occupy the attention of the enemy, while by the flank attack he would be cut off in the rear and thus captured. The attempt to cross at the lower ford was, however, frustrated by unusual depth of water, and the original plan, having thus failed, it was ordered that the troops should cross at Williamsport.

The crossing was safely accomplished on the 2d of July. The advance pushed boldly into the stream, but the remaining regiments took the matter less impetuously. They marched leisurely into a field on the margin of the river, removed their boots, stockings, trowsers, and drawers, wound these articles around their necks, and thus, with the whole lower portion of their bodies nude, and their white muslin shirts flying in the wind, preceded by a full band in similar undress, they plunged into the stream and reached the opposite shore. Here they readjusted their dress, thus avoiding the wet garments and soaking shoes of their predecessors. Such acts were of not unfrequent occurrence in the early stages of the war on both sides.

A small force of the enemy was encountered, which, after a sharp skirmish, retreated three miles to Hainesville, and again fell back before the vigorous attack of the advancing column. The rebels were stated to be three thousand five hundred Virginians, under Colonel Jackson. The Union loss was three killed and fifteen wounded. The enemy left eight dead on the field, and it was reported there were sixty killed.

On the 8th of July, General Patterson was established in Martinsburg, and had before him the enemy's force under General Johnston. That day was the one fixed for the advance of General McDowell upon Manassas; but as we have seen, in describing his operations, he was delayed, and had his forces diminished also by sending re-enforcements to Patterson. The latter was also at this time joined by Colonel Stone's command, under General Sandford, of the New York militia, who left Washington July 7th with his staff, and a complete military equipment of howitzers, grape and canister, &c.

On July 13th, General Patterson's column left Martinsburg for Winchester. At Bunker Hill, on the 15th, his advance encountered an advance-guard of six hundred rebel cavalry, belonging to Johnston's command, who were speedily routed. On the same day Johnston fell back to Winchester. On the 18th he was five miles beyond Winchester, and near Strasburg, the terminus of the railroad leading to Manassas. After the fight at Bunker Hill, Patterson, most unaccountably, as it seemed, retrograded to Charleston, where he was on the 17th, the day he was telegraphed by General Scott to follow Johnston closely; but Johnston was then beyond his reach, and on his way to re-enforce Beauregard at Manassas, which he reached by rail in time to turn the tide of battle at Bull Run.

Patterson, in reply to the strictures on his remissness in not following up Johnston, in a private letter, dated Harper's Ferry, 22d of July, said :

"General Johnston retreated to Winchester, where he had thrown up extensive intrenchments, and had a large number of heavy guns. I could have turned his position and attacked him in the rear, but he had received large re-enforcements from Missis

sippi, Alabama, and Georgia, a total force of over thirty-five thousand rebel troops, and five thousand Virginia militia. My force is less than twenty thousand men. Nineteen regiments, whose term of service was up, or would be within a week, all refused to stay an hour over their time but four, viz.: two Indiana regiments, Frank Jarrett's (the Eleventh Pennsylvania), and Owens's (the Twenty-fourth Pennsylvania). Five regiments have gone home. Two more go to-day, and three more to-morrow. To avoid being cut off with the remainder, I fell back and occupied this place."

The excuse is utterly inadmissible. There is no evidence that such re-enforcements as he alludes to ever reached Johnston; but on the contrary, every thing went to show that the latter was only too anxious to get away from the valley. He also admits that he had his command unbroken by departures of three months' regiments at the very time he should have been pushing Johnston. The question of how long his troops had to serve, he had nothing to do with. Had he performed his allotted duty and obeyed the particular instructions given to him, his troops would have rendered invaluable services down to the hour of their discharge. As it was, they proved to be worse than useless.

These events closed the operations of the army in the Valley of Virginia. The movements in the Department of the Ohio come next in order.

On the 10th of May, by general order, the States of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois were constituted a Fourth Military Department, under the command of Major-General G. B. McClellan, of the Ohio Volunteers, head-quarters Cincinnati. The army of this department was imme diately organized and disposed for active service, and at the close of May the force in the department numbered over twenty thousand men, who were intended to operate against the rebels in Western Virginia.

On the morning of the 24 of June a movement was made by the troops under General Morris, forming a part of the force of this department, to dislodge the rebels under Colonel Porterfield, who held Philippi in Barbour County, Virginia, with fifteen hundred to two thousand troops. The command was divided into two divisions under Colonels Kelley and Lander, and the plan was to attack the place at four o'clock in the morning; Colonel Kelley in the rear, and Colonel Lander in front. Storm and darkness, however, caused the combination to fail. As Lander approached Philippi a woman fired twice, and sent her little boy across the mountains to give Porterfield notice. Kelley missed his point, and instead of coming in on the Beverly road above the town to cut off the rebel retreat, did so below the town, and much behind time. Thus the enemy were apprised of the movement, and were enabled to escape with slight loss, leaving their camp equipage and a number of small arms behind. While leading a charge, Colonel Kelley received a shot and fell. He was carried to the rear, and received prompt attention. The enemy retired to Leedsville, two miles distant, where they were again vigorously attacked and repulsed. In acknowledgment of his bravery on this occasion, Colonel Kelley was appointed brigadiergeneral of the Western Virginia troops.

The rebels, falling back upon Beverly, received large re-enforcements,

and again advanced towards Philippi, taking post under General Garnett, at Laurel Hill.

On the 11th of June, Colonel Wallace, with the Eleventh Indiana Zouaves, left Cumberland, Maryland, for Romney, Hampshire County, Virginia, twenty miles distant, where were stationed five hundred secession troops. After a sharp conflict he completely routed them, seized a quantity of stores and ammunition, and returned to Cumberland. The rebels retreated towards Winchester.

