The Showdown: Harry Gilmor and “Dent” Summers, Oct. 7, 1863 by Jim Surkamp

by Jim Surkamp on September 15, 2014 in CivilianConfederateJefferson CountyUnionWartime

The Showdown of Harry Gilmor and “Dent” Summers – October 7, 1863, Summit Point, WV

VIDEO: The Showdown of Harry Gilmor and Dent Summers Oct., 1862 by J.Surkamp. Click Here. TRT: 24:48

Flickr Set: Click Here. 39 images.

Made possible with the generous, community-minded support of American Public University system, offering a quality, affordable, online education. Interpretations in civilwarscholars.com videos and posts do not in any way reflect modern-day policies and positions of American Public University System. More. . .

1_Harry_Gilmore_frontispiece_book


(Harry Gilmor:) Settling myself in the saddle, I dashed in among the blue jackets, cutting and thrusting right and left, and parrying a blow when necessary.

2_affair.of.outposts.B&L.1.p127


(George D. Summers:) “Here they are boys by God, we’ve got them now!”

Aquilla_Gallion_semblance


(Aquilla S. Gallion:) “Come on you da*ned rebel, I’ll soon fix your flint.”

Unionist_semblance_DHS_Strother


(Union man:)
We met a man whom I knew to be a Unionist, but, expecting to capture the party ahead of me before they could reach Charlestown in my rear, I let him pass. What a change it would have made in subsequent events had I taken him along with us!

Summary:

Gilmor_Summary_TITLE_1

How Confederate Marylander Harry Gilmor, who once bragged he “shot apples off the heads of my friends,” went looking for trouble that Wednesday, October 7th, 1863, venturing to Charlestown, recently made WEST Virgina, trailing about 20 Federal cavalrymen across the countryside to Smithfield (also called Middleway), then hi-tailing back to Charlestown chasing these Federals on their return to their camp. Then, having been thwarted, and giving up the chase and retiring to a spring near Summit Point, Gilmor suddenly finds his men attacked by another, larger Federal cavalry force coming from the other, western direction. The result: a fierce battle in front of the White House Farm near Summit Point. Gilmor finds himself face-to-face with another, equally brave cavlaryman, George Denton, nicknamed “Dent” Summers, who was charging right at him.

Chapterettes:
1. The Hunt Begins;
2. The Union Man Gilmor Let Go Sounds the Alarm in Charlestown, Prompting Col. Simpson to Send For Help;
3. Gilmor’s Men Race, But Fail To Block the Federals From Getting Back Into Charlestown;
4. Gilmor’s Men Retreat Back to White House Farm Near Summit Point. They Don’t Know That a Second Cavalry Force Was Already In The Land Looking for Them, Commanded By Capt. George “Dent” Summers;
5. “Dent” Summers Last Stand;
6. Gilmor’s Getaway

The_Hunt_Begins_Chap_1_TITLE


1.The Hunt Begins:

Gilmor_Simpson_Pickets_1_Hunt_beginsTITLE_FINAL


When Gilmor’s cavalry moved towards Charlestown early on October 7th, 1862, Federal picket lines, commanded by Col. Benjamin Simpson of the 9th Maryland Infantry, encircled Charles Town.

Gilmor describe what happened, in his postwar book beginning October 6th. Gilmor road a stately black horse he captured in Pennsylvania. When they camped, kept his bloodhound about to signal approaching strangers while he slept wrapped up in a thick baggy-style English robe.

Gilmor wrote:

The Hunt_Begins_TITLE_FINAL


I camped in the woods on William Washington’s place, and, being determined not to go back without some game, sent scouts to watch the road leading out of Charles Town. I had not slept more than two hours when I learned that cavalry had gone up the road leading to Smithfield. The men were soon mounted, and, striking out across the country, we got into the road in the rear of this squad, and followed on their trail to Smithfield.

Middleway Pike facing west, about halfway
@39.3035897,-77.9176457,17z

2. The Union Man Gilmor Let Go Sounds the Alarm in Charlestown, Prompting Col. Simpson to Get Help:

Chapterette_2_Unionist_5_All_TITLE


Gilmor:
Soon after reaching the turnpike we met a man whom I knew to be a Unionist, but, expecting to capture the party ahead of me before they could reach Charles Town in my rear, I let him pass. What a change it would have made in subsequent events had I

Gilmor_3_(2a)_Middleway_high_ground_charge_street_level


view from hill
@39.305276,-77.970917,3a,90y,261.2h,90t
taken him along with us! We continued at a trot until we gained the hill immediately above Smithfield, when I closed up the column, drawing sabres, charged into the town, expecting to find the enemy there; but to my chagrin, learned that they had passed through without halting, taking the road to Summit Point, and were now a considerable distance ahead.

Gilmor_3_(2a)_Middleway_high_ground_charge_street_level_BEST_from_town


road from hill view from town
@39.305597,-77.982258,3a,75y,5.27h,90t

3. Gilmor’s Men Race But Fail To Block the Federals From Getting Back Into Charlestown:

Chase_Gilmor_Chapterette_3_TITLE

Gilmor:
I followed on at a good swinging trot, with four or five well mounted men in advance, until we got nearly to Summit Point, when my scouts returned, saying the enemy had passed through that place also a short time previous, and were now on the road back to Charles Town.

Gilmor_4_(2b)_nearly_to_SP_street_level


view approaching Summit Point
@39.263369,-77.966048,3a,75y,124.94h,90t

My horses were by this time much jaded, and some hardly able to keep up; still, determined not to abandon the enterprise, I struck across the fields, hoping to cut them off before they could reach Charles Town. In this I did not succeed; but three of my men ran into their rear guard just as they were entering the place. One of them, Charles Forman, was captured.

(Seventeen-year-old Charles O. Foreman, of Company A, the Virginia 12th Cavalry, lived in 1860 in Jefferson County, VA. in the household his parents, 61-year old farmer, Jacob, and 51-year old Eliza, with two sisters and a brother. He would be exchanged the following May).

I dismounted half my men, put them in position, and tried to draw out the enemy, but they had their own plan in view, and refused to follow. This made me rather suspicious, so putting twelve men under Captain Blackford as a rear guard,

Facing Charlestown on Route 51 approaching Davenports’
@39.289699,-77.883774,3a,75y,105.16h,90t

4. Gilmor’s Men Retreat Back to White House Farm Near Summit Point. They Don’t Know That a Second Cavalry Force Was Already In The Land Looking for Them, Commanded By Capt. George “Dent” Summers:

Chapterette_4_Head_back_White_House_Farm_TITLE
Chapterette_4_They_Dont_Know_TITLE


Gilmor:
I started for Summit Point and camp. I had reached the “White House,” owned by Mr. Morrow, two miles from Summit Point, had halted to let the men dismount and get water from the large spring about fifty yards off, and was the only mounted man left in

1280px-White_House_Farm
lilac-bush


the road. I had ridden up to the yard fence, and was talking to the ladies, when I heard a voice exclaim, “Here they are boys by God, we’ve got them now!” At the same instant a bullet whistled through a lilac bush between the ladies and myself.

I wheeled around and saw the head of a cavalry column on the rocky hill above, and between me and Summit Point. Here was a perilous position. Seeing only the first section of fours, I knew not how many were behind them. I could not retreat, and therefore determined to make the best light possible under the circumstances.

5. “Dent” Summers Last Stand:

Chapterette_5_Last_Stand_Gilmor_TITLE


(27-year-old George Denton Summers enlisted near his home in Hancock, Maryland in 1862. He lived with his widowed mother, Mary, and his younger siblings: Nathaniel, Alice, Elizabeth, Sarah, and Levi).

Gilmor:

White_House_farm_stable_Named


I ordered ten of my men who had carbines to get behind the ruins of an old stone stable, and fight them to the last. Seeing my horses without their riders, the others thought we were apprized of their coming, and had prepared an ambuscade; and though Captain Summers, whom I recognized, begged, implored, and cursed them, they would not charge, but stood still on the hill, popping away at us with their carbines. One of my men Ford, from Baltimore came up with a rifle and putting his hand on my thigh, asked what he should do. I told him to get behind the stone wall, and take a good aim every time he fired, “all right,

Ford_Gilmor_B&L_1_P_598
B&L.3.393.Farnsworth


Major.” Just as he spoke the word a ball pierced his head, killing him instantly. At that moment Captain Summers. who I must say was a brave man, spurred his horse down the hill, and engaged me with his pistol, firing wildly, for I saw he was much excited. I reserved my fire till he came within twenty paces, steadied my horse with the bit, took a long sure aim, and Summers fell from his horse. The ball entered the side of his nose, and came out back of his head. By this time nine of my men had mounted, and, as the sharpooters had been doing good work.

Jas_McIntire_Service_TITLE


(Lieutenant James McIntire, who joined up barely ten days before without even being mustered in formally, was killed by Gilmor’s men).

Gilmor:
I thought I could risk a charge, but it was unnecessary to give the order, for I heard Reed or Bosley say, “come, boys it’s a shame to leave the major there by himself;” and by the time I had returned the pistol and drawn my sabre, the boys were at my

Gilmor_6_(4d)_gained_the_hill_Oct_7_1863


side, so on we went. When we gained the hill top, I saw, to my amazement, that there were about sixty before me, but, as there was a good post and rail fence on either side, they could show no more front than my ten men. To whip the foremost was to whip
all. As I passed by the stone stable I ordered the rest to mount and follow. Captain Summers was lying across the road. I was

stream.scow.shot.down.B&L.3.p.114


obliged to jump my horse over his dead body; four others lying near were either dead or wounded. Settling myself in the saddle, I dashed in among the blue jackets, cutting and thrusting right and left, and parrying a blow when necessary. They were from Michigan and Maryland, and for a while fought well.

Gilmor then saw who was most likely 46-year old Lt. Aquilla S. Gallion, who came from Harford County, Maryland:

Aquilla_Gallion_semblance


Observing an officer fighting like a Turk and cheering his men on, I made for him. He was a man of my own size, wore a very heavy beard, and looked, I thought very savage as he yelled out, “Come on you damned rebel, I’ll soon fix your flint.” This promised good sport. I closed with him, making a powerful front cut, which he parried, and at the same instant made a right cut at my neck. By bringing my sabre down in time, my side caught the blow.

duel.on.horses.B&L.2.p274


Now I had the advantage. Quick as a flash I cut him across the cheek, inflicting a large gash, and he fell to the ground. I gave him in charge of one of my men, and then followed after my first ten, who had pushed the column back two hundred yards while the lieutenant and I were busy with our affair. The latter soon after escaped by jumping a stone wall and running into a thick woods.

White House Farm
39° 15′ 5″ N, 77° 56′ 45″ W
39.251389, -77.945833

6. Gilmor Gets Away:

rally.pike.b&l.2.p675
Gilmor_6_(4e)_Oct_7_1863


We soon got them on the run, nor did we give them time to stop and reform until they had passed through and beyond Summit Point.

Syummit_Point_1862_TITLE


Summit Point intersection where the chase, either continued to the east over the railroad track or south towards the Virginia border.
@39.25139,-77.955602,3a,75y,270h,86.31t

We had taken eighteen prisoners, and were unable to pursue them farther until my men had come up, for the federals had formed and turned upon the two or three men who were still in pursuit, but by the time they had pushed these back again to Summit Point I had dismounted ten or fifteen men, who easily checked them. We charged again, took five more prisoners, and the rest made their escape. After collecting my prisoners and men, I left by a private route for the Upper Valley, with twenty three prisoners and twenty nine horses, leaving four of their dead and three wounded on the field. My loss was one man killed, three wounded, and one taken prisoner.

Of Gilmor’s prisoners, three would die the following summer of diarrhea at Andersonville prison in Georgia, noted for its

Andersonville1
Duckwall_Andersonville_Named


unhealthy conditions. Nineteen-year-old William Duckwall from Pierce town, Clermont County, Ohio, is buried at Andersonville.

Ganoe_John_W_findagrave


Also buried there is John W. Ganoe was a 23-year-old laborer, the eldest of eight children, living at the home of his parents in Bath (Berkeley Springs) in Morgan County, VA. His father, Richard, was a plasterer, his mother’s name was Nancy.

Gilmor:
I reached camp safely with everything I had captured. It seems the Unionist went immediately to Charles Town and gave information of what he had seen, and Summers followed me all the way round. A sad affair it turned out for him, but “such are the fortunes of war”. Captain Summers was highly esteemed by his commanding officers, as shown by a long article, highly complimentary to him, that appeared a few days after. The same paper also alleged that I had murdered him! Indeed! Then not a few were murdered on both sides. – Gilmor, pp. 107-111.

Report of George Duncan Wells:

wellsgd5


Cole’s cavalry, placed under my orders by the brigadier-general commanding, were sent to Charlestown that night, and the next morning scouted out the Summit Point and Smithfield road, bringing in the bodies of our killed. They report seeing no enemy. It would seem that the rebel force consisted of two companies (Captains Baylor aud Morrow) Twelfth Virginia Cavalry and Gilmor’s entire battalion . . . Our loss was: Capt. George D. Summers, Company F, Cavalry, Second Maryland Regiment, [Potomac Home Brigade,] killed [and 1 man killed and 4 wounded]. I think Colonel Simpson’s disposition and management of his small force very judicious. The loss of Captain Summers is greatly to be deplored. – G. WELLS, Chapter XLI, Official Record, Series I, Part 1, Volume 29, pp. 210-211.

Harry_W_Gilmor_Side_View


In February, 1865, a man burst in on Gilmor in his second floor room in a rooming house in Moorefield, West Virginia grabbing Gilmor’s pistols on a chair. Gilmor said “Who the devil are you!!?” from his bed. The reply: “Major Young of General Sheridan’s scouts.”

king050
Mentoria_Strong_Gilmor


For several years after the war, Harry Gilmor lived in New Orleans, where he married Miss Mentoria Strong. Upon his return to Maryland, he was elected colonel of cavalry in the Maryland National Guard. He also served as Baltimore City Police Commissioner from 1874 to 1879. He was a member of the Society of the Army and Navy of the Confederate States in Maryland and

Gilmor_NARA_Large_Head
Gilmor_Tombstone_Loudon_Cemetery


it’s Vice-President in 1882. Harry Gilmor died in Baltimore on March 4, 1883 at the age of forty-five. He was interred on “Confederate Hill” in Loudoun Park Cemetery.

The burial place of George Denton Summers, though he was praised, remains a mystery to this day, even to his modern family. His mother and two brothers moved to Canton, Missouri to start a new life and a new set of memories.

Canton_Missouri_Apple_map
Howard_Pyle_Decoration_Day
39_new set of memories

References:

Gilmor’s statement: “I shoot apples off the heads of my friends.”is in Gilmor’s roster entry in Armstrong, R. L. (1992). “The 7th Virginia Cavalry.” Lynchburg: Va: H. E. Howard, Inc. Print. p. 153.

Armstrong, R. L. (1992). “The 7th Virginia Cavalry.”
bainesbooks.com 16 September 2010 Web. 2 September 2014.

Official Report G. WELLS, Chapter XLI, Official Record, Series I, Part 1, Volume 29,
Official records of the Union and Confederate armies
Part I – Operations in North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. August 4-December 31, 1863. Reports Digital Library. Cornell University. 28 August 2004 Web. 10 July 2011.
pp. 210-211.

Gilmor, Harry. (1866). “Four Years in the Saddle.” New York, NY: Harper & Brothers. Print.

Gilmor, Harry. (1866). “Four Years in the Saddle.” Internet Archives: Digital Library of Free Books, Movies, Music, and Wayback Machine. 27 Oct. 2009. Web. 28 Jan. 2010. pp. 107-111.
More:

L. Allison Wilmer, J.H. Jarrett, Geo. W.F. Vernon. (1898). “History and roster of Maryland volunteers, war of 1861-5.” Baltimore, MD: Press of Guggenheimer, Weil & co. Print.

L. Allison Wilmer, J.H. Jarrett, Geo. W.F. Vernon. (1898). “History and roster of Maryland volunteers, war of 1861-5.” Internet Archives: Digital Library of Free Books, Movies, Music, and Wayback Machine. 27 Oct. 2009. Web. 28 Jan. 2010.
pp. 557-559.

Gilmor’s “splendid black horse, captured during a raid into Pennsylvania”
“always carried with him a thick English robe, in the baggy style, so that he could get into it and thus lie down in the woods and sleep. He was always with a favorite bloodhound who gave timely notice of the approach of strangers.” – Captured with Captain Young under Gen. Sheridan went to Moorefield, WV to a rooming house. When the landlayd said only family were inside, they entered and carefully opening a door on the second floor found Gilmor and — undressed and awake in a bed along with a cousin, at which Young grabbed Gilmor’s pistols from a chair. Gilmor said “Who the devil are you!!?” Major Young of General Sheridan’s scouts.”
From West Virginia. The Capture of the Guerilla Harry Gilmor
Date: Thursday, February 9, 1865 Paper: Sun (Baltimore, MD) Volume: LVI Issue: 71 Page: 1.
genealogybank.com 11 October 2008 Web. 5 September 2014,

Not used:
Newcomer, C. Armour. (1895). “Cole’s Cavalry, or, Three years in the saddle in the Shenandoah Valley.” Baltimore, MD: Cushing. Print.

Newcomer, C. Armour. (1895). “Cole’s Cavalry, or, Three years in the saddle in the Shenandoah Valley.” Internet Archives: Digital Library of Free Books, Movies, Music, and Wayback Machine. 27 Oct. 2009. Web. 1 May 2011.
More:

NARA M384. Compiled military service records of volunteer Union soldiers belonging to units organized for service from the State of Maryland.
Roll: 0098
Military Unit: Second Potomac Home Brigade, Infantry, Al-Whi
Given name: William M
Surname: Duckwall
Age: 19
Year: 1861; Captured Oct. 7th, 1863 Summit Point, died August 28th, 1864, diarrhea, at Andersonville, GA. Interred at Andersonville National Cemetery.
fold3.com footnote.com(fold3.com) 21 October 2010 Web. 30 August 2014.

William Duckwall age 17 in 1860:
NARA M653. Eighth Census of the United States, 1860 population schedules.
Roll: 0944
State: Ohio
County: Clermont
Minor Civil Division: Pierce Township
Page: 31
fold3.com footnote.com(fold3.com) 21 October 2010 Web. 30 August 2014.

NARA M384. Compiled military service records of volunteer Union soldiers belonging to units organized for service from the State of Maryland.
Roll: 0099
Military Unit: Second Potomac Home Brigade, Infantry, Al-Whi
Given name: John W
Surname: Ganoe
Age: 22
Year: 1861
Captured Oct. 7th, 1863 Summit Point, died August 24th, 1864, of “disease,” at Andersonville, GA.
fold3.com footnote.com(fold3.com) 21 October 2010 Web. 30 August 2014.

John W. Ganoe was a 21-year-old laborer, the eldest of eight children, living at the home of his parents in Bath (Berkeley Springs) in Morgan County, VA. His father, Richard, was a plasterer, his mother’s name was Nancy.
NARA M653. Eighth Census of the United States, 1860 population schedules.
Roll: 1364
State: Virginia
County: Morgan
Minor Civil Division: District No 3 Town Of Bath
Page: 52.
fold3.com footnote.com(fold3.com) 21 October 2010 Web. 30 August 2014.

NARA M384. Compiled military service records of volunteer Union soldiers belonging to units organized for service from the State of Maryland.
Roll: 0105
Military Unit: Second Potomac Home Brigade, Infantry, Al-Whi
Given name: Samuel
Surname: Whorton
Age: 32
Year: 1861
Captured Oct. 7, 1863 at Summit Point; died May 17, 1864 at Andersonville, GA.
fold3.com footnote.com(fold3.com) 21 October 2010 Web. 30 August 2014.

Samuel Whorton was a thirty-year-old laborer; with 28-year-old Louisa and they had two children: three-year-old Charles and a two-month old baby girl in 1860.
NARA M653. Eighth Census of the United States, 1860 population schedules.
Roll: 1364
State: Virginia
County: Morgan
Minor Civil Division: District No 3 Town Of Bath
Page: 48
fold3.com footnote.com(fold3.com) 21 October 2010 Web. 30 August 2014.

NARA M384. Compiled military service records of volunteer Union soldiers belonging to units organized for service from the State of Maryland.
Roll: 0100
Military Unit: Second Potomac Home Brigade, Infantry, Al-Whi
Given name: Simon
Surname: Hoffmann
Age: 33
Year: 1861;
Captured Oct. 7, 1863 at Summit Point; paroled in the fall of 1864.
fold3.com footnote.com(fold3.com) 21 October 2010 Web. 30 August 2014.

NARA M384. Compiled military service records of volunteer Union soldiers belonging to units organized for service from the State of Maryland.
Roll: 0101
Military Unit: Second Potomac Home Brigade, Infantry, Al-Whi
Given name: James
Surname: McIntire (Enrolled Sept. 26, 1863, for three years in Charlestown, WV)
Age: [Blank]
Year: 1863
fold3.com footnote.com(fold3.com) 21 October 2010 Web. 30 August 2014.

NARA M324. Compiled service records of Confederate soldiers from Virginia units, labeled with each soldier’s name, rank, and unit, with links to revealing documents about each soldier.
Roll: 0117
Military Unit: Twelfth Cavalry (Tenth Virginia Cavalry)
Given Name: Charles O
Surname: Foreman
Age: [Blank]
Year: 1864; Charles O. Foreman of the Co. A of the 12th Virginia Cavalry was captured Oct. 7, 1863 on the outskirts of Charlestown, Va.; ordered imprisoned at Fort McHenry October 10, 1863 by Gen. Tyler at Charlestown, Va.; sent to Point Lookout, Nov. 1st, 1863; exchanged May 3rd, 1864.
fold3.com footnote.com(fold3.com) 21 October 2010 Web. 30 August 2014.

Seventeen-year-old Charles O. Foreman lived in 1860 in Jefferson County, VA. in the household his parents, 61-year old farmer Jacob, and 51-year old Eliza, with two sisters and a brother.
NARA M653. Eighth Census of the United States, 1860 population schedules.
Roll: 1355
State: Virginia
County: Jefferson
Minor Civil Division: [Blank]
Page: 135
fold3.com footnote.com(fold3.com) 21 October 2010 Web. 30 August 2014.

1850 United States Federal Census about George D Summers
Name: George D Summers
Age: 17
Birth Year: abt 1833
Birthplace: Maryland
Home in 1850:District 2, Washington, Maryland
Gender: Male
Family Number: 750
Household Members:
Name Age
Nathaniel Summers 60
Mary Summers 44
Sylvester Summers 22
George D Summers 17
Lancelot W Summers 13
Darius Summers 11
Alice V Summers 1
Martha E W Summers 6
Sarah M Summers 4
Louisana Summers 2
Nathaniel Summers 0
search.ancestry.com 10 July 1998 Web. 5 September 2014.

“Denton” Summers
NARA M653. Eighth Census of the United States, 1860 population schedules.
Roll: 0483
State: Maryland
County: Washington
Minor Civil Division: Hancock District
Page: 181
fold3.com footnote.com(fold3.com) 21 October 2010 Web. 30 August 2014.

Nine Summers family members interred, including Denton’s sister, Sarah.
Seavolt Rd
Hancock
Washington County
findagrave.com 26 July 2003 Web. 4 September 2014.

U.S. National Cemetery Interment Control Forms, 1928-1962 about Samuel Worton
Name: Samuel Worton
Death Date: 17 May 1864
Cemetery: Andersonville National Cemetery
Burial Location: Andersonville, Georgia
Interment Control Forms, 1928–1962. Interment Control Forms, A1 2110-B. Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, 1774–1985, Record Group 92. The National Archives at College Park, College Park, Maryland.
search.ancestry.com 10 July 1998 Web. 5 September 2014.

A list of the Union soldiers buried at Andersonville (1866). New York: Tribune association. Print.

A list of the Union soldiers buried at Andersonville.” (1866). Internet Archives: Digital Library of Free Books, Movies, Music, and Wayback Machine. 27 Oct. 2009. Web. 28 Jan. 2010.

Image Credits:

Black Ben Davis apple
Beach, S. A.; Booth, N. O.; Taylor, O. M. (1905). “The apples of New York, Vol. 1.” Albany, NY: J. B. Lyon. Print.

Beach, S. A.; Booth, N. O.; Taylor, O. M. (1905). “The apples of New York, Vol. 1.” Internet Archives: Digital Library of Free Books, Movies, Music, and Wayback Machine. 27 Oct. 2009. Web. 28 Jan. 2010.
p. 76.

Gilmor, Harry. (1866). “Four Years in the Saddle.” New York, NY: Harper & Brothers. Print.

Gilmor, Harry. (1866). “Four Years in the Saddle.” Internet Archives: Digital Library of Free Books, Movies, Music, and Wayback Machine. 27 Oct. 2009. Web. 28 Jan. 2010.
frontispiece.

NARA M384. Compiled military service records of volunteer Union soldiers belonging to units organized for service from the State of Maryland.
Roll: 0099
Military Unit: Second Potomac Home Brigade, Infantry, Al-Whi
Givenname: Aguilla S
Surname: Gallion
Age: 44
Year: 1861
fold3.com footnote.com(fold3.com) 21 October 2010 Web. 30 August 2014.

I have found Aquilla and his family in several census records and I also found
his Civil War information. In the census for 1850 in Harford County it looks
like he is living near his brothers James and Alexander.
From: myboylefamilyetc.
archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com 4 April 2008 Web. 2 September 2014.

Gallion Family in 1860
NARA M653. Eighth Census of the United States, 1860 population schedules.
Roll: 0476
State: Maryland
County: Harford
Minor Civil Division: 2nd District Halls X Roads
Page: 240
fold3.com footnote.com(fold3.com) 21 October 2010 Web. 30 August 2014.

Maj._Harry_Gilmor_C.S.A
commons.wikimedia.org 15 September 2004 Web. 2 September 2014.

White House Farm and the death of Capt. Summers
Posted on July 7, 2013 by Robert Moore
cenantua.wordpress.com 6 March 2008 Web. 2 September 2014.

Curt Mason’s images of White House Farm
whitehousefarmwv.org 31 March 2002 Web. 2 September 2014.

White House Farm
wikipedia.org 27 July 2001 Web. 2 September 2014.

Brown, Howell S. “Map of Jefferson County, Virginia From Actual Surveys With Farm Limits, 1852.” Magazine of the Jefferson County Historical Society Vol. XLV. (1979): pp. 1-7. Print.

Brown, S. Howell. (1852). “Map of Jefferson County, Virginia from actual survey with the farm limits.” United States. The Library of Congress: American Memory. “Maps Collection.” loc.gov 27 Oct. 2009 Web. 2 Sept. 2010.
More:

Lewis_Washington
wikipedia.org 27 July 2001 Web. 2 September 2014.

White House Farm springhouse
google.com/maps 8 February 2005 Web. 5 September 2014.

Tombstone John W. Ganoe
findagrave.com 26 July 2003 Web. 4 September 2014.

Photo originally shared by lynholman “George D. Summers, Post No, 13 WV G.A.R.
trees.ancestry.com 26 February 2004 Web. 5September 2014.

Tombstone of Mary Summers, Denton’s mother in Canton, Missouri.
Added by: Linda Trumblee – 12/18/2005
findagrave.com 26 July 2003 Web. 4 September 2014.

Stone for James McIntire
Source Information:
Ancestry.com. Headstones Provided for Deceased Union Civil War Veterans, 1879-1903 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007.
Original data: Card Records of Headstones Provided for Deceased Union Civil War Veterans, ca. 1879-ca. 1903; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M1845, 22 rolls); Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, Record Group 92; National Archives, Washington, D.C.
search.ancestry.com 10 July 1998 Web. 5 September 2014.

“Unionist” (In the Introduction of the post)
Strother, David Hunter; Artists Excursion (W1995.030.016)
images.lib.wvu.edu 20 November 1999 Web. 25 August 2014.

Fattori, Giovanni (1825-1908) “Black Horse in the Sun.”

Hordle Hercules
wikipedia.org 27 July 2001 Web. 2 September 2014.

Beall-Air
wikipedia.org 27 July 2001 Web. 2 September 2014.

Camp Fire by Winslow Homer
Owner/Location: Metropolitan Museum of Art – New York, NY (United States – New York)
Dates: 1877-1878
the-athenaeum.org 23 May 2002 Web. 20 June 2014.

Union Soldiers Accepting a Drink
Eastman Johnson – circa 1865
Owner/Location: Carnegie Museum of Art – Pittsburgh, PA (United States – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania).
the-athenaeum.org 23 May 2002 Web. 20 June 2014.

Man in a Cornfield
Eastman Johnson – Date unknown
the-athenaeum.org 23 May 2002 Web. 20 June 2014.

Union battery taken by surprise
“Battles and Leaders. Vol. 1.” (1887). Robert Underwood Johnson, Clarence Clough Buel (Ed.). New York, NY: Century Co. Print.

“Battles and Leaders Vol. 1.” Internet Archives: Digital Library of Free Books, Movies, Music, and Wayback Machine. 27 Oct. 2009. Web. 26 Sept. 2010.
p. 598.
More:

Diarrhea (Multiple_rotavirus_particles) (not used)
wikipedia.org 27 July 2001 Web. 2 September 2014.

Baltimore Skyline in the 1870s
Library of Congress loc.gov (ghostsofbaltimore.org)
loc.gov/pictures 17 January 2010 Web. 1 September 2014.

King, Edward. (1875) “The Great South; A Record of Journeys in Louisiana, Texas, the Indian Territory, Missouri, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and Maryland: Electronic Edition.” Illustrated by Champney, James Wells. Hartford, Conn.
American Publishing Co. Orint.

“These boats, closely ranged in long rows by the levée.” [Page 52.]
King, Edward. (1875) “The Great South; A Record of Journeys in Louisiana, Texas, the Indian Territory, Missouri, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and Maryland: Electronic Edition.”
docsouth.edu 20 June 2002 Web. 2 September 2014.

(1887). “History of Lewis, Clark, Knox, and Scotland counties, Missouri from the earliest times.” St. Louis : The Goodspeed Publishing Co.

(1887). “History of Lewis, Clark, Knox, and Scotland counties, Missouri from the earliest times.” cdm.sos.mo.gov/ 2 April 2008 Web. 1 September 2014.

At the Well by Winslow Homer
Owner/Location: Private collection
Dates: circa 1887
the-athenaeum.org 23 May 2002 Web. 20 June 2014.

Harry Gilmor Side view
Added by: Garver Graver
findagrave.com 26 July 2003 Web. 4 September 2014.

Mentoria Strong Gilmor
Added by: ron baublitz; 5/17/2013
findagrave.com 26 July 2003 Web. 4 September 2014.

Decoration Day by Howard Pyle
howardpyle.blogspot.com 27 April 2011 Web. 5 September 2014.

The Lively Odyssey of the “John Brown” Courthouse by Jim Surkamp

by Jim Surkamp on September 19, 2014 in CivilianConfederateEnslavementJefferson CountyPre 1858UnionWartime

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VIDEO: The Lively Odyssey of the “John Brown”Courthouse Click Here. TRT: 15:31.
Flickr images: Flickr Images: Click Here.
41 images.

Made possible with the generous support of American Public University System, providing an affordable, quality, online education. The video and post do not reflect any modern-day policies or positions of American Public University System, and their content is intended to encourage discussion and better understanding of the past. More:

Summary:

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From its creation in 1836, this storied courthouse was the focus of the world during the trial of the John Brown raiders in October-November, 1859; then a casualty of shells and minie balls October 18, 1863, then again August 22nd, 1864, and scavenged constantly by souvenir-hunting Union passers-through, reducing it to a roofless, nearly floorless wreck in 1865 – as one wrote “a cesspool from which hope would spring eternal.” In a herculean effort of defiance and grit, the townspeople scraped together some $20,000 to build it again and eventually would get all the county legal functions back into this courthouse from the new opulent, magisterial courthouse built in Shepherdstown by Rezin Davis Shepherd. Then it achieved greatness by having its second treason trial – said to be the only American courthouse with that pedigree – with the trial of miners leader, Bill Blizzard and many others, in 1922.

The Lively Odyssey of the “John Brown” Courthouse

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Berkeley_Jefferson_Map


Charles Washington loved his town – Charlestown. He promised his neighbors: “Make me a new county and I’ll give you a site for a courthouse.” So Charles died in 1799 and Jefferson County was born in 1801; and a small, commodious courthouse went up on the northeast corner of the public square of Charlestown. A bigger, ”born-again” courthouse went up in 1836. Mssrs. Lackland,

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Douglass, and Kennedy helped to buy a $200 parcel just to the north owned by Andrew Hunter, a lawyer. This symbol of town pride reigned as the B&O railroad brought business to the region from Baltimore and Ohio – until the trial in 1859 of John

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Brown for high treason for his raid on the federal armory in Harper’s Ferry. A nation tearing, but not quite divided was riveted on the downstairs courtroom where wounded, but unbending Brown spoke his cause – right up to his death.

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The county’s written memory – deeds, wills, marriages, records – all were whisked away to safety in Lexington, Virginia by County Clerk Thomas A. Moore as the war began.

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civil-war-foragers


Blueocoats and graycoats all swept over the county, shooting, galloping, ducking, raiding pigpens, hayfields, kitchen pantries, as the local, enslaved blacks either caught a ride out following the bluecoats or stayed even closer to the farms and homes they’d help to maintain and build.

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1863: The Courthouse almost lost

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On October 18, 1863, Confederate General John Imboden surrounded the town with his some 2,000 men and eight pieces of artillery

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Imboden shelled the courthouse when its occupiers, some 375 volunteers in the Union’s 9th Maryland infantry regiment, refused to surrender.

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The proud courthouse would fall with the South into ruin. On October 18th, 1863, Confederate General John Imboden surprised a Union garrison, commanded by Lt. Col. Benjamin Simpson in Charlestown.

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(Simpson testified later:)
“I went out and saw a man approaching on horseback with a flag of truce in his hand. ‘Halt! What do you want?’ – ‘General Imboden demands the unconditional surrender of the town.’ ‘If he wants it tell him to come and take it.’ In about five minutes, the gentleman came back. ‘General Imboden requests that you remove all the women and children from the houses in the vicinity of the courthouse and jail, as he intends to shell the town.’ ‘This shall be done, but it will take about an hour. You must think we are foolish.’

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17_a third shot


A shell struck one corner of it and glancing from against the log pailisade exploded. Every shot they fired struck the courthouse. A third shot entered it and exploding in the palisade of the upper story wounded the adjutant (who later died) and one private. There were from ten to twenty shells struck and exploded in the courthouse and around it.

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Simpson reported 250 – or about half – of his men were “wounded, killed, or missing.”

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August 21st-22nd, 1864: Federals are routed back again through Charlestown

Sunday, August 21st, 1864: (James E. Taylor), an artist with General Sheridan’s Army, dined at Sarah Bell’s Sappington Hotel, near the courthouse and after checking his stabled horses, he noticed the Union infantry marching past. “We passed to the courthouse to view the 6th and 8th Corps after their arduous work in holding Early in check on the Smithfield Pike. It would

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require an inspired pen to truly picture the intensified emotion and gloomy silence that pervaded the ranks of the muskateers as they moved by the old temple of justice in the growing night – all in marked contrast to their elastic steps on a bright

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morning a few days earlier, when – with waving banner, martial music and voices that inspired the song – “John Brown’s Body is a harbinger of victory.”

Monday, August 22nd, 1864, Sappington Hotel:
“We could hear the clatter of horses tearing like mad down the Pike and whistling minies splashing against the courthouse wall. Shells began exploding about, the enemy having gotten a battery in position on the west end of town. We whirled wildly away and down a side street in preference to joining the stampeding bluecoats on the bullet-swept street.

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General Anderson’s infantry and General Fitzhugh Lee’s cavalry were driving General Wilson and Alfred N. Duffie’s cavalry divisions from the town and established a line beyond it.

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The courthouse and the county were a ruin in 1865.

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When the war ended and soldiers on both sides limped or wandered home and, blacks either struggled with their new freedom in an unsympathetic, impoverished South or started anew in the North, the courthouse in Charlestown stood a defiled ruin of shattered lifeways, a broken bridge to the past.

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Northern writer John Trowbridge arrived in Charlestown in the fall of 1865 and visited the site of the courthouse:

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A short walk up into the centre of the town took us to the scene of John Brown’s trial. It was a consolation to see that the jail had been laid in ashes, and that the court-house, where the mockery of justice was performed, was a ruin abandoned to rats and toads. Four mossy white brick pillars, still standing, supported a riddled roof, through which God’s blue sky and gracious sunshine smiled. The main portion of the building had been literally torn to pieces. In the floorless hall of justice, rank weeds were growing. Names of Union soldiers were scrawled along the wall. No torch had been applied to the wood-work, but the work of destruction had been performed by the hands of hilarious soldier-boys ripping up floors and pulling down laths and joists to the tune of ‘John Brown’ – the swelling melody of the song and the accompaniment of crashing partitions, reminding the citizens who thought to have destroyed the old hero, that his soul was marching on.

25_Shepherdstowns brand new courthouse


Useless as a keeper of the sacred records, the County Courthouse was officially moved to Shepherdstown’s brand-new courthouse, built from the generous coin of Rezin Davis Shepherd.

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Image courtesy Lloyd Osterdorf Estate
Charlestown’s old courthouse “stood naked, disgraced,” reflecting the Town’s broken spirit. The courthouse and jail had been picked over for four years by Union soldiers and souvenir-hunters, leaving just the bare walls of the stone courthouse.

An 1869 visitor from Chicago walked down Charlestown’s streets: “The ruined courthouse and jail have been despoiled by soldiers to make quarters and tens of thousands of men have marched through Charlestown singing ‘John Brown’s Body lies mouldering in the grave, his soul is marching on.’ The courthouse maintains its walls and outlines; and the four brick and plastered Doric columns are still standing. But the roof is reduced to a few beams. The whole interior is torn out. and the edifice now only has one floor, a cellar, and, to speak truthfully, the cesspool of all the vagrants of the village. To look into the interior is to feel revolted, yet to say: ‘This place is accursed.’”

DHS.Connelsville.Railway.Joseph.Chapline.WVU


But pride and hope spring eternal, even from a cesspool. Charlestown’s town pride was lit by a scheme of Shepherdstown leaders to buy up and forever prevent the old courthouse from rising again from the ashes. (With) that move blocked, Charlestown’s artisans and leaders scraped together a plan to rebuild their courthouse at half of what they believed was the price for the Shepherdstown structure, trying to keep the budget for their courthouse at less than $20,000. And they succeeded, coming in at $18,500.

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Diderot_Making_Bell_Mold


Then in August, 1871, with the State Legislature siding with returning the county seat to Charlestown, Charlestown worked and plastered and sawed, hammered and poured and painted – until on December 21st, 1872, Mr. Woodman of the Howard Watch & Clock Company of Boston eased the beautiful clock onto the courthouse cupola, aided by a handsome, deep-toned bell, courtesy of the Troy Manufacturing Company.

The_old_Court_House_at_Charlestown,_Jefferson_County,_Virginia,_where_John_Brown_was_tried;_it_stands_diagonal_across_the_street_from_the_jail_(1906)
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“Our church-going friends,” wrote Mr. (John S.) Gallaher, the editor of The Virginia Free Press, “will have an opportunity of noting the time for preparing for church on time by the clear, distinct tones of the clock.”

Fed up with the droves of tourists wanting to see the John Brown courtroom, the new building was designed so that it had offices on the first floor in its place.

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Moreover, for almost the next four decades, the elegant courtroom upstairs was used as only one of three circuit stops for the state Supreme Court of Appeals.

A visitor in September, 1894, wrote: Charles Town, WV (Named now made into two words-JS) contrasts most favorably with Harper’s Ferry, being as neat and thrifty as the other is shabby. Of course, you drive at once to the courthouse which is, partly, the building in which John Brown was tried. The walls cover the same space, and the pillars in front are in the same position, although higher; and walking through the lower hall to the rear, you can pass over the very space John Brown’s mattress lay. But all the lower floor is now devoted to offices and the courtroom is up one flight.

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Standing in the doorway was a pleasant-looking gentleman, apparently forty-five years of age, smoking a corn-cob pipe and, in it, the fragrant, natural-leaf.

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The 20th Century

As time went on, business went on. The courthouse grew bigger, adding an annex in 1910. A young “Bud” Morgan remembered Charles Town in the nineteen-teens. (He wrote): A great sight each summer day was the row of Confederate veterans, sitting on the east end of the courthouse wall. About twelve to fifteen of them gathered there every day – some in tattered uniforms, some missing an arm or a leg, but all happy and cheerful, joking and kidding with all who passed by.

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They were the most highly honored and respected men in the County. I was a favorite with them because some had served in the 1st Virginia cavalry, of which my grand-father, William A. Morgan, was colonel.

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At another celebrated treason trial in this building – that of miner-leader, Bill Blizzard in 1922 – the town’s women demurely vied with news reporters for the prized 150 seats in the courtroom.

Juries still give verdicts there. The gavel still drops, and lives of all kinds are thus changed forever at the Jefferson County Courthouse.

39_Juries still give verdicts there

References:

1. Howe, Henry. (1852). “Historical Collections of Virginia.” Charleston, S.C.: W. R. Babcock. Print.

Howe, Henry. (1852). “Historical Collections of Virginia.” Internet Archives: Digital Library of Free Books, Movies, Music, and Wayback Machine. 27 Oct. 2009. Web. 12 Feb. 2012.
pp. 341-343.

2. “‘They Are Coming!: Testimony at the Court of Inquiry on Imboden’s Capture of Charles Town,” edited by Paul E. Barr, Jr., and Michael P. Musick. Magazine of the Jefferson County Historical Society. Vol. LIV. (December, 1988).

3. October 18, 1863 – Battle of Charlestown, Va.

Volume XXIX – in Two Parts. 1890. (Vol. 29, Chap. 41); Chapter XLI – Operations in North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. August 4-December 31, 1863. Digital Library. Cornell University. 28 August 2004 Web. 10 July 2011.

Part I – Reports
3a. Report of Union Col. George D. Wells
p. 487.

3b. Report of Union Lt. Col. Benjamin L. Simpson (states his loss is 250 (“killed, wounded, and missing”). Digital Library. Cornell University. 28 August 2004 Web. 10 July 2011.
p. 489.

3c. Report of Confederate Brig. Gen. John D. Imboden (states he captured “numbering 400 and 500 men & officers”). Digital Library. Cornell University. 28 August 2004 Web. 10 July 2011.
p. 490.

4. August 21st, 1864 – Battle of Charlestown, WVa.

Series I – Volume XLIII – Chapter LV in Two Parts: Official records of the Union and Confederate armies

Part I – Operations in Northern Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. August 4-December 31, 1864. Reports, Union and Confederate Correspondence, etc. Digital Library. Cornell University. 28 August 2004 Web. 10 July 2011.

Part II – Operations in Northern Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. August 4-December 31, 1864. Union and Confederate Correspondence, etc. Digital Library. Cornell University. 28 August 2004 Web. 10 July 2011.
More:

5. Sanders, (Hon.) David H. “The Story of the Jefferson County Courthouse.” The Magazine of the Jefferson County Historical Society. (December, 1996). Vol. LXII, Print.

6. Trowbridge, John T. (1866). “The South: a tour of its battlefields and ruined cities, a journey through the desolated states, and talks with the people: being a decription of the present state of the country – its agriculture – railroads – business and finances.” Hartford, Conn., L. Stebbins. Print.

Trowbridge, John T. (1866).” The South: a tour of its battlefields and ruined cities, a journey through the desolated states, and talks with the people: being a decription of the present state of the country – its agriculture – railroads -business and finances.” Internet Archives: Digital Library of Free Books, Movies, Music, and Wayback Machine. 27 Oct. 2009. Web. 12 Feb. 2012.
– pp. 69-73.
– More:

(p. 69) The Trip to Charlestown

“One morning I took the train up the Valley to Charles Town, distant from Harper’s Ferry eight miles.

“The railroad was still in the hands of the government. There were military guards on the platforms, and about an equal mixture of Loyalists and Rebels within the cars. Furloughed soldiers, returning to their regiments at Winchester or Staunton, occupied seats with Confederate officers just out of their uniforms. The strong, dark, defiant self-satisfied face typical of the second-rate ‘chivalry’ and the good-natured, shrewd inquisitive physiognomy of the Yankee speculator going to look at Southern lands, were to be seen side-by-side in curious contrast. There also rode the well-dressed wealthy planter, who had been to Washington to solicit pardon for his treasonable acts, and the humble freedman returning to the home from which he had been driven by violence, when the war closed and left him free. Mothers and daughters of the first families of Virginia sat serene and uncomplaining in the atmosphere of mothers and daughters of the despised races late their slaves or their neighbors, but now citizens like themselves, free to go and come and as clearly entitled to places in the government train as the proudest dames of the land.

“We passed through a region of country stamped all over by the devastating heel of war. For miles not a fence or cultivated field was visible. ‘It is just like this all the way up the Shenandoah Valley,’ said a gentleman at my side, a Union man from Winchester. ‘The wealthiest people with us are now the poorest. With hundreds of acres they can’t raise a dollar. Their slaves have (p. 70) left them and they have no money, even if they have the disposition to hire the freed people.’

“I suggested that farms, under such circumstances should be for sale at low rates. ‘They should be, but your Southern aristocrat is a monomaniac on the subject of owning land. He will part with his acres about as willingly as he will part with his life. If the Valley had not been the best part of Virginia, it would long ago have been spoiled by the ruinous system of agriculture in use here. Instead of tilling thoroughly a small farm, a man fancies he is doing a wise thing by half-tilling a large one. Slave labor is always slovenly and unproductive. But everything is being revolutionized now. Northern men and northern methods are coming into this Valley as sure as water runs downhill. It is the greatest corn, wheat and grass country in the world. The only objection is that in spots the limestone crops out a good deal. There was scarcely anything raised this season except grass; you could see hundreds of acres of that, waving breast-high without a fence.’

“At the end of a long hour’s ride, we arrived at Charles Town, chiefly of interest to me as the place of John Brown’s martyrdom. We alighted from the train on the edge of boundless unfenced fields, into whose melancholy solitudes the desolate streets emptied themselves – rivers to that ocean of weeds. The town resembled to my eye some unprotected female sitting, sorrowful on the wayside, in tattered and faded apparel, with unkempt tresses fallen negligently about features which might once have been attractive.”

“On the steps of a boarding house I found an acquaintance whose countenance gleamed with pleasure ‘at sight,’ as he said, ‘of a single loyal face in that nest of secession.’ He had been two or three days in the place waiting for luggage which had been miscarried.

“‘They are all Rebels here – all rebels!’ he exclaimed as he took his cane and walked with me. ‘They are a pitiable poverty-stricken set, there is no money in the place, and scarcely anything to eat. We have for breakfast salt-fish, (p.71) fried potatoes and treason. Fried potatoes, treason, and salt-fish for dinner. At supper, the fare is slightly varied, and we have treason, salt-fish potatoes, and a little more treason. My landlady’ s daughter is Southern fire incarnate; and she illustrates Southern politeness by abusing Northern people and the government from morning ‘till night, for my especial edification. Sometimes I venture to answer her, when she flies at me, figuratively speaking, like a cat. The women are not the only out-spoken Rebels, although they are the worst. The men don’t hesitate to declare their sentiments, in season and out of season.’

“My friend concluded with this figure: ‘The war feeling here is like a burning bush with a wet blanket wrapped around it. Looked at from the outside, the fire seems quenched. But just peep under the blanket and there it is, all alive and eating, eating in. The wet blanket is the present government policy; and every act of conciliation shown the Rebels is just letting in so much air to feed the fire.’

Description of the courthouse:
“A short walk up into the centre of the town took us to the scene of John Brown’s trial. It was a consolation to see that the jail had been laid in ashes, and that the court-house, where the mockery of justice was performed, was a ruin abandoned to rats and toads. Four mossy white brick pillars, still standing, supported a riddled roof, through which God’s blue sky and gracious sunshine smiled. The main portion of the building had been literally torn to pieces. In the floorless hall of justice, rank weeds were growing. Names of Union soldiers were scrawled along the wall. No torch had been applied to the wood-work, but the work of destruction had been performed by the hands of hilarious soldier-boys ripping up floors and pulling down laths and joists to the tune of ‘John Brown’ – the swelling melody of the song and the accompaniment of crashing partitions, reminding the citizens who thought to have destroyed the old hero, that his soul was marching on.”

“It was also a consolation to know that the court-house and the jail would probably never be rebuilt, the county seat having been removed from Charles Town to Shepherdstown” – (p. 72) ‘forever’ say the resolute loyal citizens of Jefferson County, who refuse to vote it back again.

“As we were taking comfort, reflecting how unexpectedly at last justice had been done at that court-house, the townspeople passed on the sidewalk, ‘daughters and sons of beauty,’ for they were mostly a fine-looking, spirited class; one of whom, at a question which I put to him, stopped quite willingly and talked with us. I have seldom seen a handsome young face, a steadier eye, or more decided pose and aplomb, neither have I ever seen the outward garment of courtesy so plumply filled out with the spirit of arrogance. His brief replies spoken with a pleasant countenance, yet with short, sharp downward inflections, were like pistol shots. Very evidently the death of John Brown, and the war that came swooping down the old man’s path to avenge him, and to accomplish the work wherein he failed, were not pleasing subjects to this young southern blood. And no wonder. His coat had an empty sleeve. The arm which should have been there had been lost fighting against his country. His almost savage answers did not move me; but all the while I looked with compassion at his fine young face, and that pendant idle sleeve. He had fought against his country; his country had won; and he was of those who had lost, not arms and legs only, but all they had been madly fighting for, and more, – prosperity, prestige and power. His beautiful South was devastated, and her soil drenched with the best blood of her young men. Whether regarded as a crime or a virtue, the folly of making war upon the mighty North was now demonstrated, and the despised Yankees had proved conquerors of the chivalry of the South. ‘Well may your thoughts be bitter,’ my heart said, as I thanked him for his information.

“To my surprise he seemed mollified, his answers losing their explosive quality and sharp downward inflection. He even seemed inclined to continue the conversation and as we passed we left him on the sidewalk looking after us wistfully, as if the spirit working within him had still no word to say different from any he had yet spoken. What his (p. 73) secret thoughts were, standing there with his dangling sleeve, it would be interesting to know.

“Walking through town we came to other barren and open fields on the further side. Here we engaged a bright young colored girl to guide us to the spot where John Brown’s gallows stood. She led us into the wilderness of weeds waist-high to her as she tramped on, parting them before her with her hands. The country all around us lay utterly desolate without enclosures, and without cultivation. We seemed to be striking out into the rolling prairies of the West, except that these fields of ripening and fading weeds had not the summer freshness of the prairie-grass. A few scattering groves skirted them; and here and there a fenceless road drew its winding, dusty line away over the arid hills. ‘This is about where it was, ’ said the girl, after searching some time among the tall weeds. ‘Nobody knows now just where the gallows stood. There was a tree here, but that has been cut down and carried away, stump and roots and all, by folks that wanted something to remember John Brown by. Every soldier took a piece of it, if it was only a little chip.’ So widely and deeply had the dying old hero impressed his spirit upon his countrymen; affording the last great illustration of the power of Truth to render even the gallows venerable, and to glorify an ignominious death.

“I stood on the spot the girl pointed out to us, amid the gracefully drooping golden rods, and looked at the same sky old John Brown looked his last upon, and the same groves and the distant Blue Ridge, the sight of whose cerulean summits, clad in Sabbath tranquility and softest heavenly light, must have conveyed a sweet assurance to his soul.

“Then I turned and looked at the town, out of which flocked the curious crowds to witness his death. Over the heads of the spectators, over the heads of soldiery surrounding him, his eye ranged until arrested by one strangely prominent object. There it still stands on the outskirts of the town, between it and the fields – a church (Zion Episcopal Church – ED) pointing its silent finger to heaven and recalling to the earnest heart those texts of Scripture from (p. 74) which John Brown drew his inspiration and for the truth of which he willingly gave his life.

“I had the curiosity to stop at this church on our way back to the town. The hand of ruin had smitten it. Only the brick walls and zinc-covered spire remained uninjured. The belfry had been broken open, the windows demolished. The doors were gone. Within, you saw a hollow thing, symbolical. Two huge naked beams extended from end-to-end of the empty walls which were scribbled over with soldiers’ names, and with patriotic mottoes interesting for proud Virginians to read. The floors had been torn up and consumed in cooking soldiers’ rations, and the foul and trampled interior showed plainly what use it had served. The church, which overlooked John’s Brown’s martyrdom, and under whose roof his executioners assembled afterwards to worship, not the God of the poor and the oppressed, but the god of the slaveholder and the aristocrat had been converted into a stable.”

7. A. M. S. Morgan, (1988). “Charles Town, 1912-1924: A Boy’s Eye-view of Charles Town and Its People.” Charles Town, WV: self-published. Print.

A. M. S. Morgan, (1988). “Charles Town, 1912-1924: A Boy’s Eye-view of Charles Town and Its People.” books.google.com December, 2004 Web. 2 September 2014.

Image Credits:

1. Charles Washington and site of his home Happy Retreat images posted by Michael Gavin
findagrave.com 26 July 2003 Web. 4 September 2014.

2-3. Images of Harpers Ferry (used in video), Charlestown, Va.
Howe, Henry. (1852). “Historical Collections of Virginia.” Charleston, S.C.: W. R. Babcock. Print.

Howe, Henry. (1852). “Historical Collections of Virginia.” Internet Archives: Digital Library of Free Books, Movies, Music, and Wayback Machine. 27 Oct. 2009. Web. 12 Feb. 2012.
Harpers Ferry – p. 334.
Charlestown – p. 342.

4. (used in video) Andrew Hunter
wvculture.org 2 March 2000 Web. 1 Oct. 2011.

5. Sketched by Porte Crayon, reproduced from Leslie’s Illustrated Weekly. Brown is pictured lying on a stretcher, still recovering from the sword wound inflicted by Israel Green. wvculture.org 2 March 2000 Web. 1 Oct. 2011.

Home page of David Hunter Strother Collection:
West Virginia Regional and History Collection
images.lib.wvu.edu 20 November 1999 Web. 25 May 2014.

6. Strother, David Hunter; John Brown on Trial, Oct. 26, 1859, Charleston, Va. (W1995.030.394pg29)
images.lib.wvu.edu 20 November 1999 Web. 25 May 2014.

7. Strother, David Hunter; Charleston, Va. The Execution of John Brown, December 2nd 1859 (W1995.030.374). images.lib.wvu.edu 20 November 1999 Web. 25 May 2014.

8. (used in video) The Trial Of John Brown, At Charlestown, Virginia, For Treason And Murder, Harper’s Weekly, 12 November 1859 – Porte Crayon (David Hunter Strother), Harper’s Weekly, November 12, 1859

9. (used in video) Courthouse Charlestown, Va., 1859 – Frank Leslie’s illustrated newspaper, v. 8, no. 207 (1859 Nov. 19), p. 383.

10. (used in video) [Rappahannock River, Va. Fugitive African Americans fording the Rappahannock]
Digital ID: (digital file from original neg.) Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540. loc.gov 4 May 1999 Web. 20 May 2014.

11. (used in video) Five generations on Smith’s Plantation, Beaufort, South Carolina
Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540
loc.gov 4 May 1999 Web. 20 May 2014.

12-14. 9th Maryland soldiers, p. 39; courthouse, p. 28 (Lloyd Osterdorf Estate); Lt. Col. Simpson, p. 21.
“‘They Are Coming!’: Testimony at the Court of Inquiry on Imboden’s Capture of Charles Town,” in “Jefferson County Historical Magazine,” LIV, Dec. 1988, Paul E. Barr, Jr., and Michael P. Musick, eds.

August 21-22, 1864 – Battle of Charlestown, WV.

15. Alfred_N._Duffié
wikipedia.org 27 July 2001 Web. 20 May 2014.

16. (used in video) Sketch of Engagement at Charlestown, Va., Sunday Aug. 21st, 1864
baylor.edu 9 May 1997 Web. 20 June 2014.

17. James_H._Wilson
wikipedia.org 27 July 2001 Web. 20 May 2014.

18. Richard_H._Anderson
wikipedia.org 27 July 2001 Web. 20 May 2014.

19. (used in video) Marching
youtube.com 4 January 2012 Web. 4 September 2014.

20. (used in video) John Brown’s body / J. Weldon Norris Chorale [sound recording]
J. Weldon Norris Chorale; Place of Publication/Creation: Washington, D.C.; Published/Created: 2003. Type of Material: sound recording-musical; Publisher: unpublished; Form: sound recording.Physical Description: 1 digital audiotape: Note: Stand alone recording specifically for IHAS; Permissions note: This recording of “John Brown’s Body” made here with permission from the James Weldon Norris Chorale. loc.gov 4 May 1999 Web. 20 May 2014.

21. (used in video) Title: Gardner’s photographic sketch book of the war.
Other Title: Photographic sketchbook of the war
Creator(s): Gardner, Alexander, 1821-1882.,
Related Names: Waud, Alfred R. (Alfred Rudolph), 1828-1891 , artist
Date Created/Published: Washington : Philp & Solomons, [1866]
Medium: 2 v. : ill. ; 32 x 43 cm. loc.gov 4 May 1999 Web. 20 May 2014. p. 98 – Sheridan lying on the ground
p. 108 – horse halt

22. (detail of Union guards) Confederate prisoners at Fairfax Courthouse, Virginia
memory.loc.gov 4 May 1999 Web. 20 May 2014.

23. File:Frank Blackwell Mayer – Independence (Squire Jack Porter) – Google Art Project.jpg
commons.wikimedia.org 15 September 2004 Web. 20 April 2014.

24. Returning home after the war
artsbma.org 14 May 1998 Web. 2 September 2014.

25. Dinah, Portrait of a Negress
Eastman Johnson (American painter, 1824-1906)
b-womeninamericanhistory19.blogspot.com 20 December 2011 Web. 2 September 2014.
AND
the-athenaeum.org 23 May 2002 Web. 20 June 2014.

26. Denis Diderot – Making the Bell mold
Fonte des Cloches (Manufacturing Bells)
(France , c. 1770s). Diderot Pictorial Encyclopedia of Trades and Industry, Vol. 2.

27. (used in video) Image of man writing
Self-Portrait In this self-portrait, Eastman Johnson labors over a desk in a warmly lit room, most likely his Manhattan studio on Washington Square. The painting’s dark palette and quiet mood recall seventeenth-century Dutch genre paintings, whose style Johnson absorbed while studying at The Hague in the Netherlands. Some of the small framed paintings in the background were probably acquired during the artist’s time abroad, and the canvas itself is an artifact from that period of his life: x-radiographs reveal that Johnson painted this work over a copy of a Dutch portrait. Artist: Eastman Johnson, American, 1824-1906. Medium: Oil on canvas; Dates: ca. 1865-1870; Dimensions: 9 3/4 x 7 13/16 in. (24.8 x 19.9 cm): Signature: Signed lower left: “E. Johnson” 2 September 2014. brooklynmuseum.org 18 June 2012 Web.

28. John_Townsend_Trowbridge
wikipedia.org 27 July 2001 Web. 20 May 2014.

29. WV State Capitol early 1870s
Courtesy Julius Jones
wvculture.org 2 March 2000 Web. 1 Oct. 2011.

30. John Shannon Gallaher
Baylor, George. (1900).”Bull Run to Bull Run: Four years in the army of northern Virginia.” Richmond, VA: B. F. Johnson Publishing. Print.

Baylor, George. (1900).”Bull Run to Bull Run: Four years in the army of northern Virginia.”Internet Archives: Digital Library of Free Books, Movies, Music, and Wayback Machine. 27 Oct. 2009. Web. 1 March 2011.
p. 153.
More:

31. (used in video) Side view of a well-dressed man, 1890s
Pierce Bartlett
wikipedia.org 27 July 2001 Web. 20 May 2014.

32. Older William A. M. Morgan
wvhistoryonview.org 9 October 2010 Web. 2 September 2014.

33. (used in video) Jefferson County Courthouse, 1930s
loc.gov 4 May 1999 Web. 20 May 2014.

34. Soldiers singing
“McClellan Is Our Man”
Harper’s Weekly, August 2, 1862 P. 492
sonofthesouth.net start date unavailable Web. 2 September 2014.

35. Image of young “Bud” Morgan (used in video)
A. M. S. Morgan, (1988). “Charles Town, 1912-1924: A Boy’s Eye-view of Charles Town and Its People.” Charles Town, WV: self-published. Print.

A. M. S. Morgan, (1988). “Charles Town, 1912-1924: A Boy’s Eye-view of Charles Town and Its People.” books.google.com December, 2004 Web. 2 September 2014.

Chewy Morsel #5 – 10-Year-Old “Danske” Slays With Her Poetic Pen by Jim Surkamp

by Jim Surkamp on April 19, 2016 in Jefferson County

Danske_Inspired_Write_Montage
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The hewn timbers still smoking of her childhood home nearby, 54-year-old Henrietta Bedinger Lee, her 20-year-old daughter, “Netta” and the 54-year-old, freed family servant, Peggy Washington, sought refuge at Poplar Grove, where the widow of Henrietta’s brother, Caroline (or Carrie) lived with her children Minnie (Mary) Danske (Caroline), step-daughter Virginia (“Diddie”) and freedman 49-year-old Abram Dixon.

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Precocious ten-year-old Danske – the one born with “ink in her blood to write,” was likely stunned by the sight of her neighbors and next-of-kin suddenly bereft of home and past, standing on their porch.

Henry_Bedinger


Caroline (whose nickname “Danske” or “little Dane” came from being born in Denmark when her fathered ambassador’d there), had already announced to herself and the world. In a hasty hand, she had written: “Poetic numbers swelling from my soul will have their vent for it is my destiny to write.“

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Gen. David Hunter
Earlier that July 19th, 1864 as the work of burning homes was winding down, Federal Captain Franklin G. Martindale, the one given the order to burn Henrietta’s home by Federal General David Hunter, made a spectacular error in judgement by personally approaching Henrietta to say he was sorry for incinerating her blessed childhood home and to offer his pity.:

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Benjamin_Franklin_Bedinger_MD+younger

Henrietta wrote a relative:
Henrietta Bedinger Lee
Benjamin Franklin Bedinger
I was standing on the lawn gazing at the awful conflagration for all the outbuildings were burning at the same time. Then with the most self important and swaggering step Martindale approached me and dared to offer me his pity. “I scorn your pity,” I cried “You talk of pity, after such an act as this, it is mockery indeed, the qualities of mercy and pity are strangers to your heart.”

She continued:
But dear it would make this letter too long to tell you all the burning words that fell from my tongue, let it suffice to say I was warm enough to give it to him in round numbers I assure you. One lady said to one “What did you say to that man? He went away looking like a whipped dog.” Well he was a whipped dog.

Bedford_1864_Hotchkiss_Map_marked


But my home, my blessed lovely home! The fire ran from base to dome, and as the all devouring pitiless flames snapped each wire; the bell of that dear home tolled out its dirge.

What is it now? The blackened walls, the frightful skeleton of what was once so fair looms up against the sky and the wind as it sighs around the ruin whispers: “Man’s inhumanity to man, Makes countless thousands mourn” The trailing vines are scorched and dead! The flowers bloom there no more; and the bright silver streams, which so added to its beauty and grace glide in its desolation murmuring a perpetual requiem for that dead home.

The “ink ran” in Aunt Henrietta’s blood too.

Danske carefully listened to her heart and went to her pen:

When, on September 19th, 1862, Poplar Grove was the center of random artillery shelling from Federal batteries on Maryland’s Ferry Hill, all of Danske’s family hurried and became safely ensconced in their cellar.

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But eight-year-old Danske stayed behind despite the family’s pleadings to join them in the room below. Finally she closed her reading matter, R. M. Ballantyne’s ‘Coral Island’ and remarked: ‘Now I can tell my descendants that I finished a book during a battle!’

portrait_girl_Danske_brightened


Danske, now almost two years later and worn by war, pondered her next of kin in her own home, clawed by war with fresh wounds and no home. Danske wrote in a hasty hand:

Browne,_Henriette_-_A_Girl_Writing;_The_Pet_Goldfinch_-_Google_Art_Project_Matte

To Hunter:

David_Hunter


O cruel serpent. King of scorpions thou.
Curse on thy barb’rous act!
May never the Goddess of Pity send her smile
Upon thy blasted heart!
Behold on yonder verdant hill a house once stood.
It was the house of love, of peace and glee.
How soon that home was rendered desolate
By whom? Oh Hunter ’twas by thee!

JubalEarly
image005-1

After this and after Confederate General Jubal Early burned most of the structures of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania in a failed attempt to obtain ransomed compensation for the Lees and two other families, President Lincoln sidelined Gen. Hunter, forbade such home burnings, and ordered Gen. Phil Sheridan to burn in the “breadbasket” Shenandoah Valley, all means of creating and storing food and food itself whether it be grain or could walk four footed down the Valley Pike. But, Lincoln also wrote, no homes.

portrait_girl_Danske_brightened

Made possible with the generous, community-minded support of American Public University System. Views in these posts and related videos do not reflect in any way the modern-day policies of the University. More:

References:

Henry B. Lee (1849-1901)
1860 Census Jefferson County, Shepherdstown, P. 79.

Memories of Serena K. Dandridge, daughter of Danske Dandridge, granddaughter of Caroline Bedinger – Duke Manuscript Division, Perkins Collection, Dandridge Papers

The Letters of Henrietta Bedinger Lee – Shepherd University Library.

U. S. Federal Mortality Schedule Index, 1850-1889
Abram Dixon fell from a tree in Uvilla, West Virginia, January, 1880, aged 65 years.

Image Credits:

Danske Dandridge, Carrie Bedinger, Mary (Minnie) Bedinger – Duke University Perkins Collection – Dandridge Collection

Henrietta Lee, Nettie Lee, Harry Lee – Lucy Tonacci, Goldsborough Collection.

Likeness of Abram Dixon – David Hunter Strother Collection, West Virginia University Library.

Likeness of Peggy Washington – King, Edward. (1875). “The Great South; A Record of Journeys in Louisiana, Texas, the Indian Territory, Missouri, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and Maryland:” Illustrated by Champney, James Wells. Hartford, Conn. American Publishing Co. Print.

David Hunter, Jubal Early – wikipedia.org

Henriette Brown: Enfant écrivant (ca 1860)

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Chewy Morsel #8 – A Riddle You Can Solve

by Jim Surkamp on May 20, 2016 in Jefferson County

Chewy Morsel #8 A Riddle You Can Solve

Bill_Grantham

So. There is a house built in 1773 but it was torn down in 1929. And its latest generation of the owners is sitting on the porch of a house.

And the porch looks VERY much the same as the porch of the razed house – it was called Tudor Hall – when Federal General James H. Wilson and his staff were staying there in August 20, 1864 according to an eyewitness, named James E. Taylor.

James_E_Taylor_P_229_Tudor_Hall_porch

Question for you –

Is this porch of a house called Tudor Hall, as it looked in the 1980s . . . the same

PTDC2065 (1)

porch of a house on the same property called Tudor Hall by the person who sketched it in this drawing in 1864?

Taylor_P_227_Tudor_hall_Cropped

And, is this porch for the same house – the artist said it is Tudor Hall – where Federal General James Wilson and his staff were lingering?

Jamesharrisonwilson

How is that possible?

The answer is from Bill Grantham in his video interview:

Bill_Grantham

The original Tudor Hall (which is not what you’re seeing. The original house was torn down in 1929 and rebuilt in 1930). It is built out of a large portion of what was salvaged out of the original house. All of the woodwork in Tudor Hall is 1820s woodwork. The windows are not. I just found that they are 1920s or 1930s windows. The front porch which I’m sitting on was left standing – jacked up. (They) tore down the house and (built) the house back up in accordance – to make it look decent (and) correct with the front porch. That’s basically how they did it.

NOTE: In Taylor’s drawing of Tudor Hall, he draws a different roof to the porch that appears in the two photographs of same. Taylor in his work in Jefferson County has a pattern of liberty-taking in visual detail. Elsewhere in his collection, he misportays the home of Charles Washington Happy Retreat and in th edetail of the tower of the R.D. Shepherd town building in Shepherdstown, than what is known to be their actual details. – JS

Made possible with the generous, community-minded support of American Public University System. Views in these posts and related videos do not reflect in any way the modern-day policies of the University. More at: http://apus.edu

References:

Bill Grantham

Series I – Volume XLIII – Chapter LV in Two Parts: Official records of the Union and Confederate armies – See more at: http://

Part II – Operations in Northern Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. August 4-December 31, 1864. Union and Confederate Correspondence, etc. Digital Library. Cornell University. 28 August 2004 Web. 10 July 2011.

Miller, Francis Trevelyan. (1911). “The photographic history of the civil war.” Volume 4. New York, NY: The Review of Reviews Co.

Miller, Francis Trevelyan. (1911). “The photographic history of the civil war.” Volume 4. Internet Archives 1997 Web. 10 May 2016.
p. 281.

Image Credits:

James E. Taylor

Adams, Julia D. (1990).”Between the Shenandoah and the Potomac: Historic Homes of Jefferson County, West Virginia.” Jefferson County Historical Society. p. 109.

Chewy Morsel #1 – Where “The Rebel Yell” First Got Yelled by Jim Surkamp

by Jim Surkamp on January 12, 2016 in Jefferson County

Rare Footage of Civil War Veterans Doing the Rebel Yell.
https://web.archive.org/web/20160729022932if_/https://www.youtube.com/embed/s6jSqt39vFM?feature=oembed

Whether it was a yell heard in clashes in ancient Scotland or from a Commanche on the Plains, the spine-chilling yell that became known as the “Rebel Yell” – the one that historian Shelby Foote described as “a foxhunt yip mixed up with sort of a banshee squall” – was first ululated around July 18-19, 1861 on a road a little east of Winchester, Va. en route to Berry’s Ferry and en route to the first major engagement of the Civil War at Manassas/Bull Run

Opie_Yella


Or so contended John N. Opie, a young cavalryman with the Virginia 6th Cavalry with that group and with J.E.B., Stuart’s First Virginia Cavalry in its nascent state. He wrote:

. . . our disgruntled army moved towards the Blue Ridge Mountains. We were all completely at a loss to comprehend the meaning of our retrograde movement, until a general order was read, informing us that we were marching to the relief of Beauregard at Manassas, where a great battle was imminent. At this news, the whole army set up a continuous yell. It was the first Rebel yell, which afterward became so familiar to friend and foe. – Opie, p. 25.

Made possible with the generous, community-minded support of American Public University System. Views in these posts and related videos do not reflect in any way the modern-day policies of the University. More:

Reference:

Opie, John N. (1899). “A rebel cavalryman with Lee, Stuart, and Jackson.” Chicago, W. B. Conkey company. Print.

Opie, John N. (1899). “A rebel cavalryman with Lee, Stuart, and Jackson.” hathitrust.org 19 September 2008 Web. 6 January 2016.

Newton Baker’s Remarkable Son (Pt. 4 of 4) by Jim Surkamp

by Jim Surkamp on February 1, 2016 in Jefferson County

1865

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April_1865_moon


Weather: rainy all day

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33. APRIL 23, 1865 – WINCHESTER, VA. – NEWTON D. BAKER GIVES THE OATH OF ALLEGIANCE AND IS PAROLED TO GO HOME. ON FEBRUARY 21, 1865, HIS COUSIN, JAMES MARTIN BILLMYER, AS THE REGIMENT’S ACTING ADJUTANT SINCE FEB. 12th, APPROVED PAYMENT TO BAKER OF $3,300 FOR THE DEATH ON AUG. 19th, 1864 OF HIS HORSE, THE VALUE OF WHICH, BILLMYER RECORDED “WAS APPRAISED BY THE REGULARLY APPOINTED BOARD AT THE TIME OF MUSTERING INTO SERVICE.”

The_Shepherdstown-Bakers_1850s

Elias died in May, 1867, still Shepherdstown’s postmaster. Mrs. Baker assumed the post until April, 1869. Newton finished his studies, begun before the war at Wittenberg College, first being

John_Quigley_named_dated

mentored by his esteemed neighbor Dr. John Quigley, then graduating from the University of Maryland’s Medical School in 1868. Dr. Quigley conveyed his patient load to the young Dr. Baker who soon left to start a family in Martinsburg.

Elias Baker was devoted to the Union, received an appointment from President Lincoln as postmaster at Shepherdstown, and retained the Federal office throughout the War. Son Newton Baker, as a member of the Cavalry commanded by Jeb Stuart, fought at Gettysburg, was captured, and exchanged to fight again at Richmond. . . but had a tolerant attitude that was one of his strongest qualities. He felt that the War ended with Lee’s surrender and he was willing to accept the Northern victory. . . . When the Civil War ended Newton D. began to read the entire Encyclopaedia Britannica in an attempt to compensate for the college education that had been interrupted by four years with Stuart’s cavalry. The country doctor found his practice too preoccupying and lost himself in darkest Africa while working on the A’s. – Cramer pp. 13-15; pp. 19-20.

baker-newton-young

His son Newton D. Baker Jr. was born in Martinsburg December 3rd, 1871, eschewed on becoming a doctor like his dad. Wrote one biographer, Newton Jr.:
As a boy Baker was Puck with a book; he was the “angel child” who did not play baseball and seldom visited the swimming hole. . . Newton Jr. was told that an award of Hulme’s History of England would be given if he read the whole of the Britannica; he accepted the challenge and earned the prize. As he grew older Baker was certain that his father, through stimulating conversation and suggestions for reading, had much the greatest influence on his early education. . . . In later life he was to be included in the list of former newsboys who made good. Lawyer Baker denied that he ever carried papers and observed that he had never sold anything “except advice, such as it is.” He was small, dark-haired, and brown-eyed, with, in Brand Whitlock’s phrase, a sensitive face and the ideals of a poet. In manhood he finally achieved a height of five feet six inches, wore a size 14 shirt and collar, and weighed 125 pounds.

He graduated from Johns Hopkins in 1892, received his law degree from Washington and lee University. He went north as he joked “as a carpet bagger in reverse,” advocated progressive policies and became Cleveland’s mayor, continuing his climb into the world of public policy.

Newton Junior became known as a thinker, a powerful orator, and a progressive who fought manifestations of anti-Semitism, and as a result fiercely disputed with car-maker Henry Ford. Baker wrote:

Man seems to me incapable of greatness except when conditioned by beliefs which he has attained so passionately that he subordinates all other considerations to the service of his faith. Of course, the faith does not have to be formally religious, and whether or not if religious it be anthropomorphic, seems to me to make little difference. . . . But I find it very hard to imagine a stable social order or a helpful metaphysical order which does not have some stakes at which men are willing to be burned, and I think there are some stakes of that sort. . . .

When he was appointed and served as the country’s Secretary of War from 1916 to 1921, it was said that Baker was: “A civilian’s civilian, (he) saw the military as a necessity, but he had no awe of people in uniform, no romantic feelings toward them, and no dreams of glory….

800px-President_Woodrow_Wilson_portrait_December_2_1912

On the day President Woodrow Wilson announced Baker’s appointment as secretary of war, he admitted his ignorance of military matters. “I am an innocent,” he told reporters, “I do not know anything about this job.” But he had a sharp, analytical mind and considerable skill at administration.

Administration Building Newton D. Baker General Hospital Martinsburg, WV

The regional Veterans Affairs Hospital in Martinsburg bears his name and he is remembered.

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ONE FAMILY’S SLOG THROUGH WAR:

The recruits from the Baker-Billmyer-Lemen family were the children of the children of Johann Martin Billmyer 1767–1839, and Susanna Elizabeth NICODEMUS 1770–1835. Besides Newton’s mother, her siblings were brothers Conrad Billmyer (1797–1847) and John Joseph Billmyer (1802–1845); sisters, Elizabeth Billmyer Noll (1792-1873), Judith Billmyer Koontz (1795-1856), Susan Billmyer McQuilkin (1798-1873), and Esther Mary Billmyer Lemen (1800-1887). John Joseph Billmyer would marry Eliza Williamson Lemen Billmyer (1806-1886) and her siblings – sister Mary Jones (1811-1909), brother Jacob (1811-?), and brother Robert Lemen (1813-1898) – provided seven more recruits: two Confederate, two Confederate, and three Federal respectively – Snyder pp. 47-51; Service records.

The family patriarch:
Johann Martin BILLMYER
BIRTH 22 DEC 1767 • Frederick, Frederick, Maryland, USA
DEATH 19 FEB 1839 • Shepherdstown, Jefferson, West Virginia, USA. ancestry.com 28 October 1996 Web. 4 September 2012.

POW 5/31/63; Wounded 9/22/64
BAKER, NEWTON DIEHL: b. Washington County, Md. 10/3/41. 5’6″ fair complexion, brown hair, blue eyes. attended Wittenberg College one year. clerk Shepherdstown post office, Jefferson County. enlisted in the 1st Virginia Cavalry Charles Town 6/15/61 as Pvt. in Co. F. Present until detached to Gainesville 12/10/61. Captured Smithfield 5/31/63. Sent to Ft. McHenry. Exch. 6/63. Promoted 2nd Corp. Present until detailed as ordinance sgt of regt 11/15/63. Horse killed 8/19/64. Wounded in thigh Fishers Hill 9/22/64. Paroled Winchester 4/23/65. medical school 1868. surgeon for the B&O railroad. d. Martinsburg 1909. – Service Record; 1860 Census.

Besides Newton, cousins in the war fared variously, fighting for both north and south:

1. BILLMYER, JAMES M.: b. Va. 12/4/1836. 5’11’, fair complexion, brown hair, hazel eyes. Merchant, Shepherdstown PO, Jefferson Co. 1860 census. enl. Shepherdstown 4/18/61 Co. F as 1st Sgt. 1st Virginia Cav. Horse killed Bull Run 7/21/61. Present through 1/6/62. To 2nd Lt. Present through 5/1/62. Not re-elected. Re-enl. Pvt. Fredericksburg 8/1/63. Present through 8/64. Acting Adjutant of Regt. 2/12/65. Paroled Winchester 4/27/65. d. 2/20/1913. bur. Berkeley County. – Service Record; Snyder. 1860 Census; fold3.com 6 September 2011 Web. 1 December 2015.

WIA Five Forks 4/1/65.
2. BILLMYER, JOHN T.: b. Va. 1/11/32. 5’8′, fair complexion, dark hair, grey eyes. 1st Lt., Co. F. Deputy Sheriff, Vanclevesville PO, Berkeley Co. 1860 census. enl. Shepherdstown 4/18/61 as Sgt. 1st Virginia Cav. Present until detached with baggage trains 3/4/62. Present through 10/20/62. Elected 2nd Lt. To 1st Lt. Present until WIA Five Forks 4/1/65. Paroled Mt. Jackson 4/18/65. d. 3/26/74. bur. Elmwood Cem. Shepherdstown. – Service Record; Snyder, p. 48.

WIA (left thigh) Haw’s Shop 5/28/64.
3. BILLMYER, MILTON J.: b. Va. 10/10/34. Farmer, Jefferson Co. 6′, fair complexion, light hair, blue eyes. Captain, Co. F. 1st Virginia Cav., Vanclevesville PO, Berkeley Co. 1860 census. enl. Shepherdstown 4/18/61 as Pvt. Present through 7/1/61, appointed 1st Lt. Present through 10/12/62. elected Captain. Present until WIA (left thigh) Haw’s Shop 5/28/64. Absent wounded in Richmond hospital until furloughed for 30 days 7/14/64. Present Appomattox. Paroled Winchester 4/27/65. d. near Shepherdstown, W.Va. 8/31/07. bur. Elmwood Cem. – Service Record; Snyder, p. 48.

Captured Smithfield 5/31/63.
4. LEMEN, JOHN JAMES ALEXANDER: b. Va. 11/19/39. 5’7″. fair complexion, dark hair, grey eyes. Farmhand, Charles Town PO, Jefferson Co. 1860 census. enl. Shepherdstown Co. F. 4/18/61 as Pvt. 1st Virginia Cav. Present until captured 7/61. Exch. Present 9/62. Captured Smithfield 5/31/63. Sent to Ft. Monroe. Exch. 6/5/63. Present until absent sick in Richmond hospital 8/24/64. Released 6/30/64. d. 1/10/71. bur. Elmwood Cem. Shepherdstown, W.Va. – Service Record; Snyder, p. 48. 1860 Census.

WIA Aldie 6/17/63. POW Middleburg d. 6/20/63.
5. LEMEN, THOMAS THORNTON.: b. Va. 8/15/42. Student, Charles Town PO, Jefferson Co. 1860 census. enl. Co. F Shepherdstown 4/18/61 1st Virginia Cav. Pvt. Present until WIA Aldie 6/17/63. POW Middleburg d. 6/20/63. bur. Elmwood Cem., Shepherdstown. – Service Record; Snyder, p. 48. 1860 Census. fold3.com 6 September 2011 Web. 1 December 2015.

6. LEMEN, WILLIAM THORNBURG: b. Va. 6/15/35. 5’10”. fair complexion, brown hair, grey eyes. Farmer, Charles Town PO, Jefferson Co. 1860 census. enl. Co. F 1st Virginia Cav. Shepherdstown 4/18/61. Present through 8/61, promoted 3rd Sgt. Present through 8/62, promoted 2nd Sgt. Promoted 1st Sgt 10/20/62. Present 10/63. Present through 8/64. Paroled Winchester 4/18/65. d. near Hedgesville, W.Va. 4/17/99. bur. Elmwood Cem., Shepherdstown, W.Va. – Service Record; Snyder, p. 48. 1860 Census.

Captured 4/65.
7. LEMEN, WILLOUGHBY: b. Va. 11/20/44. 5’10”. enlisted 4/18/61 Co. F, 1st Virginia Cav. under William A. Morgan. Present thru to 10/20/1862. Promoted to 1st Sgt. 1st Virginia Cav. Present thru 11/1863. Service records show name change from “William T. Lemen” to Willoughby N. Lemen 11-12-63. Captured 4/65. 12/28/64 promoted to Junior 2nd Lieut. Paroled 4/18/65. d. 7/19/1913. buried Elmwood Cem. – Tombstone Inscriptions, p. 170; Kenamond, p. 74; Service Record (pp. 15-28, start @ p. 15); Snyder, p. 48. 1860 Census.

8.MCQUILKIN, WILLIAM H.: b. Va. 1841. Laborer Charles Town enl. Co. F. Shepherdstown 4/18/61 as Pvt. 1st Virginia Cav. Fell ill with pneumonia and was granted sick furlough August 31st, 1861; sent to hospital December 26th, and died January 6th, 1862 at Manassas. – Service Record; Snyder, p. 48.; 1860 Census.

POW, paroled 4/18/65.
9. KOONTZ, THORNTON: b. Va. 12/16/21. enl. 4/18/61 Co. F, 1st Va. Cav. Sgt. Present through 4/62. Reassigned under Milton J. Billmyer. Pvt. substitute for Robert K. Wilson. POW paroled 4/18/65. d. 5/12/86. bur. Elmwood Cem. – Tombstone Inscriptions, p. 168. Service Record; Snyder, p. 47. 1860 Census.

10.NOLL, WILLIAM T.: Va. b. 10/2/32. enlisted Co. B, 1st Virginia Cav. Martinsburg 4/19/61, promoted to 2nd lieutenant. Present until 5-6/62 sick. Bay mare killed 8/21/64 Berryville, Va. Present 7/62-4/65. Paroled 4/18/65 Winchester. d. 2/27/03. – Service Record; Snyder, p. 47. 1860 Census.

11. LEMEN, WILLIAM MARTIN: b. Va. 12/6/31. enlisted Co. B, 1st Virginia Cav. Martinsburg 4/19/61. On daily duty attending to the sick. Present until 2/11/62 on furlough. On detached service with regimental medical dept. Paroled 4/26/65 Winchester. d. 5/2/03. Service Record; Snyder, p. 48. 1860 Census.

WIA (head) Winebrenner’s Cross Roads near Shepherdstown 9/64.
12.BILLMYER, ROBERT LEMEN: b. Va. 9/25/43, Student, 5’6″. fair complexion, brown hair, hazel eyes. Vanclevesville PO, Berkeley Co. 1860 census. enl. Shepherdstown 6/28/63. Pvt., Co. F. 1st Virginia Cav. Present through 12/63. Absent on detached service 1/25-2/28/64. Present through 8/64. WIA (head) Winebrenner’s Cross Roads near Shepherdstown 9/64. Present Appomattox 4/9/65 and carried flag of truce to the enemy. Paroled Winchester 4/18/65. He lived in the county after the war. d. near Shepherdstown, W.Va. 3/19/10. bur. Elmwood Cem. Service Record; Snyder, p. 47. 1860 Census.

POW. Paroled 4/21/65
13. JONES, JOHN REYNOLDS: b. 1844. enl. 8/20/64 Shepherdstown Co. F. 1st Va Cav. under M. J. Billmyer. POW. Paroled 4/21/65 Winchester. d. 1887. – Service Record; 1860 Census.

14. JONES, THOMAS J. or F.: b. 1839 record only confirms being in Co. F. of 1st Va Cavalry. d. 1923. fold3.com 6 September 2011 Web. 1 December 2015. – Service Record; 1860 Census.

15. WILLIAMSON, MATTHEW WHITE: b. 1845. enl. 8/13/1861 at New Market, Va. with Captain Morgan, Co. F 1st Va. Cavalry. Present sent on detached service 1/20/1864. Present 7-8/64. Paroled 5/9/1865. Winchester. d. 1930. Service Record; 1860 Census.

POW
16. WILLIAMSON, THOMAS LEMEN: b. 1847. Only record is being a prisoner of war, being in Co. F of the 1st Va. Cavalry and having been paroled 4/9/1865 at New Market, Va. Description: height 5’9”, hair: light, eyes: blue. d. 1875. Service Record; 1860 Census.

Federal sons:

Eliza Billmyer’s second brother, Robert Lemen (1813-1898) and his wife, Sarah Elizabeth Light (1816-1883), had three sons who went with the Federal Army’s First Maryland Cavalry: In Co. I, Peter (1840-1921); In Co. H, Jacob F. (1842-1922), and Thomas J. (1843-1908). – Snyder, pp. 50-51. The young men enlisted as:

17. LEMEN, PETER L.: b. 1840. 5’9.5” dark complexion, blue eyes, light hair. enl. 9/3/61 Camp Lamon, Williamsport, Md. for three years. Pvt. Capt. Russell’s Co. 1st Va. Cav.(later Co. I. First Md Cav.). 12/30/61 on detached service Williamsport, Md. 5-6/62 detailed at the Ferry at Williamsport on Potomac. 3/9/64 on detached service, clerk in the Provost Marshall’s office Baltimore City, Md. by order of Brig. Gen. Lockwood S.O. No. 61, Par 9. 9/3/64 mustered out, term of service expired. d. 1921. Service Record; 1860 Census.

POW 5-8/63
18. LEMEN, JACOB F.: b. 1842 enl. 9/6/61, mustered in 12/31/61 Williamsport, Md. Pvt. Capt. Zeller’s Co. 1st Reg’t Va. Volunteers (later Co. H. First Md Cav.). Present 1/61-4/63. POW 5-8/63. Present 9/63-12/64. Discharged 12/3/64 term of service expired. d. 1922. Service Record; 1860 Census.

19. LEMEN, THOMAS J.: b. 1843. enl. 9/3/61 Camp Lamon Pvt. Capt. Russell’s Co. 1st Va. Cav.(later Co. I. First Md Cav.) for three years. Present 3-4/62-8/63. Promoted to corporal. 3/26/64 Reduced to Pvt. Present 4/64. 9/3/64 mustered out, term of service expired. d. 1908. – Service Record; 1860 Census.

Special thanks to:
Snyder, Vivian P. (1999). Twenty First Cousins in the Civil War. Magazine of the Jefferson County Historical Society. Vol. LXV. pp. 47-51.

1. NEWTON BAKER’S “MOST” DIVIDED CLAN (Pt. 1 of 4) by Jim Surkamp
2. NEWTON BAKER “SEES THE ELEPHANT” MANASSAS, VA (Pt. 2 of 4) by Jim Surkamp
3. NEWTON BAKER’S LIFE IN THE FAMED FIRST VIRGINIA CAVALRY 1861-1865 (Pt. 3 of 4) (above) by Jim Surkamp
4. NEWTON BAKER’S REMARKABLE SON (Pt. 4 of 4) by Jim Surkamp

References (Generally listed as they pertain in the narrative – JS):

CONFEDERATE VIRGINIA TROOPS

1st Regiment, Virginia Cavalry
The 1st Cavalry Regiment completed its organization at Winchester, Virginia, in July, 1861. Unlike most regiments, the 1st contained twelve companies. The men were from the counties of Frederick, Berkeley, Rockbridge, Clarke, Washington, Augusta, Jefferson, Amelia, Loudoun, Rockingham, and Gloucester. After taking part in the Battle of First Manassas, the unit was brigaded under Generals J.E.B. Stuart, F. Lee, Wickham, and Munford. It participated in more than 200 engagements of various types including the Seven Days’ Battles and Stuart’s ride around McClellan. The regiment was active in the conflicts at Gainesville, Second Manassas, Sharpsburg, Fredericksburg, Kelly’s Ford, Chancellorsville, Brandy Station, Gettysburg, Bristoe Station, The Wilderness, Todd’s Tavern, Spotsylvania, Bethesda Church, and Cold Harbor. Later it was involved in Early’s operations in the Shenandoah Valley, the defense of Petersburg, and the Appomattox Campaign. In April, 1862, it totaled 437 men, lost eight percent of the 310 engaged at Gettysburg, and had 318 fit for duty in September, 1864. The cavalry cut through the Federal lines at Appomattox and later disbanded. Only 1 man from this unit were present at the surrender. The field officers were Colonels R. Welby Carter, James H. Drake, William E. Jones, Fitzhugh Lee, William A. Morgan, and James E.B. Stuart; Lieutenant Colonels L. Tiernan Brien and Charles R. Irving; and Major Robert Swan. – Civil War Soldier Database nps.gov April 1997 Web. 10 May 2013.

Almanacs 1861-1865:

Richardson, David and Wynne, Chas. H. (1863).“Richardson’s Virginia & North Carolina almanac, for the year of Our Lord 1863: being the third after bissextile or leap year, the eighty-seventh of American independence, and the second of the Southern Confederacy.” Boles, J. Durelle, collector. GEU; West & Johnston, publisher; J. Durelle Boles Collection of Southern Imprints. GEU

Richardson, David and Wynne, Chas. H. (1863).“Richardson’s Virginia & North Carolina almanac, for the year of Our Lord 1863: being the third after bissextile or leap year, the eighty-seventh of American independence, and the second of the Southern Confederacy.” Internet Archives: Digital Library of Free Books, Movies, Music, and Wayback Machine. 27 Oct. 2009. Web. 1 March 2011.

Richardson, David and Wynne, Chas. H. (1864).“Richardson’s Virginia & North Carolina almanac, for the year of Our Lord 1864: being the third after bissextile or leap year, the eighty-seventh of American independence, and the second of the Southern Confederacy.” Boles, J. Durelle, collector. GEU; West & Johnston, publisher; J. Durelle Boles Collection of Southern Imprints. GEU

Richardson, David and Wynne, Chas. H. (1864).“Richardson’s Virginia & North Carolina almanac, for the year of Our Lord 1864: being the third after bissextile or leap year, the eighty-seventh of American independence, and the second of the Southern Confederacy.” Internet Archives: Digital Library of Free Books, Movies, Music, and Wayback Machine. 27 Oct. 2009. Web. 1 March 2011.

“The Old Franklin Almanac No. 2 for 1861.” Philadelphia, PA: Haslett & Winch.

“The Old Franklin Almanac No. 2 for 1861.” hathitrust.org 13 October 2008 Web. 10 December 2015.

Full moons date/times for Baltimore, 1861 –
1861:
1/26 12:01 PM
2/24 11:36 PM
3/26 9:08 AM
4/24/5:16 PM
5/24 12:59 AM
6/22 9:16 AM
7/21 6:59 PM
8/20 6:44 AM
9/18 8:54 PM
10/18 1:31 PM
11/17 8:00 AM
12:31 8:47 AM

Phelps, William W. (1861). “Almanac for the year 1861 being the thirty-second year of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.” (From April 6, 1830). Third edition revised and corrected. Salt Lake City, UT: Desert News office.

Phelps, William W. (1861). “Almanac for the year 1861 being the thirty-second year of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.” (From April 6, 1830). Third edition revised and corrected. Internet Archives: Digital Library of Free Books, Movies, Music, and Wayback Machine. 27 Oct. 2009. Web. 1 March 2011.
https://archive.org/stream/almanacforyear1861aphel#page/n0/mode/2up

1/26 9:39 AM;
2/24 9:17 PM;
3/26 6:49 AM;
4/24 2:57 PM;
5/31 4:59 AM;
6/29 7:14 PM;
7/29 12:25 PM;
8/28 5:57 AM;
9/26 10:58 AM;
10/26 2:28 AM;
11/25 3:41 AM;
12/24 2:25 PM.

Wakefield, C. (1862). “Wakefield’s western farmers’ almanac and account book.” Bloomington, Ill.: C. Wakefield, proprietor of Wakefield’s Family Medicines. Print.

Wakefield, C. (1862). “Wakefield’s western farmers’ almanac and account book.” Internet Archives: Digital Library of Free Books, Movies, Music, and Wayback Machine. 27 Oct. 2009. Web. 1 May 2011.

Blackford, William W. (1945). “War Years with Jeb Stuart.” New York, NY: Charles Scribner’s Sons. Print.

Blackford, William W. (1945). “War Years with Jeb Stuart.” Google Books. 15 August 2006. Web. 24 Dec. 2015.

Driver, Robert J. (1991). “1st Virginia Cavalry.” Lynchburg, Va.: H. E. Howard, Inc. Print.

Mosby, John S.; Russell, Charles W. (1917). “The memoirs of Colonel John S. Mosby.” Boston, Little, Brown, and Company. Print

Mosby, John S.; Russell, Charles W. (1917). “The memoirs of Colonel John S. Mosby.” Internet Archives: Digital Library of Free Books, Movies, Music, and Wayback Machine. 27 Oct. 2009. Web. 10 Sept. 2010. pp. 108-109.

“The War of the Rebellion: a compilation of the official records of the Union and Confederate armies.” (1902). NOTE on authors: Robert N. Scott compiled and edited v. 1-18, 1880-87, and also collected the greater part of the material for v. 19-36, 1887-91. After his death in 1887 the work was continued by Henry M. Lazelle, 1887-89, and by a board of publication, 1889-99, consisting of George B. Davis, 1889-97, Leslie J. Perry, 1889-99, Joseph W. Kirkley, 1889-99, and Fred C. Ainsworth, 1898-99; from 1899-1901 edited by Fred C. Ainsworth and Joesph W. Kirkley. Gettysburg, Pa: Gettysburg National Historical Society. Print.

Volume XI – in Three Parts. 1884. (Vol. 11, Chap. 23)
Chapter XXIII – The Peninsular Campaign, Virginia. Mar 17-Sep. 2, 1862.
Part III — Correspondence, etc.

Headquarters Camp McIntosh
March 26, 1862 4 PM General J.E.B. STUART to General JOSEPH E. JOHNSTON, Commanding: GENERAL: at a point about 7 miles below this a large column of infantry was seen on the march this way at 2 p. in. Captain Gaither says he counted six regiments without seeing either end of the column; six regimental colors were counted. They were marching across the fields parallel to the railroad and in view of it. I immediately sent the First Virginia Cavalry (Jones) down to observe the enemy and report. . . It is probable they will camp near Weaversville tonight Most respectfully, your obedient servant, J. E. B. STUART, p. 402. Digital Library. Cornell University. 28 August 2004 Web. 10 July 2011.

HEADQUARTERS CAVALRY BRIGADE, March 27, 1862 4 PM. General J.E.B. STUART to General JOSEPH E. JOHNSTON: GENERAL: The enemy’s column has been in motion since 12, but at five minutes past 2 had not crossed the run near Warrenton Junction. They have baggage, say 450 wagons; scarcely any cavalry visible then. They are spreading about on Cedar Run to find fords. . . . so far as movements now indicate they are marching along the general direction of the railroad. Radford has been ordered to retire by way of Warrenton Springs, burning bridges, and to halt on the south bank Rappahannock. . . . Their progress must be very slow. In haste, J.E.B. STUART. – p. 406. Digital Library. Cornell University. 28 August 2004 Web. 10 July 2011.

HEADQUARTERS, Bealeton, March 27, [1862] 8.30 PM General J.E.B. STUART to General JOHNSTON: GENERAL: The enemy has camped at Warrenton Junction. He made a great to-do crossing and recrossing Cedar Run, firing artillery at a few vedettes, and the like, and has actually made 3 miles with his advance guard. . . . – J.E.B. STUART. pp. 406-407. Digital Library. Cornell University. 28 August 2004 Web. 10 July 2011.

Image of Slatersville Skirmish
Leslie, Frank; Moat, Louis Shepheard (c1895). “Frank Leslie’s illustrated history of the Civil War. The most important events of the conflict between the States graphically pictured. Stirring battle scenes and grand naval engagements … portraits of principal participants.” New York, NY: Mrs. F. Leslie. Print.

Leslie, Frank; Moat, Louis Shepheard (c1895). “Frank Leslie’s illustrated history of the Civil War. The most important events of the conflict between the States graphically pictured. Stirring battle scenes and grand naval engagements … portraits of principal participants.” Internet Archives: Digital Library of Free Books, Movies, Music, and Wayback Machine. 27 Oct. 2009. Web. 25 Sept. 2011.
p. 155. – Gallant charge of the sixth regiment, United States Regular Cavalry upon the Confederate Stuart’s Cavalry – The Confederates Scattered in Confusion and sought safety in the Woods May 9th, 1962. Internet Archives: Digital Library of Free Books, Movies, Music, and Wayback Machine. 27 Oct. 2009. Web. 25 Sept. 2011.

Waud, Alfred. “The First Virginia Cavalry.” Harpers Weekly – September 27, 1862, p. 612, p. 618.

Waud, Alfred. “The First Virginia Cavalry.” Harpers Weekly – September 27, 1862. sonofthesouth Web start date unavailable. Retrieved 24 January 2016.

Virga, Vincent. (1997). “Eyes of the Nation: A Visual History of the United States.”

Virga, Vincent. (1997). “Eyes of the Nation: A Visual History of the United States.” Google Books. 15 August 2006. Web. 24 Dec. 2015. p. 167.

Title
[The 1st Virginia Cavalry at a halt]
Waud, Alfred R. (Alfred Rudolph), 1828-1891, artist [1862 September] loc.gov 20 February 1999 Web. 25 May 2013.

Wauds grey mare, 1862
Digital ID: (digital file from original item) ppmsca 20381 http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.20381
Reproduction Number: LC-DIG-ppmsca-20381 (digital file from original item) Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA. loc.gov 20 February 1999 Web. 25 May 2013.

[Alfred Waud, full-length portrait, seated, holding a pencil and pad, facing left] Digital ID: (digital file from original, front) ppmsca 19623 http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.19623 Reproduction Number: LC-DIG-ppmsca-19623 (digital file from original, front) LC-DIG-ppmsca-19624 (digital file from original, back). Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA. loc.gov 20 February 1999 Web. 25 May 2013. print.

[Brandy Station], [Virginia]. Alfred R. Waud, artist for “Harper’s Weekly” (seated on a horse) at headquarters Army of the Potomac Digital ID: (digital file from original neg.) cwpb 03706 http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cwpb.03706.Reproduction Number: LC-DIG-cwpb-03706 (digital file from original neg.) Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA. loc.gov 20 February 1999 Web. 25 May 2013.

Kenamond, A. D. (1963). “Prominent Men of Shepherdstown During Its First 200 Years.” Charles Town, WV: A Jefferson County Historical Society. pp. 21-22.

Report of Brig. Gen. Jubal A. Early, C. S. Army, commanding Ewell’s division, of operations September 3-27. Volume XIX – in Part I. Operations in Northern Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania. September 3-November 14, 1862 (Vol. 19, Chap. 31), pp. 965-973. Cornell Digital Library. cornell.edu. 7 May 2008. Web. 29 May 2011.

Early’s division, recrossing the Potomac into Virginia, p. 972. Cornell Digital Library. cornell.edu. 7 May 2008. Web. 29 May 2011.

H.L. Snyder, Shepherdstown Register, September 22, 1921, September 22, 1927, July 31, 1924;

Clemens, footnote, p. 386.
Carman, Ezra A.; edited/annotated by Clemens, Thomas, G. (2010). “The Maryland Campaign of September 1862 Vol. 1: South Mountain.” New York and California: Savas Beatie. print.

REFERENCES OCT 1st, 1862:

The Impossible Autumn (Pt. 4) – 1862, Jefferson County, Va. by Jim Surkamp
civilwarscholars.com 20 June 2011 Web. 24 January 2016. More. . .
Report by Gen. Robert E. Lee on the October 1st Skirmish in Martinsburg, that was challenged in other reports by two participants (Hampton and Pleasonton): R. E. LEE, Chapter XIX, Official Record, Series I, Part 2, Vol. 19. – p. 12. Cornell Digital Library. cornell.edu. 28 August 2004 Web. 10 July 2011.

Confederate General Robert E. Lee wrote: The enemy’s cavalry, under General Pleasonton, with six pieces of artillery, drove back our pickets yesterday in front of Shepherdstown. The Ninth Virginia Cavalry, which was on picket, repulsed the enemy several times, by vigorous charges, disputing the ground, step-by-step, back to the main body. By the time his artillery reached him, Col. William H. F. Lee, who was in command of the brigade, was obliged to place it on the west bank of the Opequon, on the flank of the enemy as he approached Martinsburg. General Hampton’s brigade had retired through Martinsburg on the Tuscarora road, when General Stuart arrived and made disposition to attack. Lee’s brigade was advanced immediately and Hampton’s ordered forward. The enemy retired at the approach of Lee, along the Shepherdstown road, and was driven across the Potomac by the cavalry.

Federal Gen. Pleasonton’s report disagreeing with the description of his force being driven back in disarray to Shepherdstown on October 1st, 1862
Chapter XIX, Official Record, Series I, Part 2, Vol. 19. – pp. 10-12. Cornell Digital Library. cornell.edu. 28 August 2004 Web. 10 July 2011.

Report of Brig. Gen. Wade Hampton, C.S. Army, commanding Cavalry Brigade, pp. 12-14. Cornell Digital Library. cornell.edu. 28 August 2004 Web. 10 July 2011.

An account of R. L. T. Beale, a cavalryman of the nearby 9th Virginia Cavalry, on picket near Leetown when Pleasonton’s cavalry invaded Oct. 1, 1862:
Green food cut from the fields of growing corn was the only provision that could be obtained here for our horses, and in a short time it rendered very many of them unfit for service. It became necessary to establish a camp remote from the army for the treatment of the diseased horses. (The First Virginia Cavalry pickets): Our pickets on the Potomac while here grew quite friendly with those of the enemy. The two parties would leave their clothing on either shore and, meeting in the middle of the river, enjoy a bath together. Orders were issued forbidding the practice. About the middle of October, whilst we were on picket the Union cavalry under command of General Pleasonton, crossed the river in large force at early dawn, and vigorously attacked our outpost under Captain Waller, occupying a position just outside of Shepherdstown. in trying to reach a point for observation, were captured. Their advance, despite the efforts of Waller to check it, was so rapid that we barely had mounted when the columns of the enemy appeared on the hills half a mile in our front. One squadron, dismounted, was placed in ambush behind some large rocks on the left of the road, and the other was held back a hundred yards or so in the rear to await the onset. The enemy advanced rapidly and boldly, but before getting abreast of the ambuscade the dismounted men fired with but little effect. This fire, however, threw the Federal horsemen .into confusion, and, on seeing our mounted men charging, they broke and fled precipitately. We pursued at full speed for some distance, when a large body of dismounted men and two pieces of artillery were discovered, so posted as to command the road. The rally was then sounded, and our men reformed on their former ground.

(1st Virginia Cavalry gets involved-JS):
The relief regiment under Colonel J. M. Drake now reached us, and, though he was the senior officer (Incorrect: Drake was No. 2 behind Tiernan Brien commanding the 1st Virginia), he declined to interfere with the arrangements that had been made, and gladly aided in carrying them out, taking the position assigned his regiment on our right. The enemy, however, did not renew the attack, contenting himself with opening a brisk fire upon us with his artillery.

As we retired to Newcomer’s Mill, General Pleasonton moved down the road to Martinsburg. General Stuart, as soon as he was informed of what was occurring, dispatched General Wade Hampton by a circuitous route to occupy the road above Shepherdstown, while he, with a portion of our brigade, moved upon Martinsburg. General Pleasanton made a rapid retreat to avoid the snare.

Beale, R. L. T. (1899). “History of the Ninth Virginia cavalry, in the war between the states.” Richmond, Va: B. F. Johnson publishing company Print.

Beale, R. L. T. (1899). “History of the Ninth Virginia cavalry, in the war between the states.” Internet Archives: Digital Library of Free Books, Movies, Music, and Wayback Machine. 27 Oct. 2009. Web. 1 January 2016.
pp. 43-45.

REFERENCES MAY 28-JUNE 6, 1863:

Longacre, Edward G. (1986).”The Cavalry at Gettysburg – A Tactical Study of Mounted Operations during the Civil War’s Pivotal Campaign 9 June – 14 July 1863.” Rutherford, Madison, Teaneck, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press. Print.

Debated reports by the Federals of incursions into the eastern Panhandle in late May, early June, 1863:
HDQRS. CAVALRY CORPS, ARMY OF THE POTOMAC, May 28, 1863. General S. WILLIAMS, A. A. G., Army of the Potomac: The following dispatch from General Gregg, at Bealeton: A scouting party, just in from Sulphur Springs, reports Stuart camped 4 miles from Culpeper, on the road to the Springs; Fitzhugh Lee, W. H. F. Lee, Hampton, and Field at Jefferson. **Rebel scouts numerous about Warrenton and the Springs. The force is represented as being very large. I think it advisable to send Bufords command that is available, some 900 men, and battery, to re-enforce Gregg, should Major-General Hooker consent, particularly as Buford reports rather poor grazing at Dumfries, while on the upper route it is good, and supplies easily obtained. The cavalry at Washington should be moved farther down, on the Orange road. The rebels always mean something when their scouts become numerous. A. PLEASONTON, Brigadier-General, Commanding Cavalry Corps. – p. 536. Cornell Digital Library. cornell.edu. 28 August 2004 Web. 10 July 2011.

CORRESPONDENCE, ETC. UNION. 593 HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE POTOMAC, June 1, 1863. Maj. Gen. H. W. HALLECK, General-in-Chief: The following is received from General Buford, at Warrenton Junction, to-day: A. reconnaissance returned late yesterday, satisfying me that there are no rebel troops on this side of the river, save those who have been here all winter. Sulphur Springs, Waterloo, and Orleans were visited yesterday. Another command penetrated as far as Gainesville, returning by New Baltimore and Warrenton. Nothing was heard except that some small parties belonging to Mosby were seen by negroes a few days since. Mosby has three companies, and his headquarters are supposed to be somewhere in Loudoun County. – p. 593. Cornell Digital Library. cornell.edu.28 August 2004 Web. 10 July 2011.

REFERENCES AUGUST 18-20, 1864:

August 7-November 28, 1864 – The Shenandoah Valley Campaign – Summary of the Principal Events – August 18, 1864 – Skirmish at Opequon Creek, Va. August 19, 1864 – Skirmish near Opequon Creek, on Berryville and Winchester Pike – Official Record, Series 1 – Volume 43 (Part I) Chapter LV, p. 8.

Spout Spring, Va. 1864 Map
baylor.edu 9 May 1997 Web. 28 October 2012.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 18-SATURDAY, AUGUST 20, 1864 – Encamped at Berryville, frequently skirmishing with the enemy’s cavalry. – Itinerary First Federal Cavalry Division Commanded by Bvt. Maj. Gen. Alfred T. A. Torbert, U.S. Army. – Official Record, Series 1 – Volume 43 (Part I) Chapter LV, – p. 90. Digital Library. Cornell University. 28 August 2004 Web. 10 July 2011.

Gallaher, Dewitt C. (1961). “ A Diary Depicting the Experience of Dewitt Clinton Gallaher in the War Between The States While Serving In the Confederate Army.” Charleston, WV: Privately Published. Print. pp. 10-11.

Patchen, Scott C. (2013). ”The Last Battle of Winchester: Phil Sheridan, Jubal Early and the Shenandoah Valley Campaign.” El Dorado Hills, CA.: Savas Beatie LLC. Print.

Patchen, Scott C. (2013). ”The Last Battle of Winchester: Phil Sheridan, Jubal Early and the Shenandoah Valley Campaign.” amazon.com 5 July 1994 Web. 15 January 2016.

Farrar, Samuel C. (1911). “The Twenty-second Pennsylvania cavalry and the Ringgold battalion, 1861-1865.” Pittsburgh, PA: The 22nd Pennsylvania Ringgold Cavalry Association. Print.

Farrar, Samuel C. (1911). “The Twenty-second Pennsylvania cavalry and the Ringgold battalion, 1861-1865.” Internet Archives: Digital Library of Free Books, Movies, Music, and Wayback Machine. 27 Oct. 2009. Web. 1 May 2011.

REFERENCES SEPTEMBER 22, 1864:

Map of the Line of entrenchments at Fisher’s Hill, Va., Aug. 13th to 17th, 1864. Battle of Fisher’s Hill, Sept. 22d., 1864. Creator: Hotchkiss, Jed., Capt. Publication Info: Washington: Government Printing Office. Print.

Map of the Line of Intrenchments at Fisher’s Hill, Va., Aug. 13th to 17th, 1864. Battle of Fisher’s Hill, Sept. 22d., 1864 baylor.edu 9 May 1997 Web. 28 October 2012.

Map – Battle-fields of Fisher’s Hill and Cedar Creek, Virginia. 22 Sept. 1864. 19 Oct. 1864. Prepared by Bvt. Lt. Col. G.L. Gillespie, Major of Engineers, U.S.A., From Surveys made under his direction By Order of Lt. Gen. P.H. Sheridan, and under the Authority of the Hon. Secretary of War and of the Chief of Engineers, U.S.A. 1873. baylor.edu 9 May 1997 Web. 28 October 2012.
(September 22 1864 events in which Newton Baker is wounded in the leg).

Maps of Fisher’s Hill, Virginia (1864)
The Battle of Fisher’s Hill. civilwar.org 19 December 2006 Web. 12 July 2013.

National Park Service Account:
About 1600 hours, Crook ordered his columns to face left and to charge. The soldiers charged down the side of the mountain, shouting at the tops of their lungs. The CS cavalry took to their horses and scattered. In their rush down the hill, Crook’s divisions lost all order; a mass of men funneled through the ravine of the Middle Fork of Tumbling Run past the Barbe House and closed on the Confederate infantry on “Ramseur’s Hill.” A second mass funneled to the right along an old road that penetrated to the rear of the Confederate positions. Grimes’s brigade of North Carolinians held out against Crook’s onslaught until Ricketts ordered his division forward. Hearing, more than seeing, that they were flanked, CS defenders along the remainder of the line began abandoning their entrenchments. Battle’s CS brigade was sent to the left to confront Crook but was misdirected into a ravine and missed the fighting altogether. Sheridan advanced his other divisions, the men attacking generally up the ravines. Early’s army was soon in full flight, abandoning equipment and 14 artillery pieces that could not be extricated from the works. Rear Guard Action at Prospect Hill (22 September): The CS army was a shambles but attempted to collect itself at the base of Round Hill on the Valley Pike. Generals Gordon, Ramseur, and Pegram and staff officers established a rear guard of artillery and infantry at Prospect Hill and held off the disorganized Union pursuit. During this action, Col. Alexander “Sandie” Pendleton, Stonewall Jackson’s favorite staff officer, was wounded; he died the following day in Woodstock. The CS army retreated to Narrow Passage, and the wagon train went on to Mt. Jackson. Darkness and confusion among the Union victors prevented effective pursuit. nps.gov April 1997 Web. 10 May 2013.

Biscoe, Thomas and Walter; Fisher’s Hill Battlefield (028447) West Virginia Historical Photographs Collection Home. wvu.edu 20 November 1999 Web. 25 May 2013.

Owner/Location: Metropolitan Museum of Art – New York, NY (United States – New York)
Dates: 1866
Artist age: Approximately 30 years old.
Dimensions: Unknown
Medium: Painting – oil on canvas
Entered by: Member Irene on 17 February 2013.
the-athenaeum.org 23 May 2002 Web. 10 July 2015.

James M. Billmyer horse killed in Battle Bulls Run July 21, 1861. Valued 80.00. fold3.com 6 September 2011 Web. 1 December 2015.

County map of Virginia, and North Carolina.
“Entered according to act of Congress in the year 1860 by S. Augustus Mitchell, Jr. … for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.” Map no. 23 from: Mitchell’s new general atlas. Philadelphia : S. Augustus Mitchell, Jr., 1860. Prime meridian: Greenwich and Washington. Relief shown by hachures. This item is in the Map Collection of the Library of Virginia. Contributor: Mitchell, S. Augustus (Samuel Augustus); Original Format: Maps; Date: 1860; The Library of Congress: American Memory. “Maps Collection.” 27 Oct. 2009 Web. 10 Sept. 2010.

Volume XI – in Three Parts. 1884. (Vol. 11, Chap. 23)
Chapter XXIII – The Peninsular Campaign, Virginia. Mar 17-Sep. 2, 1862.
Part II — Reports, Jun 25-Sept 2.
Report Captain James M. Robertson, Batteries B and L, Second U.S. Artillery on Slatersville, May 9, 1862 (relevant excerpt):
. . . May 7, 1862, left camp near Williamsburg and followed the retreating enemy toward Richmond. The roads were very heavy, and in many places impassable for artillery. Several times during the day I was compelled to dismount my cannoneers, build causeways, and cut new roads through the woods. The roads on the 8th were much improved, and we met with no serious obstructions till about 1 p.m. on the 9th, when the enemy opened fire upon us from a concealed battery in our front. Lieutenant Wilson’s (the leading) section was at once put in position on the road, and Lieutenant Vincents (the center) section placed in position on the right. These two sections at once opened fire, judging the direction and distance by the enemy’s shot. Lieutenant Woodruff’s (the rear) section was now thrown about 200 yards to the left of the road, where the smoke could be seen rising from the enemy’s guns, and opened fire. Firing from the enemy soon ceased, and the battery advanced to Slatersville, near where the enemy’s guns stood. Several of our shell struck near the rebel guns, one passing entirely through a house and another killing a cavalry horse. Thirty-four shells were fired by my battery during the skirmish, fully one-third of them failing to explode. – p. 247. Official Record, Cornell Digital Library. cornell.edu 28 August 2004 Web. 10 July 2011.

Von Borcke, Heros. (1867). “Memoirs of the Confederate war for independence.” Philadelphia. PA: J. B. Lippincott & Co. Print.

Von Borcke, Heros. (1867). “Memoirs of the Confederate war for independence.” Internet Archives archive.org 9 August 2002 Web. 20 April 2014.
pp. 18-21.

Von Borcke wrote:
The Government stables were full of good horses, and I had no difficulty in finding an excellent chestnut mare, which afterwards carried me nobly on many a hard ride. At the earliest dawn of morning, on the 30th, an orderly reported to me with the mare in front of my hotel, and I jumped into the saddle, well equipped from head to foot, full of strength and buoyant in spirits, to ride forward to the field.

We trotted out of the city, and across the wooded plain through which runs the Brook turnpike, passing the extensive fortifications and the long lines of the Confederate army. . . . The scrutiny called forth my admiration. The men were all Virginians, whose easy and graceful seat betrayed the constant habit of horseback exercise, and they were mounted mostly on blooded animals, some of which the most ambitious Guardsman or the most particular ” swell ” in London would have been glad to show off in Hyde Park. Looking back across three eventful years to that morning’s march, I realize how little it was in my thought that my lot should be knit so closely with that of these brave fellows in fatigue and in fight, and that I should have to mourn the loss of, alas! so many who afterwards fell around me, in battle.

Report of Brig. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart, Commanding Cavalry Brigade In Bivouac, May 10, 1862. pp. 570-574. Jas T. Shepherd 2nd Lt. Stuart Horse Artillery. Cornell Digital Library 28 August 2004 Web. 10 July 2011.

Jeb Stuart’s Wild Ride
By Ben Cleary June 13, 2012 12:30 pm nytimes 22 September 1996 Web. 20 January 2016.

[Private Archibald Magill Smith of Co. F, 1st Virginia Cavalry Regiment, and Co. D, 6th Virginia Cavalry Regiment, in uniform] (LOC) – Library of Congress. [between 1861 and 1865]. 1 photograph : quarter-plate ambrotype, hand-colored ; 9.5 x 11.5 cm (case). Purchased from: The Virginia Confederate, Waldorf, Maryland, 2013. Forms part of: Liljenquist Family Collection of Civil War Photographs (Library of Congress). The Library of Congress: American Memory. “Maps Collection.” 27 Oct. 2009 Web. 10 Sept. 2010.
Hackworth.

1st VA cavalry jacket, an early war jacket.

1st Regiment, Virginia Cavalry
Overview:
1st Cavalry Regiment completed its organization at Winchester, Virginia, in July, 1861. Unlike most regiments, the 1st contained twelve companies. The men were from the counties of Frederick, Berkeley, Rockbridge, Clarke, Washington, Augusta, Jefferson, Amelia, Loudoun, Rockingham, and Gloucester.

After taking part in the Battle of First Manassas, the unit was brigaded under Generals J.E.B. Stuart, F. Lee, Wickham, and Munford. It participated in more than 200 engagements of various types including the Seven Days’ Battles and Stuart’s ride around McClellan. The regiment was active in the conflicts at Gainesville, Second Manassas, Sharpsburg, Fredericksburg, Kelly’s Ford, Chancellorsville, Brandy Station, Gettysburg, Bristoe Station, The Wilderness, Todd’s Tavern, Spotsylvania, Bethesda Church, and Cold Harbor. Later it was involved in Early’s operations in the Shenandoah Valley, the defense of Petersburg, and the Appomattox Campaign.

In April, 1862, The First Virginia Cavalry totaled 437 men, lost eight percent of the 310 engaged at Gettysburg, and had 318 fit for duty in September, 1864. The cavalry cut through the Federal lines at Appomattox and later disbanded. Only 1 man from this unit were present at the surrender. The field officers were Colonels R. Welby Carter, James H. Drake, William E. Jones, Fitzhugh Lee, William A. Morgan, and James E.B. Stuart; Lieutenant Colonels L. Tiernan Brien and Charles R. Irving; and Major Robert Swan. – – Civil War Soldier Database nps.gov April 1997 Web. 10 May 2013.

Modern-day map of route of Stuart’s ride around McClellan’s army.

Part of the map of the Military Department of Southeastern Virginia and Fort Monroe showing the approaches to Richmond and Petersburg
Creator Bureau of Topographical Engineers ; Abbot, H.L., Capt.
Publication Info Washington : Government Printing Office
Publication Date: 1891. baylor.edu 9 May 1997 Web. 25 May 2013.

June 13-15, 1862 Stuart – Ride around McClellan
Title Map to accompany the report of Brig. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart, C.S. Army Commanding Pamunkey expedition to the enemy’s rear June 13, 14 and 15, 1862. Washington: Government Printing Office
Date: 1862/06/15
Publication Date: 1891. baylor.edu 9 May 1997 Web. 25 May 2013.

Map One hundred and fifty miles around Richmond
Contributor Names: Magnus, Charles.
Created / Published: New York : C. Magnus, [ca. 1863?]
The Library of Congress: American Memory. “Maps Collection.” 27 Oct. 2009 Web. 10 Sept. 2010.

Map of the seat of war around Richmond
Contributor Names: Butlers, B. F.; Gensoul, A. (Adrien); Pacific Map Depot.
The Library of Congress: American Memory. “Maps Collection.” 27 Oct. 2009 Web. 10 Sept. 2010.

The Official Record of the War of the Rebellion; Series I, Volume XI (11) in three parts; Part I. Reports. Chapter XXIII (23). Report No. 21 “Report of Brig. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart, C. S. Army, commanding in Cavalry Brigade.” Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office. Print. pp. 1036-1040.

The Official Record of the War of the Rebellion; Series I, Volume XI (11) in three parts; Part I. Reports. Chapter XXIII (23). Report No. 21 “Report of Brig. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart, C. S. Army, commanding in Cavalry Brigade.” Cornell Digital Library cornell.edu 28 August 2004 Web. 10 July 2011.

Von Borcke, Heros from Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, October, 1865. “Part II Memoirs of the Confederate War for Independence, by Heros Von Borcke, Chief of Staff to General J.E.B Stuart.” Vol. XCVIII. Edinburg, London, UK: William Blackwood & Sons. Print pp. 389-436.

Von Borcke, Heros from Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, October, 1865. “Part II Memoirs of the Confederate War for Independence, by Heros Von Borcke, Chief of Staff to General J.E.B Stuart.” Google Books. 15 August 2006 Web. 18 April 2014. – p. 402.

Report of General Robert E. Lee, C.S. Army, commanding Army of Northern Virginia; Report of Brig. Gen. Wade Hampton, C.S. Army, commanding Cavalry Brigade. p. 12. Cornell Digital Library cornell.edu. 28 August 2004 Web. 10 July 2011.

wikipedia.org July 2001 Web. 10 May 2013:
Newton D. Baker Jr.
Battle of Meadow Bridge
Siege of Yorktown
Historic_Fairfax_County_Courthouse

REFERENCES: Family ties

George R. Lucas
Birth 4 AUG 1840 • Jefferson County, Virginia, USA
Death 13 JAN 1865 • Shepherdstown, Jefferson, West Virginia, USA.

1850 Census
Name George Lucas
Age 10
Birth Year abt 1840
Birthplace Virginia
Home in 1850 Shepherdstown, Jefferson, Virginia
Gender Male
Family Number 367
Household Members
Name Age
Louis Lucas 40
Ellen Lucas 32
George Lucas 10
Edward Lucas 8
Lewis Lucas 6
Franklin Lucas 2
Frances London 15
Catharine Reynders 18
ancestry.com 28 October 1996 Web. 4 September 2012.

George R. Lucas’ Service Record
fold3.com 16 September 2011 Web. 1 December 2015.

George R. Lucas’s father, Lewis Lucas was a boatmen with $2000 in real estate in 1850 and is shown on the Census tables as next to Prudence Conly hotel on Princess Street. – fold3.com 16 September 2011 Web. 1 December 2015.

Census – US Federal 1860
… Virginia › Jefferson › Shepherdstown › Page 81
Lucas, Lewis (b. ~1808) lived in Daniel Entler’s hotel as a constable of town alone. fold3.com 16 September 2011 Web. 1 December 2015.

Lewis Lucas
Birth 31 MAR 1806 • Virginia
Death 15 JUL 1878 • Jefferson, West Virginia, USA. ancestry.com 28 October 1996 Web. 4 September 2012.

Harpers Ferry Constitutionalist – June 5th, 1839.
Marriage. Capt. Lewis Lucas to Ellen Reynolds

Alexander Mason Evans M.D.
Birth 30 NOV 1842 • Hedgesville, West Virginia, USA
Death 16 OCT 1899 • Jefferson County, West Virginia, USA.

Name Mason Evans
Age 7
Birth Year abt 1843
Birthplace Virginia
Home in 1850 District 9, Berkeley, Virginia
Gender Male
Family Number 1464
Household Members
Name Age
Eveline Evans 38
Mason Evans 7
ancestry.com 28 October 1996 Web. 4 September 2012.

Harriot Lowndes SCOLLAY
1843–1911
Birth 11 MAY 1843 • Jefferson County, West Virginia, USA
Death 28 FEB 1911 • Middleway, Jefferson County, West Virginia, USA

Death of Father Samuel SCOLLAY(1781–1857)
11 Jan 1857 • Smithfield, Jefferson, Virginia. ancestry.com 28 October 1996 Web. 4 September 2012.

1860 Census Middleway – p. 56.
Scollay, Sarah P (b. ~1802)
Scollay, Harriet L (b. ~1843)
Scollay, Mary N (b. ~1845)
fold3.com 16 September 2011 Web. 1 December 2015.

Harriot Scollay Evans
Added by: Keith McDonald
Cemetery Photo – findagrave.com 5 December 1998 Web. 1 December 2015.

Image Credits – Newton Baker’s Remarkable Son:

Street Scene – Young men, Shepherdstown, 1866 – courtesy the Historic Shepherdstown Museum.

President_Woodrow_Wilson_portrait_December_2_1912
wikipedia.org 17 July 2001 Web. 12 July 2015.

Newton_Baker,_Bain_bw_photo_portrait
wikipedia.org 17 July 2001 Web. 12 July 2015.

young Newton D. Baker Jr.
Cramer, C. H. (1961). “Newton D. Baker, a biography.” Cleveland, OH: World Pub. Co. Print.

Cramer, C. H. (1961). “Newton D. Baker, a biography.” Internet Archives: Digital Library of Free Books, Movies, Music, and Wayback Machine. 27 Oct. 2009. Web. 1 March 2011.

Veterans Medical Center, Martinsburg, WV. 2015.

Confederate Service Records – Newton D. Baker, p. 22.

Newton Baker’s Life in the Famed 1st Virginia Cavalry 1861-1865 (Pt. 3 of 4) by Jim Surkamp

by Jim Surkamp on February 2, 2016 in Jefferson County

Newton Baker’s Life in the Famed First Virginia Cavalry – 1861-1865 (3 of 4) (The First Virginia Cavalry participated in more than 200 engagements).

Intro_NDB_3

SUMMARY:
Each generation rebels against the former. The Bakers of Maryland, Shepherdstown and finally Martinsburg – muddled thru traditional inter-generational discords like a schooner pitching through high seas. Elias Baker one-upped a father who deserted his children by being a good father. His son, antsy nineteen-year-old Newton D. Baker rebelled against his doting father, a soon-to-be appointed federal postmaster in Shepherdstown, by riding off and enlisting in Company F of the First Virginia Cavalry – Confederate – following the recent example of a figurative avalanche of nine of his blood cousins into that same company. Still more cousins would enlist.

Life in a wartime saddle matured him for four years: battles, imprisonment, routine heroics, his wounding, having a fine bay mare shot from under him, (and later, a suspiciously extravagant compensation package for this lost horse offered by a cousin with clout), and, finally, coming home. Bearing witness to so many in need of medical care begat Newton’s post-war calling as a doctor. He finished training, was mentored by Shepherdstown neighbor and physician, John Quigley, who transferred his practice to the young up-and-comer.

But burgeoning ambition called away the next son of a Baker – Newton D. Baker Jr. Reading voraciously and eschewing the stethoscope and his father’s beckoning practice, off Junior went to Cleveland – joking that he was being a carpetbagger invading the Northern states – ascending a skyward ladder to heights of acclaim unprecedented for the Bakers. He was the progressive mayor of Cleveland; then, after more promotions, President Woodrow Wilson approached his fellow Virginian and appointed Newton D. Baker, Jr. to be our Secretary of War, managing the best he could the American role in the calamitous First World War. Today we have the Newton D. Baker Veterans Hospital in Martinsburg to his fond memory.

In part 3, we see Newton’s days of thigh-high mud, long rides, freezing cold, and deepening comradeship, from the vantage point in the saddle beside him, so to speak.. His first baptism of fire at Manassas was in a horseback charge with his company, in the shadow of the wielded saber of their commander, Captain William Morgan of Shepherdstown. We join here the regiment the sobering next day, Monday, July 22, 1861 with abandoned human forms across a terrain, their agonies frozen at mid-gesture. But there were also incredible amounts of food, drink, spurs, sabers, and smart clothes that quickly found their way upon the persons of Morgan, Newton and every soldier seeking to become presentable again to any ladies whom they hopefully might encounter. Chivalry in clothes of dirty rags fails.

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STRANGE IS A WHISPERING BATTLEFIELD THE NEXT DAY
:

Wrote another 1st Virginia cavalryman of July 22nd:
The battlefield immediately after a battle is always an interesting and instructive study for a soldier . . On this occasion I saw the field about nine o’clock and all of our dead had been removed. But the dead of both sides and the wounded enemy were still there, which gave a pretty fair idea of the action.

Blackford_spurs_montage_NDB_3

I had always felt a horror at taking anything from the dead, not that I thought it was wrong, but I disliked touching them. That morning, however, as I rode through a little grove of pines there lay, with his head covered by an oilcloth, the body of a handsomely dressed Federal officer, and buckled to his neat boots were an elegant pair of spurs. Oh, how I did want those spurs! Then I could get them without touching the body, for there was only one buckle to undo at the instep.

Mine were good, strong cavalry spurs, but how coarse they looked after seeing these. I looked all around – no one in sight – it must be done – I could not leave such spurs as those to fall into the hands of the infantry burial party who would be along to bury him. So down I sprang from my horse and began taking them off. “What are you doing there?” said the officer in a weak voice, pulling the oilcloth from his face. I felt the hot blood rush to my cheeks and turning my face quickly aside, so he could not recognize me again, jumped on my horse and galloped away. I ought to have offered to do something for him but I felt so ashamed at having been caught, I could not. – Blackford, p. 44.

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NEWTON BAKER’S LONG TRAIL THROUGH WAR:

1. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 1861: SKIRMISH AT LEWINSVILLE, VIRGINIA – Driver, p. 19.

Lewinsville_Today_Sept_11_1861
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Centerville_Gainsville_1861-1862_Montage

2. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 1861 – SIX MILES SOUTH OF THE FAIRFAX COURTHOUSE – PROMOTIONS ALL AROUND:
The promotion of J.E.B. Stuart to brigadier general, involved a formal reorganization and expansion of the 1st Virginia Cavalry. Captain Morgan was reaffirmed as commander of Company F, Shepherdstown Troop, with full regimental strength of 185 men, eight of whom, in time, would be killed in action, ten more from disease, in addition to thirty-one woundings, and twenty-four would become prisoners of war. – Driver, p. 24; pp. 124-133; Blackford, p. 52.

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3.TUESDAY – DECEMBER 10, 1861 – CENTERVILLE, VA.:
November and early December had very “pretty weather.” Baker was sent on December 10th to Gainesville Station to the west on the Manassas Gap Railroad for the last two weeks of the year at Gainesville Station, where huge quantities of wheat flour and other “booty,” nicked from the defeated Federal armies, was being stored. Some was “liberated” to accompany the punch, eggnog, turkey and oysters that the soldiers were devoured for Christmas. J. E. B. Stuart’s trademark was to make festivities and music mandatory.- Confederate Service records (NARA); Driver, p. 24, pp. 26-27, p. 28.

Dec_1861_moon
McQuilkin_Record died_in_hospital


4. MONDAY, JANUARY 6, 1862 – MANASSAS, COUSIN MCQUILKIN FALLS ILL, DIES.
As weather cooled and became foul, men and horses in the camp weakened and became ill, including William Morgan’s younger bother, “Jack” and Newton Baker’s cousin William H. McQuilkin. His pneumonia worsened over five months and he died January 6th, 1862 at Manassas. – Confederate Service record; Driver, pp. 23.

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Feb_62_moon

1862

5. JANUARY-FEBRUARY, 1862 – BAD WEATHER:

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“During the time we were engaged in meeting this advance demonstration on Manassas, the weather was very bad – snow and sleet and rain – and we had to bivouac in it all. . . . the severest I passed during the war.” They made for themselves brush shelters that were repeatedly deluged by drooping pine trees releasing their accumulations of snow on them and their camp sites. – Blackford, p. 60.

the-vidette

6. SUNDAY, MARCH 9, 1862 – DRIVEN FROM CENTERVILLE, VIRGINIA, TO WARRENTON, TO BEALTON:

09_poems_wyeth_picket

Newton Baker and his many cousins did their turns on picket facing the 1st New York Cavalry to the north toward Falls Church. Come spring Gen. Johnston ordered the army to move further south with Stuart’s men guarding against the Federals pressing to their rear. To keep it all from being recovered by the Federals, a mountain of bacon and barrels of wheat had to be destroyed.

Wrote one:
Our regiment destroyed eight hundred barrels of flour stacked on the platform . . , by knocking in the tops of the barrels and scattering the flour over the ground. – Driver, p. 30

William Blackford wrote that huge piles of bacon “as high as a house” were burned. “The flames did have a curious look, a sort of yellow and blue mixed.” Clothing that could have dressed many of the cavalrymen for the entire war was torched. – Blackford, p. 60.

Mar_62_moon
destroy_bridges_tresltes_loc_gov

7. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 12- MARCH 19, 1862 – DESTROYING BRIDGES AND TRESTLES EN ROUTE TO CAMP AT WARRENTON JUNCTION: – Driver, p. 30

8. ABOUT MARCH 20 to 26, 1862 – THE FIRST VIRGINIA AT BEALTON, VA. CAMP:

9. THURSDAY, MARCH 27, 1861 – SKIRMISH AT CEDAR RUN, VA, just north of Warrenton.:

Cedar_Run_Mar_27_1862_1st_Va-Cavalry

Six federal regiments arrived at Cedar Run then camped at Warrenton Junction. – Driver, p. 31;

. . . six regiments without seeing either end of the column; six regimental colors were counted. They were marching across the fields parallel to the railroad and in view of it. I immediately sent the First Virginia Cavalry (Jones) down to observe the enemy and report. . . – Stuart, p. 402.

They have baggage, say 450 wagons; scarcely any cavalry visible then. They are spreading about on Cedar Run to find fords. . . . – Stuart, p. 406.

He (the Federals) made a great to-do crossing and re-crossing Cedar Run, firing artillery at a few vedettes, and the like, and has actually made 3 miles with his advance guard. . . . – Stuart, pp. 406-407.

Wrote John Singleton Mosby to his wife, Pauline, of confronting these Federals while crossing the Run:

Mosbys_names_dates

My dearest Pauline:
. . . Although I do not belong to that Company (Blackford’s), being on the regimental staff, I went with them into the fight. . . The appearance of the enemy when they crossed Cedar Run was the most magnificent sight I ever beheld…. We let them [advance guard of cavalry] cross, when, dismounting, we delivered a volley with our carbines which sent them back across the deep stream in the wildest confusion. One fellow was thrown into the water over his head; and scrambling out, ran off and left his horse; another horse fell, rose, and fell again, burying his rider with him under the water. We ceased firing, threw up our caps, and indulged in the most boisterous laughter. . . – Mosby, pp. 108-109.

Wilsons_Creek_N_C_Wyeth
Apr_62_moon
Battle_of_Yorktown,_Pursuit_sketch


April 21, 1862 1st Va. Cav. 5 miles north of Yorktown
Artist
Alfred Waud (1828–1891) Link back to Creator
Title rebels from Yorktown Sunday morning
Date 1862 April-May
Medium drawing 1 drawing on tan paper : pencil and Chinese white ; 24.2 x 33.7 cm. (sheet).

10. FRIDAY, MAY 9TH, 1862 – SKIRMISH AT SLATERSVILLE, VA.:

Map_Elthams_Landing_Slatersville_May_1862
May_9th_1862_Slatersville_Va

(An account from the perspective of the 6th U.S. Cavalry):
At 3 PM, From 6th U.S. Cavalry – A portion of Capt. Lowell’s Squadron consisting of 55 men and Capt. Sander’s Company of 32 men, were ordered to find and cut off men in the 1st Virginia Cavalry. After a scout of the 1st Virginia, secreted in nearby woods spotted them and called for cavalry, Captain Lowell used a Jeb Stuart tactic of galloping then ordering a charge at the portion of the 1st Virginia – even if outnumbered. The report said: “the column was put to the gallop, and on reaching the open was ordered to charge, led by Capt. Lowell; the impetuosity and gallantry of the men and officers to perform this order, was only equaled by the rapidity of the enemy’s retreat.” Tried twice more on new contingents of First Virginia cavalrymen, Lowell’s bold tactic worked only for so long because the 1st Virginia at the scene numbered 400, close to the official number of 437 men in the 1st Virginia when William Fitzhugh Lee was recently made their commander. – Driver, p. 33; Source: National Archives, RG 391: Records of the US Regular Army Mobile Units, 6th Cavalry, Regimental Letters Sent 1861-1864, Vol. 1 of 12, NM-93, Entry 814.

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10. FRIDAY, MAY 30TH – A FLATTERING OBSERVER ARRIVES FROM GERMANY TO CAMP – BROOK CHURCH, VA.:

Borcke_Arrives_Montage

Heros Von Borcke, a fresh-from-Germanic-lands military man eluded the blockade on the high seas and came to Americae. He would become a colorful fixture on Stuart’s staff throughout the war. He gives his compelling fresh take on the men of 1st Virginia. Their horses were worn out too.:

Brook_Church_Vicinity_encampment_MAP

Von Borcke arrives in Richmond to search for the 1st Virginia and Stuart himself:
We trotted out of the city, and across the wooded plain through which runs the Brook turnpike, passing the extensive fortifications and the long lines of the Confederate army. With the liveliest interest I looked upon these masses of warrior-like men, in their ill-assorted costumes, who had come with alacrity from the Carolinas, from distant Mississippi and yet more distant Texas, from sunny Florida, from fertile Georgia, from Alabama, land of mountain and canebrake, from the regions of Louisiana, to imperil their lives in the defense of their much-loved South . . . Brigade after brigade we saw awaiting the summons to the battle which was so soon to come.

It was no easy matter to find General Stuart, who, as commanding officer of the outposts, was anywhere along the extended lines, and the sun was near its setting when we reached the camp of the 1st Virginia Cavalry. Here I presented myself for information to the officer in command, Colonel Fitzhugh Lee, who assured me that it would be next to impossible to find General Stuart that night, and kindly offered me the hospitality of his tent. As threatening thunder-clouds were driving up the western horizon, and I was much fatigued by my day’s ride, I gladly accepted the invitation. The camp was a novelty to me in the art of castrametation.

tents.camp_.horse_.matte_-1024x448

The horses were not picketed in regular lines as in European armies, but were scattered about anywhere in the neighboring wood, some tethered to swinging limbs, some tied to small trees, others again left to browse at will upon the undergrowth. In a very short time I was perfectly at home in the Colonel’s tent, where the officers of his regiment had assembled, and where the lively strains of the banjo alternated with patriotic songs and animated discourse.

alabama_cooking_terrapin_montage

During the evening a supper was served which, under existing circumstances, was really luxurious, and one of the chief dishes of which consisted of the eggs of the terrapin found in a creek near the camp by Colonel Lee’s negro servant, who was at once head-cook, valet, and steward. I am sure that no work of art from the kitchen of the Cafe Riche could have been more gratifying to my hungry appetite than these terrapin’s eggs taken out of a Virginia swamp and cooked upon the instant in a cavalry encampment.

Soon after supper we retired to rest, but little sleep came to my weary eyelids; for a terrible hurricane, accompanied by thunder and lightning, raged throughout the night, the peals of thunder shaking the earth, and the flashes of lightning almost blinding one with their incessant vivid glare. I was awake and fully dressed the next morning when, with the first glimpse of the sun breaking through the battered clouds, the trumpet sounded to saddle, and Colonel Lee informed me he had just received marching orders. He added that he should start in fifteen minutes, and my best chance of meeting General Stuart was to ride with the regiment. It was marvelous to see how readily these unmilitary-looking troopers obeyed the orders of their colonel, and with what discipline and rapidity the breaking up of the camp was managed. I suffered the whole regiment to pass me, that I might observe more narrowly its composition. The scrutiny called forth my admiration. The men were all Virginians, whose easy and graceful seat betrayed the constant habit of horseback exercise, and they were mounted mostly on blooded animals, some of which the most particular “swell” in London would have been glad to show off in Hyde Park. Looking back across three eventful years to that morning’s march, I realize how little it was in my thought that my lot should be knit so closely with that of these brave fellows in fatigue and in fight, and that I should have to mourn the loss of, alas! so many who afterwards fell around me, in battle. – Von Borcke, pp. 18-21.

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11. FRIDAY, JUNE 13-SUNDAY, JUNE 15 – CAMP AT MORDECAI FARM; THE FIRST VIRGINIA CAVALRY JOINS STUART AND 1,200 HORSEMEN FOR A BOLD RIDE AROUND FEDERAL GENERAL MCCLELLAN’S ENTIRE ARMY:

Stuart_Ride_Around_June_1862_Montage

At 2 am on June 12, Stuart’s men were awakened in their Henrico County camps at Mordecai Farm (Bryan Park) and at Kilby’s Station. Taking largely from 1st & 9th Va. regiments, J.E.B. Stuart launches a 1,200 cavalrymen ride around Federal General McClellan’s Army.

Stuart wrote in his report (excerpted to highlight actions by the 1st Virginia Cavalry): For full report, Click Here.

I undertook an expedition to the vicinity of the enemy’s lines on the Pamunkey with about 1,200 cavalry and a section of the Stuart Horse Artillery. The cavalry was composed of portions of the First, Fourth, and Ninth Virginia Cavalry. The second named, having no field officer present, was, for the time being, divided between the first and last mentioned, commanded, respectively, by Col. Fitz. Lee and Col. W. H. Fitzhugh Lee; also two squadrons of the Jeff. Davis Legion, commanded by Lieut. Col. W. T. Martin, the section of artillery being commanded by First Lieut. James Breathed.

Although the expedition was prosecuted farther than was contemplated in your instructions I feel assured that the considerations which actuated me will convince you that I did not depart from their spirit, and that the boldness developed in the subsequent direction of the march was the quintessence of prudence.
. . . Upon reaching the vicinity of Hanover Court-House I found it in possession of the enemy; but very little could be ascertained about the strength and nature of his force. I therefore sent Col. Fitz. Lee’s regiment (First Virginia Cavalry) to make a detour to the right and reach the enemy’s route behind him, to ascertain his force here and crush it, if possible; but the enemy, proving afterward to be 150 cavalry, did not tarry long, but left . . . We crossed the Totopotomoy, a strong position of defense, which the enemy failed to hold, confessing a weakness. In such places half a squadron was deployed afoot as skirmishers till the point of danger was passed.

On, on dashed Robins, here skirting a field, there leaping a fence or ditch, and clearing the woods beyond, when not far from Old Church the enemy made a stand, having been re-enforced.

The only mode of attack being in column of fours along the road, I still preferred to oppose the enemy with one squadron at a time, remembering that he who brings on the field the last cavalry reserve wins the day. The next squadron therefore moved to the front under the lamented Captain Latane, making a most brilliant and successful charge with drawn sabers upon the picketed ground, and, after a hotly-contested hand-to-hand conflict, put him to flight, but not till the gallant captain had sealed his devotion to his native soil with his blood. The enemy’s rout (two squadrons by one of ours) was complete; they dispersed in terror and confusion, leaving many dead on the field and blood in quantities in their tracks. Their commander, Captain Royall, was reported mortally wounded.

Several officers and a number of privates were taken in this conflict, and a number of horses, arms, and equipment, together with five guidons. The woods and fields were full of the scattered and disorganized foe straggling to and fro, and but for the delay and the great encumbrance which they would have been to our march, many more could and would have been captured.

Fitzhugh_Lee_regiment_montage

Col. Fitz. Lee, burning with impatience to cross sabers with his old regiment, galloped to the front at this point and begged to be allowed to participate with his regiment (the First Virginia Cavalry) in the discomfiture of his old comrades, a request I readily granted, and his leading squadron pushed gallantly down the road to Old Church; but the fragments of Royall’s command could not again be rallied, and Colonel Lee’s leading squadron charged without resistance into the enemy’s camp (five companies), and took possession of a number of horses, a quantity of arms and stores of every kind, several officers and privates. The stores as well as the tents, in which everything had been left, were speedily burned, and the march resumed. . . the prisoners, 165 in number, were transferred to the proper authority; 260 horses and mules captured, with more or less harness, were transferred to the quartermaster’s departments of the different regiments, and the commands were sent to their respective camps. The number of captured arms has not been as yet accurately ascertained.

A pole was broken, which obliged us to abandon a limber this side of the Chickahominy.

The success attending this expedition will no doubt cause 10,000 or 15,000 men to be detached from the enemy’s main body to guard his communication, besides accomplishing the destruction of millions’ worth of property and the interruption for a time of his railroad communication.

The three commanders (the two Lees and Martin) exhibited the characteristics of skillful commanders, keeping their commands well in hand and managing them with skill and good judgment, which proved them worthy of a higher trust. Their brave men behaved with coolness and intrepidity in danger, unswerving resolution before difficulties, and stood un-appalled before the rushing torrent of the Chickahominy, with the probability of an enemy at their heels armed with the fury of a tigress robbed of her whelps. The perfect order and systematic disposition for crossing maintained throughout the passage insured its success and rendered it the crowning feature of a successful expedition. – The Official Record of the War of the Rebellion; Series I, Volume XI (11) in three parts; Part I. Reports. Chapter XXIII (23). Report No. 21 Report of Brig. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart, C. S. Army, commanding in Cavalry Brigade, pp. 1036-1040.

12. JUNE 22, 1862 – CAMP AT BROOK CHURCH, VIRGINIA:

13. MONDAY, JULY 6 – SUNDAY, JULY 19, 1862 – VON BORCKE HUNTS SQUIRREL, LOVES NATURE; CHAPLAIN LANDSTREET PREACHES TO THE ATTENTIVE, BUT TIRED.:

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13A. JULY 6TH, 1862 VON BORCKE GOES TO THE WOODS NEAR CAMP ON THE CHICKAHOMINY RIVER, VA.:

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About dusk of the 6th – It was a beautiful night, the air was full of the fragrance of the wild-flowers and forest-blossoms, and myriads of fire-flies glittered in the surrounding darkness. . . We occupied ourselves now chiefly with fishing and shooting, as had the Indians of these woods and streams two hundred years ago.

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The Chickahominy afforded us abundance of perch and cat-fish, which were welcome additions to the supplies of our mess-table; but taking the fish was attended with many discomforts and difficulties. From the peculiar formation of the river-banks, high and densely skirted with trees, we were forced to wade about in the shallow stream, where we were vigorously attacked by the most voracious horse-leeches, which fastened themselves on our exposed legs in such numbers as to make it necessary to go ashore every five minutes to shake them off. The small hare of Virginia darted about in every direction in the fields and thickets; but shooting the grey squirrel, which was quite new to me, afforded me the best sport; and from the great agility of the animal, it was by no means so easy a matter as one might suppose. The foliage of the hickory, in which the grey squirrel has his favorite abode, is very dense, and the active little creature knows so well how to run along the opposite side of the limb from the gentleman with the gun, that one must be as much on the alert as his game to fire exactly at the moment when it is in sight and unprotected. The grey squirrel is smaller than the red or fox squirrel, and as it subsists principally on chestnuts and hickory-nuts, its meat is very delicate. I had some repugnance to eating them at first, as disagreeably suggestive, in their appearance, of rats; but I soon learned to appreciate the game, and it became one of my most highly valued dishes.

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On the 18th, about noon, as I had just returned from one of my little shooting expeditions, General Stuart having gone off to Richmond on duty,

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I found Captain Fitzhugh engaged in entertaining an Englishman, Lord Edward St Maur, who had given us the pleasure of being our guest for the day. As our mess supplies were limited, I was not a little concerned as to the materials for a dinner; but William, our negro cook, hearing that I had two squirrels in my gamebag, undertook to make a pie of them, and did this so successfully that I had the satisfaction to find the pate highly relished by my lord, who said he had never tasted anything better in his life.

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13B. SERVICE WITH CHAPLAIN LANDSTREET:
On Sunday the 19th we had divine service in camp. The officiating clergyman was the Rev. Mr Landstreet, chaplain of the 1st Virginia Cavalry, and the spot was an open place in the midst of the primitive forest. I was deeply impressed by the peculiar solemnity of the scene. It was indeed a striking picture, — hundreds of bearded warriors lying about on the grass, and listening with the utmost attention to the eloquent words of the preacher, beneath the green dome formed by the interlacing branches of the gigantic trees over their heads. – Von Borcke, Heros from Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, October, 1865. “Part II Memoirs of the Confederate War for Independence, by Heros Von Borcke, Chief of Staff to General J.E.B Stuart.” Vol. XCVIII. Edinburg, London, UK: William Blackwood & Sons. Print p. 402.

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Weather: warm and dry

14. AFTER SEPTEMBER 10, 1862, FREDERICK, MD. – CIVIL WAR ARTIST ALFRED WAUD “CAPTURES” THE FAMED FIRST VIRGINIA CAVALRY.:

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Waud wrote:
Being detained within the enemy’s lines, an opportunity occurred to make a sketch of one of the two crack regiments of the Confederate service.

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They seemed to be of considerable social standing, that is, most of them – F.F.V’s, (First Families of Virginia) so to speak, and not irreverently; for they were not only as a body handsome, athletic men, but generally polite and agreeable in manner. With the exception of the officers, there was little else but homespun among them, light drab-gray or butternut color, the drab predominating, although there were so many varieties of dress, half-citizen, half-military, that they could scarcely be said to have a uniform. Light jackets and trowsers with black facings and slouched hats, appeared to be (in those cases where the wearer could obtain it) the court costume of the regiment. Their horses were good; in many cases, they told me, they provided their own. Their arms were the United States cavalry saber, Sharps’ carbine and pistols. Some few of them had old swords of the Revolution, curved, and in broad, heavy scabbards. Their carbines, they said, were mostly captured from our own cavalry, for whom they expressed utter contempt – a feeling unfortunately, shared by our own army. (NOTE: Jeb Stuart and Alfred Pleasonton were cadets at the same time at West Point and a source of some of the strong enmity between them.-JS) Finally, they bragged of having their own horses, and, in many cases, of having drawn no pay from the Government, not needing the paltry remuneration of a private. The flag represented in the picture is the battle flag. White border, red ground, blue cross and white stars. – Waud from Harpers’ Weekly, September 27, 1862, p. 612, p. 618.

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[The 1st Virginia Cavalry at a halt]
Waud, Alfred R. (Alfred Rudolph), 1828-1891, artist
[1862 September].
loc.gov 20 February 1999 Web. 25 May 2013.

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15. SEPTEMBER 12-16, 1862 – FREDERICK, WASHINGTON COUNTIES, MD; BERKELEY & JEFFERSON COUNTIES, VA. – THE FIRST VIRGINIA CAVALRY GUARDS WAGON TRAINS, WATCHES FLANKS AND PROVIDES A PICKET IN JEFFERSON COUNTY AFTER THE MAIN BATTLES – FOR COMPANIES F FROM SHEPHERDSTOWN & COMPANY B FROM MARTINSBURG, AND . . . A CHANCE TO VISIT HOME.:

Newton D. Baker’s cousin, William Martin Lemen (1831-1903) of Company B and son of his mother’s sister, Margaret Billmyer Lemen (1807-1869), wrote down the itinerary for the First Virginia during the campaign in Maryland and sent it to the battlefield historian, Ezra Carman, on May 7, 1897. – Carman, Clemens, p. 386, footnote.

Lemen wrote that the 1st Virginia separated from Fitzhugh Lee’s brigade at New Market, stayed there on picket until Wednesday, September 10th and headed to Maryland, commanded by Tiernan Brien. The First Cavalry then was assigned to scouting, picketing and watching for any appearance of Federal-supporting militias from across the border with Pennsylvania. – Driver, p. 46.

On the 14th, they concentrated in Hagerstown, while the rest of Fitzhugh Lee’s brigade arrived at Boonsboro and defended the retreat of Confederate infantry from off the Catoctin Mountains. – Ibid, pp. 46-47;

Lemen wrote Carman that the First then “followed the trains” crossing the Potomac at Williamsport until daybreak of the 15th. After camping the next night at Hainesville (Falling Waters) they went to Shepherdstown Ford, probably taking what is called the Bedington/Scrabble/Turner/Billmyer Road route or the Bedington/Greensburg/Swan Pond route that Generals Lee, Stuart, and Jackson were using at that time. – H.L. Snyder, Shepherdstown Register, September 22, 1921, September 22, 1927, July 31, 1924; Clemens, footnote, p. 386.

Some of the 1st Cavalry re-crossed into Sharpsburg to help Pelham’s Battery on Nicodemus Hill in the morning battle on September 17th. – Lemen; Driver, p. 47.

16. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 18 10-11 PM – DAYLIGHT FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 19th – PACK HORSE (BLACKFORD’s, BOTELER’s) FORD – BECOMING A PICKET NEAR HOME:

The First Virginia leads in replacing the exhausted men on picket for Gen. Jubal Early’s division east of Sharpsburg, allowing Early’s men to join the slow line of men and wagons crossing into Virginia, being the last Confederate division to cross At daybreak, the First recrosses, too. – Volume XIX – in Part I. Operations in Northern Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania. September 3-November 14, 1862 (Vol. 19, Chap. 31), p. 972.

17. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 19 – WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 1862 SHEPHERDSTOWN VICINITY:
NEWTON BAKER, HIS MANY COUSINS; WILLIAM MORGAN AND HIS TWO BROTHERS – HAVE A REST, WHILE PICKETING – AND VISITING THEIR HOMES AND FAMILIES; EXCEPT NEWTON – WHOSE FATHER WOULD NOT SPEAK WITH HIM – YET. – Driver, p. 47; Kenamond, pp. 21-22.

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18. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 1st, 1862 – SHEPHERDSTOWN TO MARTINSBURG – MORGAN AND THE FIRST VIRGINIA TANGLE WITH PLEASONTON’S FEDERAL CAVALRY.:

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October 1st – Weather: Fine. Shepherdstown-Opequon-Martinsburg-Reconnaissance and Skirmish:
While staying at the Bower of the Dandridge family with most of his staff, Jeb Stuart got sudden word, possibly from William Morgan among others, the Federal Gen. and Cavalry Commander, Alfred Pleasonton – an bitter rival of Stuart’s since their West Point days – had crossed at Shepherdstown with 700 men and battery, drove the pickets back, including the First Virginia men at Shepherdstown. His force pressed on towards Martinsburg taking the road through Winebrenner’s Crossroads.

Col. Tiernan Brien commanded the First Virginia in the lead of a response force as it worked its way north on what is today Route 11. But Brien gave orders vastly misunderstood so that all but two squadrons of his force had veered off into a field instead of a majority assisting the First Virginia to lead a charge down Route 11. When Gen. Stuart arrived he was incensed that the First Virginia did not charge and couldn’t find Brien. Realizing that an attack by a tiny fraction of the intended force on the Federal position was untenable, Stuart re-arranged positions, ordered through distant intermediaries a charge from different directions on Pleasonton’s position. Even though Stuart’s men were quite outnumbered, Pleasonton’s men turned about and returned to Shepherdstown and then across the river into Maryland.

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While Stuart’s men succeeded in deterring further fighting while outnumbered, Pleasonton in his final report of the skirmish scorned any claims by Confederate Generals that the retreat of his force was, if anything, casual if not guarded. – Pleasonton, Report, Official Record.

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Taking stock, Stuart accepted Brien’s resignation the next day.

He would in just a few days be a star performer at hijinks in a planned ball at The Bower, posing as a Pennsylvania Farmer and on his arm a huge, simpering gaudily dressed “Wife”, who in fact was Heros Von Borcke but soon thereafter Tiernon Brien was backing working his farm as a civilian. – Von Borcke, p. 205

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Stuart promoted Col. John Drake to command the First Virginia and William Morgan, was promoted to major because Company F was in the leading the charge “the sabers leapt rattling from their scabbards, and dashed forward at a full gallop down the turnpike.” – Drake, p. 48; Von Borcke, p. 192.

Morgan’s son later wrote of a scene that well fits William Morgan picketing as per orders in the vicinity of Shepherdstown and his home of Falling Springs at the time Pleasonton’s force crossed into the town and crashed the picket Morgan was on.

The sudden appearance of Pleasonton’s men “driving back the picket” may have looked like his recorded account:
. . . my Father decided to fill up the time by getting in touch with his home and while wandering around I was greatly surprised to see my Father rapidly approaching; I ran to call Mother, but Father, warning me to watch, had scarcely gone into the house when I heard the clanking of saber and spurs, together with the rapid beating of horses feet upon the hard ground and I saw three Yankees approaching and almost reaching the gate leading into our yard; I called “Father!” who quickly sprang upon his horse, and riding rapidly, easily cleared the gate but the Yankees had seen him and were in hot pursuit, calling to Father to halt and firing their pistols; I ran after them screaming “You shall not shoot my Father!” But to my amazement I saw the Yankees returning at a furious gallop, passing by me they soon went the same way they had come. Bewildered, I ran on and on through the woods, thinking to find my brave Father dead or badly wounded. . . I returned to Mother, who was upon her knees in prayer to the God of battles for my Father’s protection.

We may surmise that Morgan made his way either to Stuart’s headquarters with news of the invading cavalry or towards the scene of fighting at Martinsburg after assembling his Shepherdstown men on picket, such as the Lemens and Newton Baker.

Many years later, this son, Augustine C. Morgan had a chance encounter with a man in Hagerstown who in fact remembered him and the incident. He told Augustine that his Father , using a classic Stuart ruse, dramatically turned and charged the pursuing Yankees, convincing them that Morgan was leading a larger counter-charge. he was alone. – Morgan-Getzendanner, pp. 3-4.

The Impossible Autumn (Pt. 4) – 1862, Jefferson County, Va. by Jim Surkamp
civilwarscholars.com 20 June 2011 Web. 24 January 2016. More.

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19. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 1862 – DEPARTURE FROM THE BOWER AND THE AREA:

As Gen McClellan’s full army began to cross into Virginia at Shepherdstown, Williamsport and Harpers Ferry, all the re-assembled and rested Confederate Army moved away towards Clarke County and Snickers Gap to fight another day.

Heros Von Borcke wrote:

Bower.Map_.Lookalike

Our long and delightful sojourn now drew rapidly to its close. Guest after guest departed, and every day the indications of a speedy departure became plainer. At length, on the 29th of October, a hazy, rainy autumn day, the marching orders came, and the hour arrived for the start. A number of the Staff did not fail to indulge in the obvious reflection that nature wept in sympathy with us at the separation. With heavy hearts indeed, we left the beautiful spot, and bade adieu to its charming, kindly inhabitants. Silently we rode down the hill, and along the margin of the clear Opequan stream, musing on the joyous hours that had passed away — hours which those few of our dashing little band of cavaliers that survived the mournful finale of the great war, will ever hold in grateful remembrance. – Von Borcke, pp. 322-323.

20. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 3 – SALEM, VA. ENCAMPMENT: – Driver, p. 50.

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Weather: quite cool

21. TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 1862 – “SNOWED ALL DAY”: – Driver, p. 50; Thomas W. Colley, Museum of the Confederacy.

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Weather: light snow cleared, total eclipse of the moon, windy and cold

22. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 1862 – CAMP AT CHANCELLORSVILLE, VA.:

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Weather: pleasant in the morning, afternoon – rain

23. JANUARY, 1863 – 1st VIRGINIA REDUCED TO A HUNDRED MEN AVAILABLE, HORSES NEED FODDER AND HAY.:

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Wrote Thomas W. Colley: There is no sign of winter quarters. Our brigade is here for the purpose of getting forage. It is impossible for us to get any fodder for hay. Corn is all we can get for our horses. – Driver, p. 54; Colley diary.

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Weather: misting snow, then cold and windy

24. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 17 – WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 1863 – “COMMENCED SNOWING ON THE 17th . . . IT SNOWED ABOUT 10 OR 12 INCHES AND RAINED ALL DAY ON US.” – Colley, Driver, p. 54.

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Weather: sunny day

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25. TUESDAY, MARCH 17, 1863 – KELLY’s FORD, VA. – 3,100 FEDERAL CAVALRYMEN UNDER GENERAL WILLIAM AVERELL AVENGE MANY RAIDS BY FITZHUGH LEE’S BRIGADE OF SOME 600 MEN, INCLUDING MORGAN’S COMPANY F OF THE FIRST VIRGINIA.:

“The remaining sharpshooters of the brigade under the very efficient officer, Major (W.A.) Morgan, First Virginia,” were ordered to a point on the railroad where the road turns toward Kelly’s half a mile from the railroad bridge.” Fitz Lee continues: “The report . . . I received was to the effect that the (enemy) had succeeded in crossing capturing 25 of my sharpshooters, who were unable to reach their horses.” – Official Report, Fitzhugh Lee report p. 61.
– Official Record, Operations in Northern Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. January 26-June 3, 1863. Part I Vol. 25, Chapter 37. Reports – March 17, 1863 – Engagement at Kelly’s Ford. p. 47 Averell Report.
pp. 60-63 Fitz Lee Report.

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Weather: very pretty

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Weather: very nice spring day

26. SUNDAY, MAY 31, 1863 – SMITHFIELD, VA. – NEWTON BAKER, A COUSIN, AND TWO OTHER “LOCAL BOYS” IN THE FIRST VIRGINIA ARE CAPTURED AND HUSTLED OFF TO FORT MCHENRY, THEN QUICKLY EXCHANGED.:

Middleway_Panorama

One source records that Elias Baker, Newton’s father, spoke with his son only once during the war years. It is possible he met his son at the prison and was taken back to Shepherdstown. From there Newton Baker is listed as being present in his unit for July, 1863 meaning he may have participated in the Battle of Gettysburg, by following the northbound Confederate forces as they passed through Shepherdstown – Kenamond, pp. 21-22.

It was a good time to adapt a reconnaissance to include slipping home and getting a fresh horse, visiting family and sweethearts before returning to the main Confederate encampment near Culpeper Courthouse.

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Newton was on horseback in Smithfield where lived Alexander Evans’ sweetheart and future wife – Harriot Lowndes Scollay (1843-1911). With Newton and Evans were George Lucas from Shepherdstown and Newton’s cousin John James Lemen, whose family awaited at Millbrook, their home opposite Billmyer’s Mill west of Shepherdstown. – Longacre, p. 61; 1860 Census; Jefferson County Clerk.

The war’s Official Report includes no account of a military engagement on May 31st near Smithfield. But armies were stirring – the Federals controlling the ground north of the Rappahannock River. Rumors were flying that Lee’s Confederate Army was preparing to take the war across the Rappahannock and the Potomac and even into Pennsylvania, to what would become the Battle of Gettysburg in July. Commanded in early 1863 by Col. John Drake, the First Virginia fought in nearly 200 engagements from 1861-1865. – National Park Service Unit Histories Database.

HDQRS. CAVALRY CORPS, ARMY OF THE POTOMAC, May 28, 1863. General S. WILLIAMS, A. A. G., Army of the Potomac: The following dispatch from General Gregg, at Bealeton: A scouting party, just in from Sulphur Springs, reports Stuart camped 4 miles from Culpeper, on the road to the Springs; Fitzhugh Lee, W. H. F. Lee, Hampton, and Field at Jefferson. **Rebel scouts numerous about Warrenton and the Springs. The force is represented as being very large. I think it advisable to send Bufords command that is available, some 900 men, and battery, to re-enforce Gregg, should Major-General Hooker consent, particularly as Buford reports rather poor grazing at Dumfries, while on the upper route it is good, and supplies easily obtained. The cavalry at Washington should be moved farther down, on the Orange road. The rebels always mean something when their scouts become numerous. A. PLEASONTON, Brigadier-General, Commanding Cavalry Corps. – Official Report; Series 1 – Volume 25 (Part II) Chapter 37. p. 536.

Finding themselves surrounded by Federal cavalrymen, likely of the Third Cavalry Division, and unable to charge through the enemy, the four young men were captured. But a bare five days later, the foursome, who had been transferred – apparently by the Winchester-Potomac line at nearby Summit Point connecting at Harpers Ferry with the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad to Fort McHenry – where they were processed and moved to Fort Monroe, where Baker was exchanged June 3rd and the others June 5th. They made their way back to their army as it headed north to Gettysburg. – Confederate Service Records.

From Confederate Service Records, and Compilation in Robert J. Driver’s 1st Virginia Cavalry:

Residence: Shepherdstown
LUCAS, GEORGE R.: b. 8/4/40. enl. Co. F. Martinsburg 6/19/61 as Pvt. Present until absent on detached service 2/62. POW Smithfield 5/31/63. Sent to Ft. Monroe. Exch. 6/5/63. Present through 8/64. KIA 1/13/65. “The Virginia Free Press”: 9 Nov. 65: “George R. Lucas killed in Berkeley County Jan. 20, 1865, aged 25 years.” bur. Elmwood Cem. Shepherdstown, W.Va. – More:

Residence: Millbrook – Willoughby Lemen
LEMEN, JOHN JAMES ALEXANDER: b. Va. 11/19/39. 5’7″. fair complexion, dark hair, grey eyes. Farmhand, Charles Town PO, Jefferson Co. 1860 census. enl. Shepherdstown Co. F. 4/18/61 as Pvt. 1st Virginia Cav. Present until captured 7/6/61. Exch. Present 9/62. Captured Smithfield 5/31/63. Sent to Ft. Monroe. Exch. 6/5/63. Present until absent sick in Richmond hospital 8/24/64. Released 6/30/64. d. 1/10/71. bur. Elmwood Cem. Shepherdstown, W.Va. – Service Record; Snyder, p. 48. 1860 Census.

Residence: Scollay Hall, Middleway (post-war)
EVANS, ALEXANDER MASON, JR.: b.: 10/30/42. enl Pvt Co. F. Shepherdstown 5/5/61. detached with the baggage guard 3-4/62. Cap. 5/31/63 Smithfield. Exch. after Ft McHenry 6/5/63. Surrendered Appomattox 4/9/65. served as scout for Gen. J.E.B. Stuart and captured and escaped three times. d. 10/16/89. bur. Episcopal and Masonic Cem. Middleway, W.Va.

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Weather: fair, wind from the east

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Newton Baker was on detached service for much of late 1863 and early 1864.

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27. TUESDAY, AUGUST 16, 1864 – CEDAR CREEK, VA. – FEDERAL COMMANDER PHILIP SHERIDAN ORDERS DESTRUCTION ‘SOUTH OF A LINE FROM MILLWOOD TO WINCHESTER’:

In compliance with instructions of the lieutenant-general commanding, you will make the necessary arrangements and give the necessary orders for the destruction of the wheat and hay south of a line from Millwood to Winchester and Petticoat Gap. You will seize all mules, horses, and cattle that may be useful to our army. Loyal citizens can bring in their claims against tbe Government for this necessary destruction. No houses will be burned, and officers in charge of this delicate, but necessary, duty must inform the people that the object is to make this Valley untenable for the raiding parties of the rebel army. – Sheridan to Brig. Gen. A.T. A. Torbert, Chief of Cavalry, Middle Military Division. Official Record, Series 1 – Volume 43 (Part I) Chapter LV. p. 43.

28. MONDAY, AUGUST 15th – FRONT ROYAL, VA. – FITZ LEE’s BRIGADE WITH FIRST VIRGINIA ARE ORDERED TO ASSIST JUBAL EARLY AGAINST GEN. SHERIDAN.:

YOUNG DEWITT CLINTON GALLAHER OF THE FIRST VIRGINIA AND FROM SHEPHERDSTOWN WROTE IN HIS DIARY:

DCGallaher_D

August 15th – In camp near Front Royal. Had a meal at a Mr. Buck’s. Enjoyed it. Hear the Yankee Cavalry are in the neighborhood. We had expected this. General Jubal T. Early, then in command in the Valley, had but few cavalry and had appealed to General Lee to send him some, as Sheridan’s Cavalry had been running over the few cavalry that Early had. Hence Fitz Lee’s old Brigade (ours) was sent to him.

Tuesday, August 16th – The Yankees came up and we attacked them. We were badly managed and were repulsed at Guard Hill with some loss; went into camp of the previous night.

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Weather: cloudy off & on, but warm

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Wednesday, August 17th – Some of us got a girl at the big mill near Luray to make us some real coffee. Very fine. Brucie Trout was the girl and she was very pretty and kind to us.

Thursday, August 18th – (at Wood’s Mill on the Berryville Pike – Driver, p. 96) – Marched to within 6 miles of Winchester on the Plank Road. We had a scrap with Yankee Cavalry below Winchester on the Berryville Road. It rained in torrents and we got soaked through and through. Horrible night we had! Hungry-wagons not up with us – fearfully tired. – Gallaher, p. 10.

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29. THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 1864 – SPOUT SPRING, FREDERICK COUNTY, VA. – NEWTON BAKER’S OWN HORSE IS KILLED IN A SKIRMISH ON THE BERRYVILLE PIKE. LATER A COUSIN WITH CLOUT IN THE REGIMENT LATER PROCESSES PAPERWORK TO COMPENSATE HIM WITH $3,300, AN INFLATED AMOUNT FOR A SINGLE HORSE. – Official Record.

Spout Spring, Va. 1864 – Driver, p. 96; Confederate Service Records.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 18-SATURDAY, AUGUST 20, 1864 – Encamped at Berryville, frequently skirmishing with the enemy’s cavalry. – Itinerary First Federal Cavalry Division Commanded by Bvt. Maj. Gen. Alfred T. A. Torbert, U.S. Army.

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The Confederate States To N. D. Baker
1864 For Thoroughbred 1 Bay Mare valued at $3,300.00; killed in an engagement on the 19th day of August 1864 near Berryville, Va.

I hereby certify that N. D. Baker brought into service one Thoroughbred Bay mare on the 28th day of July, 1864 which was appraised by a regularly appointed board at the time of mustering with service at the sum of thirty-three hundred dollars and that it was the private property of said N. D. Baker as by the records in my keeping.
Notarized? my hand, this the 20th day of February, 1865 –
signed J. M. Billmyer (James Martin Billmyer), (illegible) Sgt, 1st Va. Cav. 1st Virginia Cavalry Regiment Company F.

I certify that the above account is correct and just and that the horse was killed in an engagement with the enemy on the 19th day of August 1864 at or near Berryville, Va. – Confederate Service Records, Newton D. Baker. – Service Record, Newton D. Baker, p. 26.

30. MONDAY, AUGUST 22nd – AUGUST 31st, 1864 – JEFFERSON COUNTY, WV GALLAHER CONTINUES:
Monday, August 22nd – On the march I went to a man’s house named Kanode, who was a friend of my mother’s family. Got a “snack” there. In camp at a church in Leetown (Jefferson County). Rains very hard. In the suburbs of Leetown, Dr. Gregg Gibson, a cousin of Amelia, my brother William’s wife, lived in the old Tucker home. A beautiful old colonial house, with a grove of “ancestral” trees around it, and with an immense garden with a vine clad brick high wall all around it, radiant with flowers and beautiful shrubbery. Here, my sister-in-law just married in that house was staying. Her old home was in the vicinity and William had taken advantage of our troops being in possession there temporarily and had gone down and married Amelia. I called to see her. You can imagine the pleasure and surprise that visit was! I got off for a visit to Mr. Abel’s that night and slept in a BED! Met some girls from the Luray Valley named Lionaberger (“Linaberg” ? – JS). An old friend, Joe Crane had married one of the them. – Gallaher, p. 10.

GALLAHER CONTINUES:
THURSDAY, AUGUST 25, 1864 – LEETOWN, WV TO WILLIAMSPORT, MD – Rejoin my command at Leetown, which had been inactive for several days, and in camp. Marched through Martinsburg and encamp at Falling Waters on the Potomac River, and nearly opposite Williamsport, Md. Here we found many old “union” farmers (sympathizers with the North) and we helped ourselves to their orchards and fine hay (for our weary horses).

THEY CAMP AT THE PROPERTY OF NEWTON’s UNCLE WILLOUGHBY LEMEN WEST OF SHEPHERDSTOWN.:

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Friday, August 26, 1864 – We drive the Yankees across the Potomac and shell the town of Williamsport across the river. We watered our horses in the Potomac, the same we had ridden from the “Wilderness” in May, then to Richmond, Petersburg and in the many fights all summer. We made no attempt to cross into Maryland but rode to Shepherdstown about 20 miles away, where I saw some relatives and many old friends. Went into camp at Billmyer’s Mill about two miles from town where we camped for the night.

Wednesday, August 31, 1864 – My horse “Don” which I had ridden from May all through our marches and fights becoming lame from a disease common in the army called the “greasy fool” starting from the scratches caused by going through so much mud and such hard services. We lay out in a big field nearly all day grazing our horses and taking it easy, as the enemy showed no disposition to attack us for which we were ready. Took some flour to a Miss Dawes who lived nearby and she baked it for me. – Gallaher, p. 11.

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Weather: pretty & fair

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31. BATTLE OF FISHER’s HILL, VA. SEPTEMBER 22, 1864 – NEWTON BAKER FALLS WOUNDED IN THE THIGH, ENDING HIS CAVALRYMAN’S DAYS. – Driver, p. 148.

“. . . fell back on Luray Pike (after) fighting all day” – Captain William Trussell, Co. A., 1st Va. Cavalry, in his diary, Museum of the Confederacy; Driver, p. 99.

4 PM – Federal General George Crook’s Corps moved along North Mountain to outflank Early and attacked about 4 pm. The Confederate cavalry offered little resistance, and the startled infantry were unable to face the attacking force. The Confederate defense collapsed from west to east as Sheridan’s other corps join in the assault.

Battle-fields of Fisher’s Hill and Cedar Creek, Virginia. 22 Sept. 1864. 19 Oct. 1864. Prepared by Bvt. Lt. Col. G.L. Gillespie, Major of Engineers, U.S.A., From Surveys made under his direction By Order of Lt. Gen. P.H. Sheridan, and under the Authority of the Hon. Secretary of War and of the Chief of Engineers, U.S.A. 1873. baylor.edu 9 May 1997 Web. 28 October 2012.

32. OCTOBER 6, 1864 – BROCK’s GAP, VA – BAKER’S COUSIN, MILTON J. BILLMYER, BITTERLY ASSESSES THE VALLEY’S DESTRUCTION.:

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Sheridan on October 6th commenced moving down the Valley. (Federal Gen. A.T.A) Torbert with his three divisions of cavalry and one brigade of U.S. Regulars, numbering not less than ten thousand men, was ordered to stretch his command from mountain to mountain, drive off all stock, burn mills, barns, shops, in fact everything except private dwellings. Grant in his order to Sheridan said it was not “desirable” to burn private dwellings, but that “the Valley must be made a barren waste.” Then came the most disgraceful scene that man was ever permitted to see – ten thousand vandals turned loose to plunder and burn whatever they could lay their hands on, from mountain to mountain the torch was applied. A cloud of smoke from a thousand burning buildings hung like a pall over our ill-fated Valley. (Confederate General Thomas) Rosser now took command of the cavalry, and as the Yankees retired down the Valley Rosser pressed hard upon them. The fighting continued for three days with intense fury.

The fire devil rallied his legions and retired, burning and plundering as he went. The lurid flames of burning buildings, the charging columns of Rosser and Munford as they madly dashed through smoke and fire, was a scene that would have appalled the bravest. But the hellish work was done, the Valley lay in ashes. – Billmyer letter, Driver, pp. 101-2

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Weather: fine

1. NEWTON BAKER’S “MOST” DIVIDED CLAN (Pt. 1 of 4) by Jim Surkamp
2. NEWTON BAKER “SEES THE ELEPHANT” MANASSAS, VA (Pt. 2 of 4) by Jim Surkamp
3. NEWTON BAKER’S LIFE IN THE FAMED FIRST VIRGINIA CAVALRY 1861-1865 (Pt. 3 of 4) (above) by Jim Surkamp
4. NEWTON BAKER’S REMARKABLE SON (Pt. 4 of 4) by Jim Surkamp

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References and Image Credits for this post are included at the end of Post 4.

Newton D. Baker “Sees The Elephant” – July, 1861 (Pt. 2 of 4) by Jim Surkamp

by Jim Surkamp on February 2, 2016 in Jefferson County

NEWTON D. BAKER “SEES THE ELEPHANT” – JULY 21, 1862 (Pt. 2 of 4) by Jim Surkamp

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SUMMARY:
Each generation rebels against the former. The Bakers of Maryland, Shepherdstown and finally Martinsburg – muddled thru traditional inter-generational discords like a schooner pitching through high seas. Elias Baker one-upped a father who deserted his children by being a good father. His son, antsy nineteen-year-old Newton D. Baker rebelled against his doting father, a soon-to-be appointed federal postmaster in Shepherdstown, by riding off and enlisting in Company F of the First Virginia Cavalry – Confederate – following the recent example of a figurative avalanche of nine of his blood cousins into that same company. Still more cousins would enlist.

Life in a wartime saddle matured him for four years: battles, imprisonment, routine heroics, his wounding, having a fine bay mare shot from under him, (and later, a suspiciously extravagant compensation package for this lost horse offered by a cousin with clout), and, finally, coming home. Bearing witness to so many in need of medical care begat Newton’s post-war calling as a doctor. He finished training, was mentored by Shepherdstown neighbor and physician, John Quigley, who transferred his practice to the young up-and-comer.

But burgeoning ambition called away the next son of a Baker – Newton D. Baker Jr. Reading voraciously and eschewing the stethoscope and his father’s beckoning practice, off Junior went to Cleveland – joking that he was being a carpetbagger invading the Northern states – ascending a skyward ladder to heights of acclaim unprecedented for the Bakers. He was the progressive mayor of Cleveland; then, after more promotions, President Woodrow Wilson approached his fellow Virginian and appointed Newton D. Baker, Jr. to be our Secretary of War, managing the best he could the American role in the calamitous First World War. Today we have the Newton D. Baker Veterans’ Hospital in Martinsburg to his fond memory.

Newton “Sees The Elephant” – July 21st, Manassas/Bull Run:

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William Morgan, Newton Baker and his eleven cousins in the First Virginia Cavalry’s Companies F & B would soon “see the elephant” on July 21st, 1861 at Manassas/Bull Run, Virginia – but not before Col. J.E.B. Stuart, their new commander, gives them a lecture on the cavalry craft.

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Newton Baker left home and his dismayed parents Friday, June 15th to Charlestown where he joined Captain Morgan’s company and his cousins at their campsite on the Bullskin Run south of town. From there, they rode to either Winchester where the First Virginia Cavalry formally consolidated, or to Bunker Hill, an early encampment for that regiment.

David Hunter Strother observed the encampment where Baker’s Company F was a part, after it marched through Charlestown:

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By sunset the army was gone and the town quiet. They encamped for the night on Bull Skin run, about four miles on the road toward Winchester. During the day I had a full opportunity of criticizing the appearance and material of the army. The infantry despite its rags and dust, had a dangerous look. . . The regiments from the Gulf States were apparently of picked men. The tenth Georgia (I think it was) numbering eleven hundred, was the finest looking regiment I ever saw. Looking along the line, you were struck with the uniformity of size and height, all healthy, athletic men, between the ages of twenty-five and thirty-five. . . . – Strother.

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The cavalry, under Col. J.E.B. Stuart, was admirably mounted, and better equipped according to its needs than any other . . . It was composed almost entirely of volunteers from the rural gentry and independent landholders of the country, who furnished their own horses, arms, and accouterments. They generally appeared on picked animals, and armed with a greater variety of ordinance stores . . .

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not omitting the Havelock oblige. These young fellows were bold and dashing riders, good shots, full of spirit and emulation, and promised with experience and iron discipline to constitute a formidable body of cavalry. The habits and opinions of the times, however, had developed in them that exaggerated individuality which would render the strict enforcement of discipline almost impossible, and they had begun to exhibit decided Cossack tendency. – Strother, July, 1866, p. 142. (According to service records, about sixty-eight men from Jefferson County served in the 1st Virginia Cavalry, enlisting at different times.-ED)

Their first task was to go north and confront, with an infantry of about 4,000 men under Confederate Col. Thomas J. Jackson about 8,000 men under Federal commander Robert Patterson crossing into Virginia at Williamsport. (These were portions of larger forces: Patterson had 18,000; Johnston, Jackson’s commander, had 12,000).

LATE JUNE-VERY EARLY JULY, 1861 – 1st Va. Cavalry Camp – Bunker Hill, Va.:

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The camp was in a little valley – between the rows of company tents picket ropes were stretched, to which were haltered the horses, while over a detached group of tents some forty or fifty horsemen were drawn up for inspection, and the young officer in a U.S. undress uniform was Lt. Col. Stuart. He was giving the men their final instructions for the night, for this was the guard going out for the relief on picket posts. . . . He was a little above medium height, broad shouldered and powerfully built, ruddy complexion and blue-gray eyes which could flash fire on the battlefield . . . – Blackford, p. 16.

Newton Baker and his cousins no doubt listened intently to Stuart’s horseback tutorial to his greenhorns:
“Attention!” he cried. “Now I want to talk to you, men. You are fellows, and patriotic ones too, but you are ignorant of this kind of work, and I am teaching you.

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I want you to observe that a good man on a good horse can never be caught. Another thing: cavalry can trot away from anything, and a gallop is a gait unbecoming a soldier, unless he is going toward the enemy. Remember that. We gallop at the enemy, and trot away, always. Steady now! don’t break ranks!” (NOTE: Near Falling Waters at that time, according to David Hunter Strother, Stuart had to employ a gallop, not a trot, to escape capture, momentarily dropping his usual vigilance when he happened upon a classmate and chum from West Point, and – a Federal commander. – Strother July, 1866, p. 153. (See “References.”)

The tutorial continued:
And as the words left his lips, a shell from a battery half a mile to the rear hissed over our heads. “There,” he resumed, “I’ve been waiting for that, and watching those fellows. I knew they’d shoot too high, and I wanted you to learn how a shell sounds.”

Wrote another greenhorn:

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We spent the next day or two literally within the Federal lines. We were shelled, skirmished with, charged, and surrounded scores of times, until we learned to hold in regard our colonel’s masterly skill in getting into and out of perilous positions. He seemed to blunder into them in sheer recklessness, but in getting out he showed us the quality of his genius; and before we reached Manassas, we had learned, among other things, to entertain a feeling closely akin to worship for our brilliant and daring leader. We had begun to understand, too, how much force he meant to give his favorite dictum that the cavalry is the eye of the army. – Eggleston, pp. 116-117.

Tuesday – July 2nd, 1861 – Hoke’s Run (Falling Waters, Va.):

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In what has been called the Battle of Hoke’s Run or Falling Waters, Jackson and Stuart’s men stopped Patterson’s southward progression into Virginia toward Martinsburg, thus crippling the Federal plan to have Patterson keep Jackson and Stuart’s men under Confederate Gen. Joe Johnston from ever travelling east and combining at Manassas with a Confederate army of 20,000 that was nervously watching the approach of a 35,000-man Federal Army.

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Patterson’s total force of 18,000 men would stay put in Charlestown – about fifteen miles to the east – with the mistaken notion that he was successfully confining Stuart, Jackson and Johnston to his area. Inaction was popular because his men had three-month tours of duty scheduled to expire in just six days on the 24th.

Joe Johnston and his army at Winchester needed to leave the Valley immediately, and scurry to Manassas Junction to reinforce the Confederates there and to stop this Union advance. And so Jackson’s men hurriedly began to march east from Winchester – to the Shenandoah River, crossing at Berry’s Ferry in Clarke County. . . – Dennis Frye, Chief Historian, Harpers Ferry National Historic Park. More. . .

NOON, THURSDAY, JULY 18TH, 1861 – BUNKER HILL, VA. ENCAMPMENT OF JACKSON AND STUART:

Jackson wrote his wife:

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On the 18th of July I struck my tents, rolled them up, and left them on the ground, and about noon marched through Winchester, as I had been encamped on the other side of the town (at Bunker Hill). – Jackson to Mrs. Jackson, Memoir, p. 175.

His men had to hard-march over the Blue Ridge to Piedmont, Va. where they would catch a ride on the Manassas Gap Railroad the rest of the way, making several trips.

Next, Gen. Johnston informed Stuart that his 334 cavalry troopers – including Morgan, Baker, his cousins and about sixty other men in the regiment from Jefferson County – had to linger to screen this departure farther away from Federal Gen. Patterson at Charlestown. They also had to ride and walk the whole way – and train-less. – Driver, pp. 11-12.; Official Record, Series 1, Vol. 2, Chapter IX, p. 187.

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Almost at that same time, the overall Federal commander, General Winfield Scott, telegraphs Gen. Patterson at Charlestown:

WS: McDowell’s first day’s work has driven the enemy behind Fairfax Court House. Do not let the enemy (Johnston) amuse and delay you with a small force in front while he reinforces the Junction with his main body.

With Johnston’s main force already a good hour into their departure on July 18th, Patterson sent the second of two reassuring, but wrong replies to his superiors. The first reply was:

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“The enemy has stolen no march upon me. I have caused him to be reinforced.”

The second reply at 1 PM on the 18th stated: I have succeeded, in accordance with the wishes of the General-in-Chief, in keeping General Johnston’s force at Winchester. – Battles and Leaders Vol. 1, footnote, pp. 182-183.

FRIDAY EARLY MORNING, JULY 19 – NEWTON’s HARD RIDE: EXHAUSTING AND HUNGRY:

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Baker, his many cousins, Captain Morgan, Stuart and the others began their own stealthy withdrawl from the northern Valley, still screening the movements of the Confederate force – first to Winchester then east to Berry’s Ferry, stopping for water at Millwood then a hard climb up to the top of the Blue Ridge, through Ashby’s Gap to the eastern side and onwards – those thirty-five hours – spread over Friday, overnight and Saturday – in the saddle with little food or rest for neither man nor horse. The bond between a horse and its rider is a mystical thing.

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Another new recruit on that march wrote after the war, speaking for all: “to a cavalry officer in active service, his horse is his second self, his companion and friend, upon whom his very life may depend.” Confederate officers generally provided their own horse while the Federal Army’s cavalrymen were provided with horses. – Blackford, pp. 21-22More. . .

William Blackford on the trek with Baker shared every dust-choked step of his famished progress with his horse – a dark mahogany bay, almost brown, with black mane, tail and legs and a small white star on his forehead – great eyes standing out like those of a deer, small delicate muzzle – delicate ears in which you could see the veins, and which were in constant motion with every thought which passed through his mind – small and beautiful feet – and legs as hard as bone itself. . . . When I would be eating on the march his eyes would watch me, and if I did not soon lean forward and hand him a taste, he would stop deliberately and reach his mouth up for his share; nothing seemed to come amiss; bread, crackers, meat, sugar, and fruit all seemed to be relished. I could tie the halter strap to my leg and lie down to sleep while he would graze around, step over me or lie down by me without ever treading on me. Sometimes when he would lie down he would lay his head in an affectionate if uncomfortable manner upon me, and though it was disagreeable I could never have the heart to push it off. – Ibid.

FRIDAY, JULY 19TH-SATURDAY, 20TH – BERRY’S FERRY, VA. & OVER THE BLUE RIDGE EN ROUTE TO MANASSAS:

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The road was full of infantry and artillery and we had to pass through the fields. All night long they marched forward, and we were compelled to encounter the fatigue of constantly crossing ditches and fences and the uneven ground on the side. Hundreds of men from the infantry, who had slipped out of the road to sleep, were scattered about everywhere and we had constantly to be on the lookout to keep from riding over them in the dark. – Ibid., p. 19.

Remembered one cavalryman on the trek:
I was famishing when we halted for rest, but just then a man passed by with a huge bullfrog he had just caught in a creek we had crossed and he told me I might have it if I liked as he would not eat one for all the world. It was but the work of a few moments to kindle a fire, dress the frog and broil him, not the hind legs, but the whole body; it was delicious and quite enough to serve as a pretty good meal. . . I had been in saddle all the day before and all the night, and without food during that time, except the bullfrog – Ibid, p. 20.
More. . .

As all this was going on, the telegraphed exchange between Federal Gen. Patterson and his understandably peeved superior, General Scott was:

Patterson: Shall I attack?
General Scott: I have certainly been expecting you to beat the enemy, or that you at least had occupied him by threats and demonstrations. You have been at least his equal and I suppose superior in numbers. – Battles and Leaders Vol. 1, footnote, pp. 182-183.

Newton Baker’s company commander, William Morgan, writes his wife, Anna Jacquelin:

My Dearest Wife:
We left the neighborhood of Winchester very suddenly and marched day and night for the (Manassas) Junction – which we reached on Saturday. We camped that night on what was the battlefield the next day. . .

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SUNDAY, JULY 21st, 1861 – BLACKBURN’S & MITCHELL’S FORD VICINITY:

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The first major battle of the Civil War began early, while Col. Jackson’s units and Stuart’s cavalry waited for orders calling them into battle.

Men in the nearby Clarke County Cavalry (soon to be merged into the Virginia 6th Cavalry) scorned and derided an order to wear identifying strips of cloth to set their motley collection of uniforms apart from those of the enemy in battle. Wrote one: . . . the regiments having formed into line, great bolts of white cotton were brought out, which the officers tore into strips, and we tied a piece around our hats and another to our left arms. Opie, p. 26.
More. . .

This measure would turn out to be prescient as mistaking the foe-for-friend was a decisive fact several times in the day’s battle, even for Stuart, when he mistook Federals for his men; also when a Federal battery commander in the vicinity of Stuart’s charging cavalry fatefully took the fast approaching 33rd Virginia Infantry under Col. William Lee of Shepherdstown, for arriving support Federals. His moment’s hesitation in reacting to the charge cost many lives and the battery was captured.

THE FACE OFF, THE FLANKING AND THE FEDERAL FIASCO:

Morgan wrote Anna Jacquelin:
Sunday bright and early, by dawn the conflict began with the booming of artillery and the sharp reports of musketry, mingled with the hoarse commands given by the officers, the screams of the dying horses and the groans of the wounded which was kept up without intermission . . . – Morgan – More. . .

Recalled one of Stuart’s men:
About daylight I was awakened by Col. Stuart’s springing up and exclaiming, “Hello! What is that?” It was rapid musketry firing away off several miles on our left . . .The horses were fed and we took breakfast, and wishing to know something of the country, our Colonel then took us on a scout across the Bull Run. . . . It not being a part of Stuart’s plan to make an attack, he re-crossed the Bull Run and here we remained until about two o’clock.

He continued:
A skirt of woods hid the battlefield from our view, but occasionally a shell would burst high in the air, and sometimes the wind wafted the clouds upward above the trees, the roar of conflict becoming louder and louder. Stuart was uneasy for fear that he would not be called into action. – Blackford, p. 26.

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Their task was to prevent the Federals from turning Col. Thomas J. Jackson’s threatened left flank.

The state of the battle at two o’clock was this:
The slaughter had ebbed and flowed over rolling terrain. The arrival of Johnstons’s men (Jackson and Stuart) to help the Confederate line and the wearing effects on new Federal troops of much marching prior to battle were gradually combining to begin turning the battle to the Confederates. Two key events involving the unauthorized charge by the 33rd Virginia Infantry and ordered charges by Stuart cavalrymen, including Company F, to protect Col. Jackson’s threatened left flank – had the initial effect of breaking the line of the Federals and, as time passed, gave added pressure to what transformed a fixable break-down of the Federal offensive, into an unforeseen outcome for the day.

2 PM – STUART’S ROLE UNFOLDS:

The day’s fighting had many deadlocked moments and then turning points. The sequence beginning at 2 PM in which the 33rd Virginia charged and briefly took Ricketts’ powerful battery, timed with Stuart’s 1st Cavalry sabotaging the support regiment coming to aid Rickett’s – conspired to begin a spreading confusion, then panicked flight of larger and larger numbers of green Federal troops – a change in morale that escalated and gave the Confederates the field strewn with valuable arms and goods.

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. . . About two o’clock Stuart was striding backwards and forwards in great impatience. Presently we saw a staff officer dash out of the woods and come spurring towards us. The men all sprang to their feet and began tightening their saddle girths, for we had a presentiment he was coming for us. The supreme moment had come at last. Col. Stuart stepped forward to meet the officer. The officer reined up his horse and with a military salute, said: “Col. Stuart, General Beauregard directs that you bring your command into action at once and that you attack that you attack where the firing is hottest.”

The bugle sounded “boots and saddles” and in a moment more we were moving off at a trot in a column of fours. . . Upon reaching the edge of the wood a view of the battle burst upon us, and Stuart halted to take a look. Smoke in dense white clouds lit up by lurid flashes from the cannon wrapped the position of the artillery .

THE FLANK:

. . . about seventy yards distant, and in the head of the column as the grand panorama opened before us, and there right in front, and in strong relief against the smoke beyond, stretched a brilliant line of scarlet – a regiment of New York Zouaves in columns of fours, marching out of the Sudley road to attack the flank of our line of battle.

Dressed in scarlet caps and trousers, blue jackets with a fringe with quantities of gilt buttons, and white gaiters, with a fringe of bayonets swaying above them as they moved, their appearance was indeed magnificent. . . there were about five hundred men in sight – they were all looking toward the battlefield and did not see us.

. . . Just then, however, all doubt was removed by the appearance of their colors, emerging from the road – the Stars and Stripes. I shall never forget the feeling with which I regarded this emblem of our country so long beloved and now seen for the first time in the hands of a mortal foe.

THE FACE OFF:
The instant the flag appeared, Stuart ordered the charge, and at them we went like an arrow from a bow.. . . . Half the distance was passed before they saw the avalanche coming upon them, but then they came to a “front face” – a long line of bright muskets was leveled – a sheet of red flame gleamed, and we could see no more.- Ibid, pp. 28-29.

Five hundred men of the 11th New York Zouaves leaving Sudley Road and cutting into a wooded area towards the fight at Ricketts’ battery with the 33rd Virginia Infantry, stopped – and turned upon seeing Stuart’s cavalrymen coming and fired their leveled guns. Capt. Welby Carter’s horse sprang forward and rolled over dead. . . . and seventeen other charging horses.

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Our cavalry, that is one or two companies suffered a good deal – two whole front ranks went down as they entered the enemies’ lines, myself and company were in the very center of their ranks. The balls flying thick all around, apparently as thick as hail and yet strange to say there was no one killed . . . Morgan.

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It seemed strange that the fire from five hundred muskets, at thirty yards, should not have been more effective, but they had to shoot in a hurry and they were no doubt a little nervous . . . – Blackford, p. 31.

The smoke which wrapped them from our sight also hid us from them, and thinking perhaps that we had been swept away by the volley, they, instead of coming to a “charge bayonet,” lowered their pieces to load, and in this position we struck them. The tremendous impetus of horses at full speed broke through and scattered their line like chaff before the wind. – Ibid., pp. 29-30.

Owing to the dust and smoke which made vision impenetrable, the enemy did not see us until we were among them. With our pistols and sabers we charged them through and returned, cutting and riding them down in every direction. The charge was made just in the nick of time for believe me we were whipped beyond doubt, but our cavalry charge decided the fate of the day. – Morgan.

THE FEDERAL FIASCO:

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We charged back taking their line in the rear at another place, but they had begun to break and scatter clear down to the Sudley road before we reached them; all order was gone and it became a general melee or rather a chase. – Blackford, p. 30.

The Fire Zouaves were completely paralyzed by this charge, and though their actual loss in killed and wounded was not very great, their demoralization was complete. The arrest of their dangerous move upon the exposed flank of our mainline of battle was a result of the utmost importance. Our loss was nine men and eighteen horses killed. – Ibid., p. 31.
More. . .

. . . two or three of us were slightly wounded, myself among the number – three or four horses were shot and bayoneted by the Zouaves – my wound was caused by the jam of horses and men and has ceased to give me any trouble. It was in the knee of my right leg; in an hour I had forgotten it. In my first letter I did not mention it, for the reason it was not worth notice, so you need not be at all uneasy — for I assume I am in perfect health now. My horse, George, behaved nobly, never flinching at any time. – Morgan

MONDAY, JULY 22nd – A SOBERING SCENE . . . WITH “TREATS”:

The following morning – Monday, July 22nd, Baker and his cousins saw the evidence of the previous day, wandering mute among the carnage while also finding treats to keep, much to the fleeting consternation of their commander.

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Wrote Morgan to wife Anne Jacquelin:
Seeing so much blood and carnage (I) soon became used to it, and my curiosity was only to know what sort of wound the poor wretch had received to kill him. There are dead men everywhere – all around – some crawled into the bushes and died, some went a mile or two and died, everywhere are the dead, – and the whole country smells so very offensively that no one can stay in it or near that region. Our loss in officers has been severe. You have no idea of the plunder that was taken – 500 wagons would not hold it – arms – 40 odd pieces of artillery – numbers of elegant horses – any quantity of provisions and clothing, fancy articles, etc.

Our boys (in Company F) are literally loaded down and I had to scold them for having so much about them – they all turned out in new clothes of the finest kind – most of them had more clothes now than they ever had. When I started from Winchester, I had but one shirt, and that on my back, and after wearing it a week and a half, it was of course ready for a change – and seeing quantities of nice new shirts lying around I just appropriated one to myself. We have quantities of overcoats, in addition to all our other traps.

Wrote another of the “haul of booty” that even included a pile of bacon higher than a house:
By stepping or jumping from one thing to another of what had been thrown away in the stampede, I could have gone long distances without ever letting my foot touch the ground, and over a belt forty or fifty yards wide on each side of the road. – Blackford, p. 32.

Thomas P. Rossiter (American painter, 1818-1871) The Rural Post Office 1857


As the news of the great battle began to filter out to the world at large, families in the eastern Panhandle waited for word of their sons. We don’t know if Newton Baker wrote Father Elias and Mother Susan. But they waited for any news.

While Newton may well have been keen on a new shirt he drew from the plunder on the battlefield, a deeper impression was left in him – as he and the others passed through a hospital area to their first battle charge – from the scene of the wounded under the fierce care of doctors – then followed this aftermath Monday, when strewn everywhere were those who died in the worst ways – all such impressions stayed with Newton, so that he would spend the rest of his postwar life in Martinsburg as a family doctor.

Wrote one:
It was our fate, however, to pass through a sickening ordeal before reaching the field. Along a shady little valley through which our road lay, the surgeons had been plying their vocation all the morning upon the battlefield. Tables about breast high had been erected upon which screaming victims were having legs and arms cut off. The surgeons and their assistants, stripped to the waist and all bespattered with blood, stood around, some holding the poor fellows, while others armed with long bloody knives and saws cut and sawed away with frightful rapidity, throwing the mangled limbs on a pile near by as soon as removed. – Ibid, p. 27.

Newton_D_Baker_D


BAKER, NEWTON DIEHL: b. Washington County, Md. 10/3/41. 5’6″ fair complexion, brown hair, blue eyes. attended Wittenberg College one year; clerk Shepherdstown post office, Jefferson County; enlisted in the 1st Virginia Cavalry Charles Town 6/15/61 as Pvt. in Co. F. Present until detached to Gainesville 12/10/61. Captured Smithfield 5/31/63. Sent to Ft. McHenry. Exch. 6/63. Promoted 2nd Corp. Present until detailed as ordinance Sgt. of regt 11/15/63. Horse killed 8/19/64. Wounded leg Fishers Hill 9/22/64. Paroled Winchester 4/23/65. Medical school 1868; surgeon for the B&O railroad. d. Martinsburg 1909. – Driver, Robert J. (1991). “1st Virginia Cavalry.” Lynchburg, Va.: H. E. Howard, Inc. Print. More . . .

1. NEWTON BAKER’S “MOST” DIVIDED CLAN (Pt. 1 of 4) by Jim Surkamp
2. NEWTON BAKER “SEES THE ELEPHANT” MANASSAS, VA (Pt. 2 of 4) (above) by Jim Surkamp
3. NEWTON BAKER’S LIFE IN THE FAMED FIRST VIRGINIA CAVALRY 1861-1865 (Pt. 3 of 4) by Jim Surkamp
4. NEWTON BAKER’S REMARKABLE SON (Pt. 4 of 4) by Jim Surkamp

References:

Ballard, Ted. (2007). “Battle of First Bull Run.” Washington, D.C.: Center for Military History, United States Army. Print.

“Battles and Leaders. Vol. 1.” Robert Underwood Johnson, Clarence Clough Buel (Ed.). New York, NY: Century Co. Print.

Battles and Leaders. Vol. 1.” Robert Underwood Johnson, Clarence Clough Buel (Ed.). Internet Archives: Digital Library of Free Books, Movies, Music, and Wayback Machine. 27 Oct. 2009. Web. 26 Sept. 2010.
pp. footnote, pp. 182-183.
More. . .

Blackford, William W. (1945). “War Years with Jeb Stuart.” New York, NY: Charles Scribner’s Sons. Print.

Blackford, William W. (1945). “War Years with Jeb Stuart.” Google Books. 19 July 2008. Web. 24 Dec. 2010.

Driver, Robert J. (1991). “1st Virginia Cavalry.” Lynchburg, Va.: H. E. Howard, Inc. Print.

Eggleston, George Cary. (1875). “A Rebel’s Recollections.” New York, NY: Hurd & Houghton. Print.

Eggleston, George Cary. (1875). “A Rebel’s Recollections.” unc.edu 27 April 1997 Web 27 December 2015.

Battles and Leaders Vol. 1, footnote, pp. 182-183.

Stuart had 334 men in his command on June 30, 1861 according to the Official Record of the War of the Rebellion. Series 1 – Volume 2 – Chapter IX.
Author: United States. War Dept., John Sheldon Moody, Calvin Duvall Cowles, Frederick Caryton Ainsworth, Robert N. Scott, Henry Martyn Lazelle, George Breckenridge Davis, Leslie J. Perry, Joseph William Kirkley. p. 187. Cornell Digital Library 28 August 2004 Web. 10 July 2011.

Dennis Frye, Chief Historian, Harpers Ferry National Historic Park.

VIDEOS OF DENNIS FRYE, DESCRIBING THE MARCH TO AND BATTLE OF MANASSAS/BULL RUN:

Frye, Dennis. “2 Brothers Die at Manassas.” American Military University Civil War Scholars. 1 July 2011 Web. 1 July 2011.
https://web.archive.org/web/20160412011223if_/https://www.youtube.com/embed/5N-VjhIVAUg?feature=oembed

Frye, Dennis. “The 2nd Virginia Infantry at the First Battle of Manassas.” American Military University Civil War Scholars. 1 July 2011 Web. 1 July 2011.
https://web.archive.org/web/20160412011223if_/https://www.youtube.com/embed/Zqj9_mPkSno?feature=oembed

Frye, Dennis. “The March to Manassas.” American Military University Civil War Scholars. 1 July 2011 Web. 1 July 2011.
https://web.archive.org/web/20160412011223if_/https://www.youtube.com/embed/oKQ16AFcVd4?feature=oembed

Getzendanner, Anna Morgan and Morgan Augustine C. “A Boy’s Recollections of the Civil War – 1861-1865.” Shepherdstown, WV: Self-published.

Jackson, Mary Anna. (1895). “Memoirs of Stonewall Jackson.” Louisville, KY: Prentice Press, Courier-Journal Job Print. Co. Print.

Jackson, Mary Anna. (1895). “Memoirs of Stonewall Jackson.” Internet Archives: Digital Library of Free Books, Movies, Music, and Wayback Machine. 27 Oct. 2009. Web. 26 Sept. 2010. p. 175.

Letter from William A. Morgan to his wife Anna Jacquelin from Camp Fairfax Station, July 24, 1861 – Perry Collection, “Bits and Pieces” compiled by Raymond and Natalie Parks, Charles Town Library.

Opie, John N. (1899). “A rebel cavalryman with Lee, Stuart, and Jackson.” Chicago, W. B. Conkey company. Print.

Opie, John N. (1899). “A rebel cavalryman with Lee, Stuart, and Jackson.” hathitrust.org 19 September 2008 Web. 6 January 2016.

Phelps, William W. (1861). “Almanac for the year 1861 being the thirty-second year of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.” (From April 6, 1830). Third edition revised and corrected. Salt Lake City, UT: Desert News office.
Full moons date/times – 1861: 1/26 9:39 AM; 2/24 9:17 PM; 3/26 6:49 AM; 4/24 2:57 PM; 5/31 4:59 AM; 6/29 7:14 PM; 7/29 12:25 PM; 8/28 5:57 AM; 9/26 10:58 AM; 10/26 2:28 AM; 11/25 3:41 AM; 12/24 2:25 PM.

Phelps, William W. (1861). “Almanac for the year 1861 being the thirty-second year of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.” (From April 6, 1830). Third edition revised and corrected. Internet Archives: Digital Library of Free Books, Movies, Music, and Wayback Machine. 27 Oct. 2009. Web. 1 March 2011.

The time J.E.B. Stuart had to gallop, not trot from the enemy, as told by Federal officer David Hunter Strother:
CAPT. PERKINS “MEETS” WEST POINT CHUM, J.E.B. STUART
Lieutenant Smith mounted and rode off, followed by a rebel horsemen. Finding himself in a closed lane . . . he turned on his pursuer and exchanged two pistol shots with him, at about twenty paces distance. At the second fire the trooper turned tail and rejoined his company. Smith broke through the fence and retreated on the main body, followed by a mingled shower of oaths and bullets. Captain Perkins of the regular army, commanding a battery of light artillery, was also riding carelessly about half a mile in advance of this battery. He was suddenly accosted by three officers, one of whom exclaimed in a familiar voice and manner:

“Hallo, Perk, I’m glad to see you; what are you doing here?”
The Captain recognizing in the speaker his old West Point chum, J.E. B. Stuart, returned the salute heartily, recalling his college sobriquet: “Why, Beauty, how are you? I didn’t know you were with us.” – “Nor did I know you were on our side,” replied Stuart. “What command have you?” – “There’s my command coming over the hill,” replied Perkins, pointing complaisantly to the well-equipped battery that was approaching with the Union colors displayed. “Oh, the devil!” exclaimed Stuart, wheeling suddenly and plunging into the forest. “Good-by Perk.” – Strother July, 1866, p. 153. (See full citation for Strother below).

Strother, David H., “Personal Recollections of the Civil War.” Harper’s New Monthly Magazine, New York, NY: Harper and Bros. Volume 33, Issue: 194, July, 1866. Print.

Strother, David H. (July, 1866). “Personal Recollections of the Civil War.” Harpers Magazine. Cornell Digital Library. 7 May 2008. Web. 20 Oct. 2010. p. 142.
p. 153.

1860 Census, Jefferson County, p. 79 – National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)

Compiled by the Bee Line Chapter National Society Daughters of the American Revolution. (1981). “Tombstone Inscriptions – Jefferson County, West Virginia. Hagerstown, MD: HBP, Inc. – p. 182.

11th Infantry Regiment – Civil War
Ellsworth Zouaves; First Fire Zouaves; First Regiment New York Zouaves; U.S. National Guards. (taken from New York in the War of the Rebellion, 3rd ed. Frederick Phisterer. Albany: J. B. Lyon Company, 1912).

Ellsworth Zouaves; First Fire Zouaves; First Regiment New York Zouaves; U.S. National Guards. dmna.ny.gov 10 March 2005 Web. 10 July 2015.

Chewy Morsel #1 Where “The Rebel Yell” First Got Yelled by Jim Surkamp. civilwarscholars.com 20 June 2011 Web 12 January 2016.
232 words. More. . .

Image Credits:

Thomas P. Rossiter (American painter, 1818-1871) The Rural Post Office 1857.

Thomas Waterman Wood (American painter, 1823-1903) Collecting the Mail at the Village Post Office 1873. b-womeninamericanhistory19.blogspot.com

The Village Post Office
Thomas Waterman Wood – 1873; Owner/Location:Private collection; Dates: 1873. Member rocsdad on 30 April 2005.

12th New York Regiment, Engineers at Camp Anderson, 1861.” New York State Military Museum and Veterans Research Center. NYS Division of Military and Naval Affairs. dmna.ny.gov 10 March 2005 Web. 10 July 2015.

George Cary Eggleston
frontispiece. Eggleston, George Cary. (1875). “A Rebel’s Recollections.” New York, NY: Hurd & Houghton. Print.
Eggleston, George Cary. (1875). “A Rebel’s Recollections.” unc.edu 27 April 1997 Web 27 December 2015.

William A. Morgan – A. M. S. Morgan III, University of Virginia Library

David Hunter Strother – The Library of Congress

Wikipedia.org 17 July 2001 Web. 12 July 2013:
General Winfield Scott
J.E.B.Stuart
Thomas J. Jackson

William Blackford
frontispiece.Blackford, William W. (1945). “War Years with Jeb Stuart.” Google Books. 19 July 2008. Web. 24 Dec. 2010.

John N. Opie
frontispiece. Opie, John N. (1899). “A rebel cavalryman with Lee, Stuart, and Jackson.” Chicago, W. B. Conkey company. Print.

Opie, John N. (1899). “A rebel cavalryman with Lee, Stuart, and Jackson.” hathitrust.org 19 September 2008 Web. 6 January 2016.

11th Regiment – NY Volunteer Infantry – Regimental Color – 65” hoist x 76 1/2” fly – Civil War. dmna.ny.gov 10 March 2005 Web. 10 July 2015.

Ellsworth Zouaves
Digital ID: (color film copy transparency) cph 3g05168 http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3g05168
Reproduction Number: LC-DIG-ppmsca-22382 (digital file from original item) LC-USZC4-5168 (color film copy transparency)
Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA
loc.gov 27 Oct. 2009 Web. 10 Sept. 2015.

Map by Hal Jespersen, www.CWmaps.com
Partial map of the First Battle of Bull Run of the American Civil War. Drawn by Hal Jespersen in Adobe Illustrator. Graphic source file is available at http://www.CWmaps.com/ Hal Jespersen 23:46, 10 August 2007 (UTC). Date: 10 August 2007 (original upload date).

Map by Hal Jespersen, www.CWmaps.com
Partial map of the First Battle of Bull Run of the American Civil War. Drawn by Hal Jespersen in Adobe Illustrator CS5. Graphic source file is available at http://www.CWmaps.com/

Map by Hal Jespersen, www.CWmaps.com
Map of First Battle of Bull Run (2pm, July 21, 1861) of the American Civil War. Drawn in Adobe Illustrator CS5 by Hal Jespersen. Graphic source file is available at http://www.CWmaps.com/

Map by Hal Jespersen, www.CWmaps.com
Map of First Battle of Bull Run (4pm, July 21, 1861) of the American Civil War. Drawn in Adobe Illustrator CS5 by Hal Jespersen. Graphic source file is available at http://www.CWmaps.com/

The Photographic History of The Civil War: in ten volumes, Thousands of Scenes Photographed 1861-65, with Text by many Special Authorities, Volume 2: Two Years of Grim War.
Francis Trevelyan Miller, Ed.

The Conscientious Trooper
Drawings of David Hunter Strother, A&M 2894. wvu.edu.

Title: Map of the Battlefields of Manassas and the surrounding region
Creator: Atkinson, W.G.
Publication Info: Washington : Government Printing Office
Physical Description: 1 map : col.
Plate No.3
Map No.2
Date: 1861
Publication Date: 1891
Note: map ” show[s] the various actions of the 21st July, 1861. between the armies of the Confederacy and the United States” ; hand written in lower right corner- “presented to the city of New Orleans by General G.J. Beauregard Gen C. Comdys”
Series Statement: Series 1. Vol. 2.
Baylor Library Digital Collections. 2 September 2006 Web. 10 July 2011.

English: First Battle of Bull Run, chromolithograph by Kurz & Allison
Date: 1889
Source: Library of Congress
Author: Kurz & Allison
wikipedia.org 17 July 2001 Web. 12 July 2013.

Capture of Ricketts’ Battery, painting by Sidney E. King, National Park Service.
Description: The painting Capture of Ricketts’ Battery, depicting action during the First Battle of Bull Run, one of the early battles in the American Civil War. The painting is oil on plywood, and is displayed in the Henry Hill Visitor Center at Manassas National Battlefield Park.
Date 1964
Source Manassas National Battlefield Park photo (direct image URL [1])
Author Sidney E. King (1906-2002), National Park Service painter

Artist: Winslow Homer (1836–1910)
Title: Defiance: „Inviting a Shot before Petersburg“
Date: 1864
Medium: oil on panel
Dimensions: 30.5 × 45.7 cm (12 × 18 in)
Current location: Detroit Institute of Arts
Credit line: Founders Society Purchase with funds from Dexter M. Ferry, Jr.

“Played Out,” Edwin Forbes. Credit: Library of Congress (cropped)

Newton D. Baker’s “Most” Divided Clan (Pt. 1 of 4) by Jim Surkamp

by Jim Surkamp on February 2, 2016 in Jefferson County

NEWTON D. BAKER’S “MOST” DIVIDED CLAN (Pt. 1 of 4) by Jim Surkamp

Cousins of Co_F_FINAL

SUMMARY:
Each generation rebels against the former. The Bakers of Maryland, Shepherdstown and finally Martinsburg – muddled thru traditional inter-generational discords like a schooner pitching through high seas. Elias Baker one-upped a father who deserted his children by being a good father. His son, antsy nineteen-year-old Newton D. Baker rebelled against his doting father, a soon-to-be appointed federal postmaster in Shepherdstown, by riding off and enlisting in Company F of the First Virginia Cavalry – Confederate – following the recent example of a figurative avalanche of nine of his blood cousins into that same company. Still more cousins would enlist.

Life in a wartime saddle matured him for four years: battles, imprisonment, routine heroics, his wounding, having a fine bay mare shot from under him, (and later, a suspiciously extravagant compensation package for this lost horse offered by a cousin with clout), and, finally, coming home. Bearing witness to so many in need of medical care begat Newton’s post-war calling as a doctor. He finished training, was mentored by Shepherdstown neighbor and physician, John Quigley, who transferred his practice to the young up-and-comer.

But burgeoning ambition called away the next son of a Baker – Newton D. Baker Jr. Reading voraciously and eschewing the stethoscope and his father’s beckoning practice, off Junior went to Cleveland – joking that he was being a carpetbagger invading the Northern states – ascending a skyward ladder to heights of acclaim unprecedented for the Bakers. He was the progressive mayor of Cleveland; then, after more promotions, President Woodrow Wilson approached his fellow Virginian and appointed Newton D. Baker, Jr. to be our Secretary of War, managing the best he could the American role in the calamitous First World War. Today we have the Newton D. Baker Veterans’ Hospital in Martinsburg to his fond memory.

THE BAKERS’ REGENERATION:

The Bakers once of Shepherdstown were busy each generation rebelling in full measure from the former. Each time, the new generation would reckon a new guiding star deemed a wiser calling than their parents.

The Baker generations progressed from a single outcast, who led one Baker generation, then to another family member, three cycles later, who was even considered in 1932 a potential candidate for the Presidency.

GENERATION 1: THE UNFORGIVEN ELIAS BAKER, SR. (1785-1863) IN BAKERESVILLE, WASHINGTON COUNTY, MD.:

Elias_Baker_Sr_Unforgiven

Called by one family biographer, C. H. Cramer, “a soft spot in the family tree,” he wrote: “(They) could take no pride in this Elias Baker, an Englishman, who settled about 1760 in Maryland near the later site of the battle of Antietam. There Elias married, started a family (ten boys and five girls), and then deserted it.” – Cramer, p. 15.

GENERATION 2: ELIAS BAKER, JR. (1811-1867) – FAMILY MAN, SADDLER AND POSTMASTER:

Van_Clevesville_Saddles_Baker

Starting anew, Elias Baker, Jr. left Bakersville, Maryland, the family’s ancestral lands, and crossed the Potomac to Berkeley County, Va. He found his lifemate, Mary Ann Billmyer (1816-1896) living at the Millbrook farm, one of thirteen children to her prosperous parents, Martin and Susan Billmyer. She and her siblings were struggling with their farms after the death in the mid-1830s of both their parents.

She and Elias married November, 1840 and first lived in Appomatox County, Elias making and fixing saddles. The next decade brought the deaths of three of Mary Ann’s older brothers and a sister, while their own young family grew by two sons and a daughter. The first-born in 1841 had brown hair and blue eyes and he was named Newton Diehl Baker, who this story is about.

The Bakers moved in March, 1850 to Van Clevesville and closer to her large family. Susan Baker’s parents and older brothers had grown wheat and had a booming business at their own mill across the road from their home. This much-in-demand ground wheat would be carried across the toll bridge that Mary Ann’s brother, David, largely owned at Shepherdstown and was shipped by canal boats to Georgetown and overseas buyers.

The_Shepherdstown-Bakers_1850s

In March, 1857, they came to Shepherdstown and Mary Ann Baker used family inheritance to buy out brother David’s boat store at the northeast corner of Church and German Street.

In March, 1858, she also bought – seven, quick-succession doors to the west on German Street – what would become the Baker residence well into the 20th century – room enough for their family of eight children: Newton, Ann Katherine, Cora Louise, Martin Billmyer, Solomon Elmer, William Elias Fink, Alban Howard, and Henry Seaton. – A. D. Kenamond, “Prominent Men of Shepherdstown 1762-1962.” p. 21.

WAR CLOUDS AND GENERATION GAPS:

The John Brown raid and trial in October, 1859 and the subsequent hangings of seven of the raiders up to March, 1860 set the stage for the presidential election that coming fall. According to Andrew Hunter, the prosecutor in the John Brown trial, the fright that came to locals with the John Brown raid was that it was, to them really, the overture to what they plainly called The War Against Slavery. – Andrew Hunter. Sept 5, 1887 New Orleans Times Democrat.

Lincoln’s election in November, 1860 and the Deep South states’ seceding despite Lincoln’s warnings – brought the nation and Jefferson Countians to the edge of the precipice.

In Shepherdstown, the older generation, born around 1800 – such as Dr. John and Mary Quigley, Elias and Susan Baker, and even Robert E. Lee’s first cousin, Edmund Jennings Lee – strongly voiced their opposition to any such plan for Virginia to secede from the Union.

Netta_Edmund_D

The daughter of Edmund J. Lee, teen-aged Henrietta Edmonia or “Netta,” wrote later of a run-in in early 1861 between her father and brother Edmund:
I remember very vividly a gathering when Uncle Charles Lee was present. He was my father’s younger brother and a lawyer by profession. He came from Washington to consult Father regarding his resignation of the position he was holding in one of the departments of the United States government.

Two_Lees_D

My brother, Edmund, Jr. and a boy of about fifteen years, who was standing by during the conversation, said: “Why Uncle Charles, could you not get the same position in the Confederate States government?” Father turned quickly, saying: “You young rascal,” strongly emphasizing the broad “a” as was his habit, “let me hear you talk about any Confederate States and I will skin you!” – Diary of Nettie Lee, pp. 4-5.

mar_1861_moon

When war became unavoidable, David Hunter Strother of Martinsburg, who was a Unionist from another divided family and later an officer in the Federal army, was observing the moods of Jefferson County’s people. The younger were excited but: “I thought I could discern in the eyes of some of the older and wiser (African-Americans) a gleam of anxious speculation – a silent and tremulous questioning of the future. . . There were also some among the white citizens who stood aloof in silence and sadness, protesting against the proceeding by an occasional bitter sigh or significant sneer, but nothing more.

But the thirst for adventure was almost unquenchable among the young, having been prepared for adventure their entire lives.

Wrote one of these young local cavalrymen in later years:
Young men of the present day, who flourish in fine buggies, smoke cigars and cigarettes, part their hair in the middle, and occasionally greet “inspiring bold John Barley Corn,” can ill appreciate the pastimes and pleasures of the youth of a generation ago, when the horse, the gun, and the dog were the ne plus ultra of masculine aspirations. Those good old days of innocent sports and recreations, are still valued as the brightest and happiest in life. Alas! of our little group, that often chased the squirrel from tree-to-tree and made the forests ring with volleys of musketry, or startled the partridge from its repose in the fields, but two are left to tell the tale. That acquaintance with the horse, which began in early childhood, soon ripened into affection, and the horse and rider were one in life and action. – Baylor, p. 15.
NOTE “inspiring, bold John Barley Corn” is taken from Robert Burns’ poem “Tam O-Shanter.” POEM’S FULL TEXT UNDER “REFERENCES.”

Wrote another local man who joined the Federal cause:

David_Hunter_Strother_D

Horses and firearms are their playthings from childhood. Impatient of the restraints of school houses and work shops they seek life and pleasure in the soil, and thus early learn the topography of nature, the ways of the fields and forests, swamps, and mountains. Their social and political life, but little restrained by law or its usage, develops a vigorous individuality. For the most part, ignorant of the luxuries and refinements of cities, they prefer bacon and Scotch whisky to venison and champagne. Tall, athletic, rough, and full of fire and vitality, the half-horse, half-alligator type still predominates . . .
Strother, p. 6.

Young men, who from the moment their feet could reach the stirrups were attuned for adventure and to the dismay of their sober parents, quickly responded to the call to arms when President Lincoln put out a call for 75,000 volunteers to bring all the seceding states back. By mid-April, 1861, young men in Virginia had to choose to be one of those volunteers or rebel. While about 128 African Americans from the County would join the United States Colored Troops, some Unionist County boys who were white left the area to escape the threats of imprisonment and more from the area firebrand, Turner Ashby. But most of the young men rebelled.

Wrote one who witnessed events in Charlestown, Va.:
Alas! poor boy, what sense of duty or prudent counsels could hold him in the whirl of this moral maelstrom? What did he care for the vague terror of an indictment for treason, or the misty doctrine of Federal supremacy? What did he know of nationality beyond the circle of friends and kindred? What was his sneaking, apologetic, unsympathetic life worth after all?

But according to my judgment the greater number of these young volunteers were moved neither by social pressure nor political prejudice. The all-pervading love of adventure and fighting instincts were the most successful recruiting officers of the occasion. For they had heard of battles, and had longed to follow to the field some warlike lord – so at the first roll of the drum they rushed cheerily from school house and office, counter and work shop, field and fireside, earnest, eager, reckless fellows, marching with a free and vigorous step, sitting their horses like wild Pawnees, most admirable material for a rebellion, just as good soldiers for the Government if perchance the rub-a-dub of the Union drums had first aroused their martial ardor. – Strother, Excerpted from “Personal Recollections of the War,” from “Harper’s New Monthly Magazine,” July, 1866, Vol. XXXIV, p. 141.

WHAT THE YOUNG LADIES THOUGHT WAS DECISIVE:

While there were still a few men found who stubbornly struggled against the sweeping current, the women of all ages and conditions threw themselves into it without hesitation or reserve. His schoolmates and companions who had already donned ‘the gray’ scarce concealed their scorn. His sisters, rallied, reproached, and pouted, blushing to acknowledge his ignominy. His Jeannette, lately so tender and loving, now refused his hand in the dance, and, passing him with nose in air, bestowed her smiles and her bouquet upon some gallant rival with belt and buttons. Day-after-day he saw the baskets loaded with choice viands, roasted fowls, pickles, cakes, and potted sweetmeats, but not for him. Wherever he went there was a braiding of caps and coats, a gathering of flowers and weaving of wreaths, but none for him – no scented and embroidered handkerchiefs waved from carriage-windows as he rode by. The genial flood of social sympathy upon which he had hitherto floated so blandly had left him stranded on the icy shore. Then come the cheering regiments with their drums and banners, the snorting squadrons of glossy prancing steeds the jingling of knightly spurs, the stirring blast of the trumpets. There they went – companionship, love, life, glory, all sweeping by to Harper’s Ferry! – Strother, Excerpted from “Personal Recollections of the War,” from “Harper’s New Monthly Magazine,” July, 1866, Vol. XXXIV, p. 141.

civilwar-introww-sewing

Sewing societies were organized, and delicate hands which had never before engaged in ruder labor than the hemming of a ruffle now bled in the strife with gray jeans and tent cloth. Haversacks, knapsacks, caps, jackets, and tents were manufactured by hundreds and dozens.

dhs_july_1866_havelock_p_141

The gift most in vogue from a young lady to her favored knight was a headdress imitated from those worn by the British troops in India and called a Havelock, (that Gen. Jackson later forebade because it made his men easier targets.-ED). Laden with musket, sabre, pistol, and bowie-knife, no youth considered his armament complete unless he had one of these silly clouts stretched over his hat.

Woe to the youth who did not need a Havelock; who, owing to natural indisposition or the prudent counsel of a father or a friend, hesitated to join the army of the South. The curse of Clan Alpin on those who should prove recreant to the sign of the fiery cross was mere dramatic noise compared with the curse that blighted his soul. – Ibid. p. 141.

Moler_Men_recruits

Many of these young men, including several men from the Moler clan were in the line that first, fateful day on April 18, 1861, when the local militia assembled to seize the federal armory, with the inked signatures still damp in Richmond on the voted document by Virginia to secede. The armory burned before they seized it, but hard drilling began just days later at Bolivar Heights, under the unknown, erstwhile professor at Virginia Military Institute, Col. Thomas Jonathan Jackson.

THURSDAY, APRIL 18, 1861 – SHEPHERDSTOWN, VA – PRESSURE MOUNTS ON NEWTON BAKER TO ENLIST IN THE CONFEDERATE CAVALRY:

That day, nine of Newton’s cousins rode away from their farm steads in Berkeley and Jefferson County to join Company F of the newly-formed Shepherdstown Troop of 1st Virginia Cavalry, commanded by 6’2” slender, dark-haired, full-bearded 37-year-old William Augustine Morgan, who lived with his family at their home, Falling Springs, just south of Shepherdstown.

