the frontier and 

 enter on the soil of Virginia. Your mission is to re- 

 store peace and confidence, to protect the majesty of 

 the law, and secure our brethren from the grasp of 

 armed traitors. I place under the safeguard of your 

 honor the persons and property of the Virginians. I 

 know you will respect their feelings and all their 

 rights, and preserve the strictest discipline. Remem- 

 ber, each one of you holds in his keeping the honor 

 of Ohio and of the Union. If you are called upon to 

 overcome armed opposition, I know your courage is 

 equal to the task. Remember, that your only foes are 

 armed traitors, and show mercy even to them when 

 in your power, for many of them are misguided. 

 When, under your protection, the loyal men of West- 

 ern Virginia shall have been enabled to organize and 

 form until they can protect themselves, you can return 

 to your homes with the proud satisfaction of having 

 preserved a gallant people from destruction. 



G. B. McCLELLAN, 

 Major-General Commanding. 



The instructions to General McClellan were 

 to cross the Ohio, and, in conjunction with the 

 forces of Western Virginia under Colonel Kel- 

 ley, to drive out the Confederate force, and 

 advance on Harper's Ferry. On the night of the 

 26th of May, orders were given to Colonel Kel- 

 ley at Wheeling, to march on Grafton, which he 

 proceeded to execute early the next morning 

 with the First Virginia Volunteers. He was fol- 

 lowed on the same day by the Sixteenth Ohio, 

 Colonel Irvine, which had been stationed at 

 Bellair, Ohio. These forces advanced by the 

 Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. At the same 

 time, the Fourteenth Ohio, Colonel Steadman, 

 crossed the Ohio at Marietta, and occupied 

 Parkersburg. These, advancing on the rail- 



road, were welcomed by crowds at every 

 station. On the same night, a Confederate 

 force of 1,500 men evacuated Grafton, and 

 that place was occupied, on the 29th, by the 

 Virginia and Ohio Volunteers. Here they were 

 joined by the Seventh and Ninth Indiana. 

 The Confederate force, in the mean time, had 

 retired to Philippi, where they prepared to 

 make a stand with considerable strength. 

 Philippi is twenty-four miles from Grafton, 

 and General McClellan determined to surprise 

 the Confederate force. On the night of June 

 2, two divisions moved forward for this pur- 

 pose. (See PHILIPPI.) The surprise was com- 

 plete, and the Confederate force, under Colonel 

 G. A. Porterfield, was forced to retire, aban- 

 doning a large amount of stores and arms, with 

 a loss of fifteen killed. Owing to the storm 

 and the darkness of the night, the first divis- 

 ion, under Colonel Kelley, was unable to arrive 

 in the rear of the Confederate force soon enough, 

 to cut off its retreat. This force retired to 

 Laurel Hill, in the vicinity of Beverly, where the 

 enemy was concentrated in a strongly fortified 

 position, which not only commanded the road 

 to the southern part of the State, whence the 

 Confederate supplies were obtained, but from 

 which an attack upon the Federal forces was 

 constantly threatened. Laurel Hill is on the 

 western slope of a range of the Alleghany 

 Mountains, which runs from northeast to south- 

 west, and which is impassable for an army ex- 

 cept at certain points. The Confederate en- 

 campment was on a slope which declined grad- 

 ually to the valley, and was strongly fortified 

 in front, below which passed the only road to 

 southern Virginia. The plan of General Mc- 

 Clellan was to occupy the attention of the ene- 

 my, by the appearance of a direct attack, while 

 a strong force marched round to his rear to 

 take possession of the road by which his supplies 

 came. The enemy must then either come out 

 of his intrenchments and fight, or starve. Tak- 

 ing the main body of his army, composing a 

 force of ten thousand men, General McClellan 

 moved to Clarksburg, and thence to Buck- 

 hannou, on ihe west of Laurel Hill. Previously 

 however, and on the 7th of July, he ordered 

 General Morris to march upon Laurel Hill, 

 to occupy the enemy. Taking with him 

 the Ninth Indiana, Colonel Milroy, the Four- 

 teenth Ohio, the First Virginia, the Cleveland 

 Artillery, the Sixth and Seventh Indiana, 

 and the Sixth Ohio, in the order named and 

 making a force of about 4,000 men, he left 

 early in the morning, and reached Bealington 

 in front of the enemy at eight o'clock, with his 

 right, having flanking parties on each side, and 

 two companies of skirmishers ahead. The 

 Confederate pickets fired and retreated. A 

 slight skirmish ensued with a party of the ene- 

 my in a wood beyond the town, about two 

 miles from the Confederate camp, which the 

 Federal force had occupied. On the 8th, a 

 brisk skirmishing was kept up all the afternoon 

 with the Confederates, and some were killed 