The rebels were now concentrated in considerable numbers in Western Virginia. The Alleghany Mountains, running in a south-westerly course from Cumberland to Covington, Virginia, present a wall through which the rebel forces could escape into Eastern Virginia only at the Cheat Mountain Pass. This was held, at the close of June, by a considerable force under General Jackson. From Cheat Mountain the road proceeds northerly, and parallel to the mountain range, through Huttonville to Rich Mountain, which was held by the rebel Colonel Pegram with three thousand men and some five or six guns, and was strongly intrenched. From Rich Mountain the road passes through Beverly to Laurel Hill, held by Brigadier-General Garnett. Thus the enemy held three strong positions, and had, in all, probably fourteen thousand men.

On the 6th of July, General Morris received orders to move his whole force to within a mile of the enemy's fortifications at Laurel Hill. On the 10th sharp skirmishes took place between his advance, composed of the Ninth Indiana, Milroy, and the Fourteenth Ohio, Steedman, and some Georgia troops belonging to Garnett's force. The enemy's cavalry attacked, and were repulsed with a few rounds of shell, and General Morris so disposed his troops as to guard every outlet from Laurel Hill, except that which leads to Beverly. In the mean time the column under McClellan pursued a route more to the west, and arrived near Rich Mountain on the 10th of July. On the 11th Brigadier-General Rosecrans,* who had been promoted from the colonelcy of the Twenty-third Ohio, advanced with his column, composed of the Eighth, Tenth, and Thirteenth Indiana, and Nineteenth Ohio, and by a forced march of eight miles through the mountain reached the turnpike, three miles in the rear of the enemy at Rich Mountain, defeated his advance-guard, and captured two guns. General McClellan, advancing in front, completed the defeat of the enemy, who lost all his guns, wagons, &c. Rosecrans immediately pushed on to Beverly, following

William S. Rosecrans was born in Ohio in 1919, graduated at West Point in 1842 as second lieutenant of engineers, was acting assistant professor of engineers at West Point until 1844, and of natural and experimental philosophy to 1847. He received a commission as first lieutenant in March, 1853, and retired to civil life in 1854. On the breaking out of the rebellion he was made brigadier-general in the regular army and appointed to a command under General MeClellan. He served with distinction in Western Virginia, and succeeded McClellan in the chief command there, of which he was relieved by General Fremont in 1862. He mcceeded General Pope in command of a corps in the army under General Grant, June, 1862, a few

months later assumed command of the Army of the Mississippi, and on October 8d and 4th inflicted a signal defeat on Van Dorn and Price at Corinth. In November of the same year he took charge of the Department of the Cumberland, and at the close of the year gained the hard-fought battle of Murfreesboro', over Bragg. In the succeeding summer he drove Bragg into Northern Georgia and occupied Chattanooga: but having been routed by Bragg at Chickamauga, September 20, he was relieved from his command. In the early part of 1864 he was assigned to the Department of Missouri, which he commanded until the close of the year, without however, participating actively in military operations,

the flying enemy. The loss on the Union side was twenty killed and forty wounded. On the 12th Colonel Pegram, with six hundred rebel soldiers, surrendered unconditionally to. General McClellan.

While these events were taking place, General Garnett at Laurel Hill, hearing of the approach of McClellan to Beverly, left Laurel Hill in great haste for Cheat Mountain Pass, in hopes to pass Beverly before McClellan should reach it. On the morning of the 12th, the evacuation was discovered, and the Ninth Indiana of Morris's division immediately advanced in pursuit. The rebels, when within three miles of Beverly, met fugitives from Rich Mountain, and returned toward Laurel Hill, whence Morris's force was approaching, thus putting them between two fires. They therefore took the road to the right, which goes through Leedsville to the Cheat River. General Morris, who had been in front of Laurel Hill, pursued a mile or two beyond Leedsville, and then, 11 o'clock, P. M., halted until 3 o'clock, a. M., when the pursuit was resumed, amid incessant rain. The enemy, meantime, struck the Cheat River, and pursued the mountain road down the valley. Our advance, composed of the Fourteenth Ohio, and the Seventh and Ninth Indiana regiments, about two thousand men, pushed on, guided through the mountain gullies by the tents, camp-furniture, provisions, and knapsacks thrown from the wagons of the rebels to facilitate their flight. Our troops forded Cheat River four times, and finally, about one o'clock, came up with the enemy's rear-guard. The Fourteenth Ohio advanced rapidly to the ford in which the enemy's wagons were standing, when, suddenly, the rebels, about four thousand strong, opened a furious fire on them with small arms and two rifled cannon from the bluff on the opposite side of the river, about two hundred yards distant, where they had been concealed.

The firing was too high, cutting the trees above the heads of the men. The Fourteenth returned it with spirit. Meanwhile, two pieces of the Federal artillery came up and opened on the rebels. The Ninth Indiana then advanced to support the Fourteenth Ohio's left, while the Seventh Indiana crossed the river between the two fires, and came in on the enemy's right flank. The latter soon fled in great disorder, leaving their finest piece of artillery.

On the 13th of July, at the next ford (Carricksford), a quarter of a mile further on, General Garnett attempted to rally his forces, when the Seventh Indiana came up in hot pursuit, and another brisk engage ment ensued. General Garnett was finally shot dead, when his army fled in confusion towards St. George, to escape into Northern Virginia The Seventh Indiana regiment pursued them a mile or two, but as the men were much exhausted with their forced march of twenty miles, with but little rest from the march of the previous day, Genera Morris refused to let them pursue further. Among the fruits of the victory was the capture of the rebel camp at Laurel Hill, with a larg amount of tents, camp equipage, baggage-wagons, a field camp-chest supposed to contain all their money, two regimental flags, and a larg number of rebel prisoners. The losses in these four engagements wer as follows: