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IN

CHAPTER V

In the Shenandoah Valley

N the year 1864, the military affairs of the Union, the conduct of which had been in many respects unsatisfactory, were entrusted to a new hand and took on a new form. General Grant, whose remarkable success in the West had made him famous, was appointed to the command of all the armies of the Union, and laid his plans for a systematic advance from all quarters. The Army of the Potomac, which he joined in person, was to cross the Rapidan River, on the overland route from Washington to Richmond. Sherman received orders to set out simultaneously from Chattanooga, and various contemporary movements were planned. Among the latter was a movement against Lynchburg, Virginia, entrusted to General David Hunter. The Kanawha division, under General Crook, of which the Twenty-third Ohio formed a part, was ordered to join Hunter; but, before doing so, General Crook made a movement of his own against the Virginia & Tennessee Railroad. The column took to the road on April 29, 1864, and, after ten days of hard marching, with an occasional skirmish, Crook's command found itself in front of the enemy at Cloyd's Mountain.

Whitelaw Reid's history of the Ohio volunteers, from which we have already quoted, furnishes the following account of the sharp encounter that took place:

"In this engagement the Twenty-third was on the right of the first brigade. About noon they were ordered to charge the enemy, who occupied the first crest of the mountain with artillery and infantry, behind rudely constructed breastworks. The hill itself was thickly wooded, steep and difficult of ascent, and was skirted

by a stream of water from two to three feet deep. The approach was through a beautiful meadow five or six hundred yards in width. At the word of command the regiment advanced at double-quick across the meadow, under a very heavy fire of musketry and artillery, to the foot of the mountain across the stream. The regiment advanced steadily to this point without returning the fire of the enemy, and after a short pause a furious assault was made upon the enemy's works, carrying them and capturing two pieces of artillery, which were brought off the field by Lieutenant Austin. The enemy fell back to the second crest or ridge of the mountain, where a determined attempt was made to form a line, but after a short struggle he was driven from there in full retreat. Reinforcements arriving on the field, a third attempt was made to make a stand, but unsuccessfully. The struggle at the guns was of the fiercest description. The rebel artillerymen attempted to reload ther pieces when our line was not more than ten paces distant. Private Kosht, Company G, a recruit, eighteen years of age, was the first to reach the guns. With a boyish shout he sprang from the ranks and hung his hat over the muzzle of one of the guns."

MCKINLEY IN THE RETREAT AT LYNCHBURG

This affair was followed by several brisk skirmishes and further hard marching, and on June 8th, the column returning, the Twentythird Ohio joined Hunter at Stanton. On the 11th of that month the three years' service of this regiment expired, but its patriotic members had not yet had enough of war, and most of the men re-enlisted. Hunter's Lynchburg expedition, of which the regiment formed a part, proved a failure. On reaching the vicinity of Lynchburg he found his command heavily outnumbered, and threatened with a serious repulse. The only thing to be done was to retreat with as little loss as possible. The direct route down the valley, however, was not available, and Hunter's only safe way out of his difficulty was to march westward, making his way back to the valley by a long detour along the Kanawha River and up

the Ohio.

Crook's command took the lead in this difficult movement through a mountainous country. During the long retreat Lieutenant McKinley acted as a staff officer, and took part in all the perilous duties of the march. In truth, Hunter's command had no small difficulty in extricating itself from the situation. This is shown by the diary of an officer which is quoted in Mr. Reed's work.

"June 19.-Marched all day, dragging along very slowly. The men had nothing to eat, the trains being sent in advance. It is almost incredible that men should have been able to endure so much, but they never faltered and not a murmur escaped them. Often men would drop out silently, exhausted, but not a word of complaint was spoken. Shortly after dark, at Liberty, had a brisk little fight with the enemy's advance; reached Buford's Gap about 10 A. M. of the 20th. General Crook remained here with Hayes' brigade, holding the Gap until dark, inviting an attack. The army was, however, too cautious to do much skirmishing. After dark we withdrew and marched all night to overtake the command in advance. Reached Salem about 9 A. M. Hunter had passed through Salem, and a body of the enemy's cavalry fell upon his train and captured the greater part of his artillery.

INTENSE TOIL AND SUFFERING

"About the same time Crook was attacked in front and rear, and after a sharp fight pushed through, losing nothing. Heavy skirmishing all day, and nothing to eat and no sleep. Continued. the march until about 10 P. M., when we reached the foot of North Mountain and slept. At 4 A. M. next morning (22d) left in the advance, the first time since the retreat commenced. By a mistake a march of eight miles was made for nothing. Thus we toiled on, suffering intensely with exhaustion, want of food, clothing, etc. Men all crazy. Stopped and ate; marched and ate; camped about dark and ate all night. Marched 180 miles in the last nine days, fighting nearly all the time, and with very little to eat."

Hunter's command ended its long roundabout march at Charleston on July 1st, and remained there to recuperate until the 10th. On that date Crook's command was ordered to Martinsburg to take part in the pursuit of Early, who had invaded Maryland and Pennsylvania. Remaining at Martinsburg until the 18th, it next set out for Cabletown, ten miles from Harper's Ferry, where the enemy's pickets were encountered. Here Hayes' brigade was sent in, without cavalry, and with only two sections of a battery, to attack Early's army, which outnumbered it six to one. It reflects great credit upon General Hunter and his command that, after this futile and perilous attempt, the soldiers engaged, instead of defeating the enemy, escaped a visit to Andersonville Prison. From this point the march was resumed towards Harper's Ferry, and the brigade reached Winchester on July 22d. At Kernstown, near this point, there occurred on the 24th an engagement which proved disastrous to Crook's command. In this affair McKinley again distinguished himself for gallantry. His conduct is described in an account of the events of that date, written by General Russell Hastings.

General Hastings, for many years after the war a prominent resident of Bermuda, but afterwards living at St. Paul, was one of the participants in the following affair described by him:

"The Union forces were commanded by General George Crook; the Confederate forces by General Jubal Early.

"It is not pleasant work for one who participated in a defeat to recount those hours, yet no one can be better informed than he who saw each movement of the command. To lead up to this battle, I feel it necessary to begin at the time General Jubal Early was menacing Washington, twelve days before the battle, when he had his whole army close up to the works north of the city, on July 11th and 12th. For two days he stood before our national capital challenging the Union troops to combat. General Grant soon made such disposition of troops, by sending from the Army of the Potomac, before Richmond, the Sixth and Nineteenth Army

Corps, as caused Early to leisurely retreat toward the Shenandoah Valley, by way of Poolesville, Md., Edward's Ferry, on the Potomac, and Leesburg, Va., reaching Snicker's Gap in the Blue Mountians on the 17th, and crossing the Shenandoah at Snicker's Ford they went into camp on the west bank.

"The Sixth and Nineteenth Corps as leisurely followed, and at or near Snicker's Gap united with one division of General Hunter's infantry (Thoburn's) which had just arrived from the Kanawha Valley over the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. On the afternoon of the 18th, Thoburn's division was ordered to cross Snicker's Ford and attack Early, but the Sixth Corps, which was to support Thoburn, not coming into action as expected, the latter was driven back through the stream with considerable loss.

MCKINLEY AT WINCHESTER

"On July 19th General Early retreated southward on the road toward Strasburg, safely carrying with him all the plunder he had gathered over Maryland and Pennsylvania, while the whole Union army, consisting of the Sixth and Nineteenth Corps and Hunter's command, which had but lately arrived from the Kanawha Valley, was massed in the vicinity of Berryville and Winchester, quite a formidable army, some 20,000 strong.

"At this time it was supposed by General Grant that General Lee had ordered Early with the main body of his veteran army to Richmond, and Grant, needing the Sixth and Nineteenth Corps. with him before Richmond, ordered them to Washington on their way. This left in the valley to confront the Confederates only Hunter's command, consisting of the Eighth Corps, commanded by Gen. George Crook, some 6,000 in number, with a brigade of nondescript troops made up of dismounted cavalrymen and decimated infantry regiments. Such troops were naturally demoralizing to any command. In addition to this infantry was some cavalry under Generals Averill and Duffie, some 2,000 strong.

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