Newton’s cousins joining that day – called Company F – all were the sons of siblings of his mother: brothers Conrad Billmyer (1797–1847); John Joseph Billmyer (1802–1845), sisters Judith Billmyer Koontz (1795-1856); Susan Billmyer McQuilkin (1798-1873); and Esther Mary Billmyer Lemen (1800-1887). Other cousins followed, joining both North and South. (See “References”)

Cousins of Co_F_FINAL

So many from the family were in Company F, it at times seemed their own. The first cousins to enlist were (with service record summaries):
– Snyder, Vivian P. (1999). Twenty First Cousins in the Civil War. Magazine of the Jefferson County Historical Society. Vol. LXV. pp. 47-51; Driver, Robert J. (1991). “1st Virginia Cavalry.” Lynchburg, Va.: H. E. Howard, Inc. Print. – More. . .

1. BILLMYER, JAMES M.: b. Va. 12/4/1836. 5’11’, fair complexion, brown hair, hazel eyes. Merchant, Shepherdstown PO, Jefferson Co. 1860 census. enl. Shepherdstown 4/18/61 Co. F as 1st Sgt. 1st Virginia Cav. Horse killed Bull Run 7/21/61. Present through 1/6/62. To 2nd Lt. Present through 5/1/62. Not re-elected. Re-enl. Pvt. Fredericksburg 8/1/63. Present through 8/64. Acting Adjutant of Regt. 2/12/65. Paroled Winchester 4/27/65. d. 2/20/1913. bur. Berkeley County. – Service Record; Snyder. 1860 Census.

2. BILLMYER, JOHN T.: b. Va. 1/11/32. 5’8′, fair complexion, dark hair, grey eyes. 1st Lt., Co. F. Deputy Sheriff, Vanclevesville PO, Berkeley Co. 1860 census. enl. Shepherdstown 4/18/61 as Sgt. 1st Virginia Cav. Present until detached with baggage trains 3/4/62. Present through 10/20/62. Elected 2nd Lt. To 1st Lt. Present until WIA Five Forks 4/1/65. Paroled Mt. Jackson 4/18/65. d. 3/26/74. bur. Elmwood Cem. Shepherdstown. – Service Record; Snyder, p. 48.

3. BILLMYER, MILTON J.: b. Va. 10/10/34. Farmer, Jefferson Co. 6′, fair complexion, light hair, blue eyes. Captain, Co. F. 1st Virginia Cav., Vanclevesville PO, Berkeley Co. 1860 census. enl. Shepherdstown 4/18/61 as Pvt. Present through 7/1/61, appointed 1st Lt. Present through 10/12/62. elected Captain. Present until WIA (left thigh) Haw’s Shop 5/28/64. Absent wounded in Richmond hospital until furloughed for 30 days 7/14/64. Present Appomattox. Paroled Winchester 4/27/65. d. near Shepherdstown, W.Va. 8/31/07. bur. Elmwood Cem. – Service Record; Snyder, p. 48.

4. LEMEN, JOHN JAMES ALEXANDER: b. Va. 11/19/39. 5’7″. fair complexion, dark hair, grey eyes. Farmhand, Charles Town PO, Jefferson Co. 1860 census. enl. Shepherdstown Co. F. 4/18/61 as Pvt. 1st Virginia Cav. Present until captured 7/61. Exch. Present 9/62. Captured Smithfield 5/31/63. Sent to Ft. Monroe. Exch. 6/5/63. Present until absent sick in Richmond hospital 8/24/64. Released 6/30/64. d. 1/10/71. bur. Elmwood Cem. Shepherdstown, W.Va. – Service Record; Snyder, p. 48. 1860 Census.

5. LEMEN, THOMAS THORNTON.: b. Va. 8/15/42. Student, Charles Town PO, Jefferson Co. 1860 census. enl. Co. F Shepherdstown 4/18/61 1st Virginia Cav. Pvt. Present until WIA Aldie 6/17/63. POW Middleburg d. 6/20/63. bur. Elmwood Cem., Shepherdstown. – Service Record; Snyder, p. 48. 1860 Census.

6. LEMEN, WILLIAM THORNBURG: b. Va. 6/15/35. 5’10”. fair complexion, brown hair, grey eyes. Farmer, Charles Town PO, Jefferson Co. 1860 census. enl. Co. F 1st Virginia Cav. Shepherdstown 4/18/61. Present through 8/61, promoted 3rd Sgt. Present through 8/62, promoted 2nd Sgt. Promoted 1st Sgt 10/20/62. Present 10/63. Present through 8/64. Paroled Winchester 4/18/65. d. near Hedgesville, W.Va. 4/17/99. bur. Elmwood Cem., Shepherdstown, W.Va. – Service Record; Snyder, p. 48. 1860 Census.

7. LEMEN, WILLOUGHBY: b. Va. 11/20/44. 5’10”. enlisted 4/18/61 Co. F, 1st Virginia Cav. under William A. Morgan. Present thru to 10/20/1862. Promoted to 1st Sgt. 1st Virginia Cav. Present thru 11/1863. Service records show name change from “William T. Lemen” to Willoughby N. Lemen 11-12-63. Captured 4/65. 12/28/64 promoted to Junior 2nd Lieut. Paroled 4/18/65. d. 7/19/1913. buried Elmwood Cem. – Tombstone Inscriptions, p. 170; Kenamond, p. 74; Service Record (pp. 15-28, start @ p. 15); Snyder, p. 48. 1860 Census.

8.MCQUILKIN, WILLIAM H.: b. Va. 1841. Laborer Charles Town enl. Co. F. Shepherdstown 4/18/61 as Pvt. 1st Virginia Cav. Fell ill with pneumonia and was granted sick furlough August 31st, 1861; sent to hospital December 26th, and died January 6th, 1862 at Manassas. – Service Record; Snyder, p. 48.; 1860 Census.

9. KOONTZ, THORNTON: b. Va. 12/16/21. enl. 4/18/61 Co. F, 1st Va. Cav. Sgt. Present through 4/62. Reassigned under Milton J. Billmyer. Pvt. substitute for Robert K. Wilson. POW paroled 4/18/65. d. 5/12/86. bur. Elmwood Cem. – Tombstone Inscriptions, p. 168. Service Record; Snyder, p. 47. 1860 Census.

APRIL 19, 1861 – Martinsburg: Two more cousins of Newton’s enlist in Company B of the 1st Virginia Cavalry:

10.NOLL, WILLIAM T.: Va. b. 10/2/32. enlisted Co. B, 1st Virginia Cav. Martinsburg 4/19/61, promoted to 2nd lieutenant. Present until 5-6/62 sick. Bay mare killed 8/21/64 Berryville, Va. Present 7/62-4/65. Paroled 4/18/65 Winchester. d. 2/27/03. – Service Record; Snyder, p. 47. 1860 Census.

11. LEMEN, WILLIAM MARTIN: b. Va. 12/6/31. enlisted Co. B, 1st Virginia Cav. Martinsburg 4/19/61. On daily duty attending to the sick. Present until 2/11/62 on furlough. On detached service with regimental medical dept. Paroled 4/26/65 Winchester. d. 5/2/03. Service Record; Snyder, p. 48. 1860 Census.

Apr_1861_moon

OTHER COUSINS ENLIST LATER:

BILLMYER, ROBERT LEMEN (1843-1910) – Another son of Newton’s uncle, Conrad Billmyer (1797–1847), enlisted June 28, 1861 at Shepherdstown:

12.BILLMYER, ROBERT LEMEN: b. Va. 9/25/43, Student, 5’6″. fair complexion, brown hair, hazel eyes. Vanclevesville PO, Berkeley Co. 1860 census. enl. Shepherdstown 6/28/63. Pvt., Co. F. 1st Virginia Cav. Present through 12/63. Absent on detached service 1/25-2/28/64. Present through 8/64. WIA (head) Winebrenner’s Cross Roads near Shepherdstown 9/64. Present Appomattox 4/9/65 and carried flag of truce to the enemy. Paroled Winchester 4/18/65. He lived in the county after the war. d. near Shepherdstown, W.Va. 3/19/10. bur. Elmwood Cem. Service Record; 1860 Census.

Newton’s other uncle, John Joseph Billmyer (1802–1845)’s wife, Eliza Williamson Lemen Billmyer (1806-1886), had two brothers and a sister who provided four more (2 Joneses, 2 Williamsons) enlistees into the 1st Virginia Cavalry and a second brother of Eliza’s provided three soldiers for the Union. – Snyder, pp. 48-51.

Eliza Billmyer’s sister – Mary O. Lemen (1811-1909) married Adrian Wynkoop Jones (1805-1877).- Snyder, p. 49. Their sons who enlisted were:

13. JONES, JOHN REYNOLDS: b. 1844. enl. 8/20/64 Shepherdstown Co. F. 1st Va Cav. under M. J. Billmyer. POW. Paroled 4/21/65 Winchester. d. 1887. – Service Record; 1860 Census.

14. JONES, THOMAS J. or F.: b. 1839 record only confirms being in Co. F. of 1st Va Cavalry. d. 1923. fold3.com 6 September 2011 Web. 1 December 2015. – Service Record; 1860 Census.

Eliza Billmyer’s brother, Jacob, married; they had two sons; Jacob died and his widow raised the two sons with an uncle of Eliza Billmyer’s named Williamson, who adopted the boys. – Snyder, pp. 49-50. The young men enlisted as:

15. WILLIAMSON, MATTHEW WHITE: b. 1845. enl. 8/13/1861 at New Market, Va. with Captain Morgan, Co. F 1st Va. Cavalry. Present sent on detached service 1/20/1864. Present 7-8/64. Paroled 5/9/1865. Winchester. d. 1930. Service Record; 1860 Census.

16. WILLIAMSON, THOMAS LEMEN: b. 1847. Only record is being a prisoner of war, being in Co. F of the 1st Va. Cavalry and having been paroled 4/9/1865 at New Market, Va. Description: height 5’9”, hair: light, eyes: blue. d. 1875. Service Record; 1860 Census.

Eliza Billmyer’s second brother, Robert Lemen (1813-1898) and his wife, Sarah Elizabeth Light (1816-1883), had three sons who went with the Federal Army’s First Maryland Cavalry: In Co. I, Peter (1840-1921); In Co. H, Jacob F. (1842-1922), and Thomas J. (1843-1908). – Snyder, pp. 50-51. The boys enlisted as:

17. LEMEN, PETER L.: b. 1840. 5’9.5” dark complexion, blue eyes, light hair. enl. 9/3/61 Camp Lamon, Williamsport, Md. for three years. Pvt. Capt. Russell’s Co. 1st Va. Cav.(later Co. I. First Md Cav.). 12/30/61 on detached service Williamsport, Md. 5-6/62 detailed at the Ferry at Williamsport on Potomac. 3/9/64 on detached service, clerk in the Provost Marshall’s office Baltimore City, Md. by order of Brig. Gen. Lockwood S.O. No. 61, Par 9. 9/3/64 mustered out, term of service expired. d. 1921. Service Record; 1860 Census.

18. LEMEN, JACOB F.: b. 1842 enl. 9/6/61, mustered in 12/31/61 Williamsport, Md. Pvt. Capt. Zeller’s Co. 1st Reg’t Va. Volunteers (later Co. H. First Md Cav.). Present 1/61-4/63. POW 5-8/63. Present 9/63-12/64. Discharged 12/3/64 term of service expired. d. 1922. Service Record; 1860 Census.

19. LEMEN, THOMAS J.: b. 1843. enl. 9/3/61 Camp Lamon Pvt. Capt. Russell’s Co. 1st Va. Cav.(later Co. I. First Md Cav.) for three years. Present 3-4/62-8/63. Promoted to corporal. 3/26/64 Reduced to Pvt. Present 4/64. 9/3/64 mustered out, term of service expired. d. 1908. – Service Record; 1860 Census.

William Morgan’s son, Augustine, with Mrs. Anna Morgan Getzendanner, recounted that fateful “join-up” day of April 18th, as his father left home:

Wm_A_Morgan_D


For some time, the ominous cloud of war hung over us, only to burst at length with all its stern reality. Though but six years of age, I can clearly recall the great anxiety and gloom that predominated. Owing to my extreme youth, I could not comprehend the fact that we were upon the verge of a great conflict. My parents solemnly conversed in low tones and all about the house seemed confusion for what my father informed me was the getting ready for his departure from home, and with his Company, of which he was Captain, to enter the Confederate Army. He said that there would be a great war and that his services were needed and that he must not shirk his duty. He also told me that I would be the only man left to protect my mother and little sisters. I inquired the meaning of war and Father made me understand – that war was fighting, killing, one army against another, cruel and barbarous but often a necessary evil and unavoidable. In good faith I was ready to accede to my father’s demands and my bosom swelled proudly at the confidence he imposed in me.

The eventful day arrived when my Father mounted upon George, a beautiful grey horse, at the head of his company, left for the war. We stood at the gate, my mother, little sisters and I, also Mammy Liza and Uncle Ned, servants of our home. We waved farewell and Mother wept though she little realized that war would endure for months and years. The parting from Father was painful and the responsibilities of protection of the house and family seemed in my childish idea, a heavy one. Father was a splendid equestrian and sat his horse with ease. Tall and slender, blue of eye, his hair dark as the raven’s wing, my father seemed to me a perfect type of what a soldier should be. – Getzendanner, Anna Morgan and Morgan Augustine C. “A Boy’s Recollections of the Civil War – 1861-1865.” Shepherdstown, WV: Self-published. pp. 1-2.

Morgan’s younger brother, Daniel (1835-1865) who was living on Shepherdstown’s German Street with their widowed mother, enlisted in Co. F the same day as William. Their brother, “Jack” Smith Morgan (1838-?) enlisted in Company F on May 11, 1861. Both in 1862 would seek places in other companies in the 1st Virginia as their brother became the commander of Company F. – Driver, p. 210.

May_1861_moon

SATURDAY, JUNE 15, 1861 – CHARLES TOWN: NEWTON BAKER BREAKS WITH HIS PARENTS AND JOINS MORGAN’S AND HIS COUSINS’ CONFEDERATE COMPANY:

Newton_D_Baker_D

Spending his days clerking in his father’s store that would in a year become the official Federal post office at that northeast corner of Church and German Streets in Shepherdstown, and daily with his mother and his prosperous, pro-Union uncle, David Billmyer – the stark choice weighed heavily upon nineteen-year-old Newton. Five more of his cousins would enlist later in Morgan’s Company F; while, still, three other kin of Newton’s would enlist in the Federal 1st Maryland Cavalry Regiment. – Snyder, pp. 49-51;

On the warm, clear Friday of June 15th, when the encamped Confederate soldiers and cavalry at Harpers Ferry rose to reveille at 4 AM and began leaving, most for Charlestown – up the road, Newton rode a fine bay mare from home toward Charlestown, joining, late that day, Morgan and his cousins at a campsite on the Bullskin Run a few miles south of Charlestown. Newton Baker became Private Baker of Co. F with a lot to learn. – Vairin; Service Record N. D. Baker.

Father Elias was a northern sympathizer and was not pleased to have his son Newton Diehl serving the Confederacy. Father Elias spoke to his son only once during the war. Records suggest that when his son was held prisoner at Fort McHenry, Baltimore, that that was the most likely moment Elias Baker went to bring his exchanged son out of prison. – Kenamond, pp. 21-22; Service Records.

In fact, by 1862 with the townspeople’s sympathies also splitting into two camps, Elias Baker, who would be appointed by President Lincoln to be Shepherdstown’s postmaster, a post he would hold until well after the war, diplomatically split mail delivery duties with his Confederate counterpart and fellow townsmen, Daniel Rentch.

Father Elias Baker’s postmaster job, starting in 1862, almost required him to shun his son.

A biographer of Newton’s son, wrote of the relationship between Elias and Newton when peacetime came:
Elias Baker was devoted to the Union, received an appointment from President Lincoln as postmaster at Shepherdstown, and retained the Federal office throughout the War. Son Newton Baker, as a member of the Cavalry commanded by Jeb Stuart, fought at Gettysburg, was captured, and exchanged to fight again at Richmond. . . but had a tolerant attitude that was one of his strongest qualities. He felt that the War ended with Lee’s surrender and he was willing to accept the Northern victory. Cramer pp. 13-15.

BAKER, NEWTON DIEHL: b. Washington County, Md. 10/3/41. 5’6″ fair complexion, brown hair, blue eyes. attended Wittenberg College one year. clerk Shepherdstown post office, Jefferson County. enlisted in the 1st Virginia Cavalry Charles Town 6/15/61 as Pvt. in Co. F. Present until detached to Gainesville 12/10/61. Captured Smithfield 5/31/63. Sent to Ft. McHenry. Exch. 6/63. Promoted 2nd Corp. Present until detailed as ordinance sgt of regt 11/15/63. Horse killed 8/19/64. Wounded in thigh Fishers Hill 9/22/64. Paroled Winchester 4/23/65. medical school 1868. surgeon for the B&O railroad. d. Martinsburg 1909. – Driver, Robert J. (1991). “1st Virginia Cavalry.” Lynchburg, Va.: H. E. Howard, Inc. Print.

May_1861_moon

HOW COMING WAR DIVIDES, THEN DESTROYS FRIENDSHIPS AND MINDS:

By the month of June the circle of more robust characters that still retained their political sanity was small and diminishing daily. They did not drop off now after long and lingering arguments, painful doubts, rallyings, and relapses as formerly; but a normal mind would fall suddenly into incoherence and frenzy. Principles based upon the education and habits of a lifetime, sustained by the clearest views of interest, the pride of consistency, and every sentiment of honor, would perish in a night, like the gourd of Jonah. This change was easily discernible in the countenance and demeanor of its victims. Yesterday your friend looked in your face with a clear and earnest eye, and discussed questions calmly and logically. To-day he shunned you, his eye was restless and unsteady, his manner painfully excited, his talk full of incoherencies; in a short time you would perceive there was a total absorption of all his previous opinions, idiosyncrasies, social sympathies, and antipathies, moral and intellectual characteristics, in the prevailing frenzy. These phenomena, which at first excited indignation, grief, and amazement, in the course of time ceased to surprise, and became subjects of merriment. Among ourselves we speculated jocosely as to who would go under next; and in the privacy of our own souls entertained the question, whether it was the world around us or ourselves that was mad. It is useful, perhaps, but not the less humiliating to human pride, to test the depth and power of individual principle and will, to ascertain precisely for how many days and hours ones best-founded opinions and most positive convictions will maintain themselves unsupported against the current of society and the menaces of power. From the observations of these few months I have become convinced that no amount of clear conviction, rectitude of purpose, or moral heroism can long maintain a passive defense against the assaults of an active and fiery enthusiasm. Organization must meet organization; passion blaze out against passion; the audacious and unscrupulous spirit of revolution must be counteracted by a spirit as bold and remorseless as itself. The idea is expressed with more point and brevity in the popular epigram, “One must fight the Devil with fire.” The National Government had thus far lost every thing by its temporizing and conciliatory policy. –
Strother, David H. (July, 1866). “Personal Recollections of the Civil War.” Harpers Magazine. Cornell Digital Library – The Making of America. 19 July 2011. Web. 29 January 2014.

June_1861_moon

1. NEWTON BAKER’S “MOST” DIVIDED CLAN (Pt. 1 of 4) (above) by Jim Surkamp
2. NEWTON BAKER “SEES THE ELEPHANT” MANASSAS, VA (Pt. 2 of 4) by Jim Surkamp
3. NEWTON BAKER’S LIFE IN THE FAMED FIRST VIRGINIA CAVALRY 1861-1865 (Pt. 3 of 4) by Jim Surkamp
4. NEWTON BAKER”S REMARKABLE SON (Pt. 4 of 4) by Jim Surkamp

References:

Baylor, George. (1900).”Bull Run to Bull Run: Four years in the army of northern Virginia.” Richmond, VA: B. F. Johnson Publishing. Print.

Baylor, George. (1900).”Bull Run to Bull Run: Four years in the army of northern Virginia.” Internet Archives: Digital Library of Free Books, Movies, Music, and Wayback Machine. 27 Oct. 2009. Web. 1 March 2011. p. 15.

Cramer, C. H. (1961). “Newton D. Baker, a biography.” Cleveland, OH: World Pub. Co. Print.

Cramer, C. H. (1961). “Newton D. Baker, a biography.” Internet Archives: Digital Library of Free Books, Movies, Music, and Wayback Machine. 27 Oct. 2009. Web. 1 March 2011.

Driver, Robert J., Jr. (c 1991). “1st Virginia Cavalry.” Lynchburg, VA: H. E. Howard Inc. Print.

“The Old Franklin Almanac No. 2 for 1861.” Philadelphia, PA: Haslett & Winch.

“The Old Franklin Almanac No. 2 for 1861.” hathitrust.org 13 October 2008 Web. 10 December 2015.

Getzendanner, Anna Morgan and Morgan Augustine C. “A Boy’s Recollections of the Civil War – 1861-1865.” Shepherdstown, WV: Self-published. pp. 1-2.

Elias Baker was the Shepherdstown postmaster from 1862 until his death in May, 1867. Appointed by President Lincoln, he was a northern sympathizer and was not pleased to have his son Newton Diehl serving the Confederacy. Father Elias spoke to his son only once during the war. When the son was wounded in the leg and was held prisoner at Fort McHenry, Baltimore, the father went to see him. – Kenamond, A. D. (1963). “Prominent Men of Shepherdstown During Its First 200 Years.” Charles Town, WV: A Jefferson County Historical Society. pp. 21-22.

Lee, Henrietta Edmonia. (1925). “The Recollections of Netta Lee,” Alexandria, VA: The Society of the Lees of Virginia. Print. pp. 4-5.
More. . .

New Orleans Times Democrat, Sept. 5, 1887.

Phelps, William W. (1861). “Almanac for the year 1861 being the thirty-second year of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.” (From April 6, 1830). Third edition revised and corrected. Salt Lake City, UT: Desert News office.
Full moons date/times – 1861: 1/26 9:39 AM; 2/24 9:17 PM; 3/26 6:49 AM; 4/24 2:57 PM; 5/31 4:59 AM; 6/29 7:14 PM; 7/29 12:25 PM; 8/28 5:57 AM; 9/26 10:58 AM; 10/26 2:28 AM; 11/25 3:41 AM; 12/24 2:25 PM.

Phelps, William W. (1861). “Almanac for the year 1861 being the thirty-second year of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.” (From April 6, 1830). Third edition revised and corrected. Internet Archives: Digital Library of Free Books, Movies, Music, and Wayback Machine. 27 Oct. 2009. Web. 1 March 2011.

Snyder, Vivian P. (1999). Twenty First Cousins in the Civil War. Magazine of the Jefferson County Historical Society. Vol. LXV. pp. 47-51.

The recruits from the Baker-Billmyer-Lemen family were the children of the children of Johann Martin Billmyer 1767–1839, and Susanna Elizabeth NICODEMUS 1770–1835. Besides Newton’s mother, her siblings were brothers Conrad Billmyer (1797–1847) and John Joseph Billmyer (1802–1845); sisters, Elizabeth Billmyer Noll (1792-1873), Judith Billmyer Koontz (1795-1856), Susan Billmyer McQuilkin (1798-1873), and Esther Mary Billmyer Lemen (1800-1887). John Joseph Billmyer would marry Eliza Williamson Lemen Billmyer (1806-1886) and her siblings – sister Mary Jones (1811-1909), brother Jacob (1811-?), and brother Robert Lemen (1813-1898) – provided seven more recruits: two Confederate,two Confederate, and three Federal respectively – Snyder pp. 47-51; Service records.

Johann Martin BILLMYER
BIRTH 22 DEC 1767 • Frederick, Frederick, Maryland, USA
DEATH 19 FEB 1839 • Shepherdstown, Jefferson, West Virginia, USA
ancestry.com 28 October 1996 Web. 4 September 2012.

Strother, David H., “Personal Recollections of the Civil War.” Harper’s New Monthly Magazine. New York, NY: Harper and Bros. Volume 33, Issue: 194, July, 1866. Print.

Strother, David H. (July, 1866). “Personal Recollections of the Civil War.” Harpers Magazine. Cornell Digital Library – The Making of America. 19 July 2011. Web. 29 January 2014. Strother, David H. (July, 1866). “Personal Recollections of the Civil War.” Harpers Magazine. Cornell Digital Library – The Making of America. 19 July 2011. Web. 29 January 2014.
p. 138.
p. 144.

Vairin, Augustus L. P. “Civil War Diary of Augustus L. P. Vairin 2nd Mississippi Infantry, C.S.A.” (Originals available for review or copies purchased from the Mississippi Department of Archives and History).

Vairin, Augustus. “Civil War Diary of Augustus L. P. Vairin 2nd Mississippi Infantry, C.S.A.” 25 June 1998 Web. 26 June 2011.

“Inspiring, bold John Barley Corn” is taken from
Robert Burns’ poem “Tam O-Shanter.” genius.com. 26 June 1997 Web. 5 January 2016.

Tam O’Shanter by Robert Burns

When chapmen billies leave the street,
And drouthy neibors, neibors meet
As market days are wearing late,
An’ folk begin to tak the gate;
While we sit bousing at the nappy,
And getting fou and unco happy,
We think na on the lang Scots miles,
The mosses, waters, slaps, and styles,
That lie between us and our hame,
Where sits our sulky sullen dame.
Gathering her brows like gathering storm,
Nursing her wrath to keep it warm.

This truth fand honest Tam o’ Shanter,
As he frae Ayr ae night did canter,
(Auld Ayr, wham ne’er a town surpasses
For honest men and bonie lasses.)

O Tam! had’st thou but been sae wise,
As ta’en thy ain wife Kate’s advice!
She tauld thee weel thou was a skellum,
A blethering, blustering, drunken blellum;
That frae November till October,
Ae market-day thou was nae sober;
That ilka melder, wi’ the miller,
Thou sat as lang as thou had siller;
That every naig was ca’d a shoe on,
The smith and thee gat roaring fou on;
That at the Lord’s house, even on Sunday,
Thou drank wi’ Kirkton Jean till Monday.
She prophesied that late or soon,
Thou would be found deep drown’d in Doon;
Or catch’d wi’ warlocks in the mirk,
By Alloway’s auld haunted kirk.

Ah, gentle dames! it gars me greet,
To think how mony counsels sweet,
How mony lengthen’d, sage advices,
The husband frae the wife despises!

But to our tale:– Ae market-night,
Tam had got planted unco right;
Fast by an ingle, bleezing finely,
Wi’ reaming swats, that drank divinely
And at his elbow, Souter Johnny,
His ancient, trusty, drouthy crony;
Tam lo’ed him like a vera brither–
They had been fou for weeks thegither!
The night drave on wi’ sangs and clatter
And ay the ale was growing better:
The landlady and Tam grew gracious,
wi’ favours secret,sweet and precious
The Souter tauld his queerest stories;
The landlord’s laugh was ready chorus:
The storm without might rair and rustle,
Tam did na mind the storm a whistle.

Care, mad to see a man sae happy,
E’en drown’d himsel’ amang the nappy!
As bees flee hame wi’ lades o’ treasure,
The minutes wing’d their way wi’ pleasure:
Kings may be blest, but Tam was glorious.
O’er a’ the ills o’ life victorious!

But pleasures are like poppies spread,
You sieze the flower, its bloom is shed;
Or like the snow falls in the river,
A moment white–then melts for ever;
Or like the borealis race,
That flit ere you can point their place;
Or like the rainbow’s lovely form
Evanishing amid the storm.–
Nae man can tether time or tide;
The hour approaches Tam maun ride;
That hour, o’ night’s black arch the key-stane,
That dreary hour he mounts his beast in;
And sic a night he taks the road in
As ne’er poor sinner was abroad in.

The wind blew as ‘twad blawn its last;
The rattling showers rose on the blast;
The speedy gleams the darkness swallow’d
Loud, deep, and lang, the thunder bellow’d:
That night, a child might understand,
The Deil had business on his hand.

Weel mounted on his gray mare, Meg–
A better never lifted leg–
Tam skelpit on thro’ dub and mire;
Despisin’ wind and rain and fire.
Whiles holding fast his gude blue bonnet;
Whiles crooning o’er some auld Scots sonnet;
Whiles glowring round wi’ prudent cares,
Lest bogles catch him unawares:
Kirk-Alloway was drawing nigh,
Whare ghaists and houlets nightly cry.

By this time he was cross the ford,
Whare, in the snaw, the chapman smoor’d;
And past the birks and meikle stane,
Whare drunken Chairlie brak ‘s neck-bane;
And thro’ the whins, and by the cairn,
Whare hunters fand the murder’d bairn;
And near the thorn, aboon the well,
Whare Mungo’s mither hang’d hersel’.–
Before him Doon pours all his floods;
The doubling storm roars thro’ the woods;
The lightnings flash from pole to pole;
Near and more near the thunders roll:
When, glimmering thro’ the groaning trees,
Kirk-Alloway seem’d in a bleeze;
Thro’ ilka bore the beams were glancing;
And loud resounded mirth and dancing.

INSPIRING, BOLD JOHN BARLEYCORN!
What dangers thou canst make us scorn!
Wi’ tippeny, we fear nae evil;
Wi’ usquabae, we’ll face the devil!–
The swats sae ream’d in Tammie’s noddle,
Fair play, he car’d na deils a boddle.
But Maggie stood, right sair astonish’d,
Till, by the heel and hand admonish’d,
She ventured forward on the light;
And, vow! Tam saw an unco sight

Warlocks and witches in a dance;
Nae cotillion brent-new frae France,
But hornpipes, jigs strathspeys, and reels,
Put life and mettle in their heels.
A winnock-bunker in the east,
There sat auld Nick, in shape o’ beast;
A towzie tyke, black, grim, and large,
To gie them music was his charge:
He scre’d the pipes and gart them skirl,
Till roof and rafters a’ did dirl.–
Coffins stood round, like open presses,
That shaw’d the dead in their last dresses;
And by some develish cantraip slight,
Each in its cauld hand held a light.–
By which heroic Tam was able
To note upon the haly table,
A murders’s banes in gibbet-airns;
Twa span-lang, wee, unchristen’d bairns;
A thief, new-cutted frae a rape,
Wi’ his last gasp his gab did gape;
Five tomahawks, wi blude red-rusted;
Five scymitars, wi’ murder crusted;
A garter, which a babe had strangled;
A knife, a father’s throat had mangled,
Whom his ain son o’ life bereft,
The gray hairs yet stack to the heft;
Wi’ mair o’ horrible and awfu’,
Which even to name was be unlawfu’.
Three lawyers’ tongues, turn’d inside out,
Wi’ lies seam’d like a beggar’s clout;
Three priests’ hearts, rotten, black as muck,
Lay stinking, vile in every neuk.

As Tammie glowr’d, amaz’d, and curious,
The mirth and fun grew fast and furious;
The piper loud and louder blew;
The dancers quick and quicker flew;
They reel’d, they set, they cross’d, they cleekit,
Till ilka carlin swat and reekit,
And coost her duddies to the wark,
And linket at it in her sark!

Now Tam, O Tam! had thae been queans,
A’ plump and strapping in their teens,
Their sarks, instead o’ creeshie flannen,
Been snaw-white seventeen hunder linnen!
Thir breeks o’ mine, my only pair,
That ance were plush, o’ gude blue hair,
I wad hae gi’en them off my hurdies,
For ae blink o’ the bonie burdies!

But wither’d beldams, auld and droll,
Rigwoodie hags wad spean a foal,
Louping and flinging on a crummock,
I wonder did na turn thy stomach!

But Tam kend what was what fu’ brawlie:
There was ae winsome wench and waulie,
That night enlisted in the core,
Lang after ken’d on Carrick shore;
(For mony a beast to dead she shot,
And perish’d mony a bonie boat,
And shook baith meikle corn and bear,
And kept the country-side in fear.)
Her cutty-sark, o’ Paisley harn
That while a lassie she had worn,
In longitude tho’ sorely scanty,
It was her best, and she was vauntie,-
Ah! little ken’d thy reverend grannie,
That sark she coft for he wee Nannie,
Wi’ twa pund Scots, (’twas a’ her riches),
Wad ever grac’d a dance of witches!

But here my Muse her wing maun cour;
Sic flights are far beyond her pow’r;
To sing how Nannie lap and flang,
(A souple jade she was, and strang),
And how Tam stood, like ane bewitch’d,
And thought his very een enrich’d;
Even Satan glowr’d, and fidg’d fu’ fain,
And hotch’d and blew wi’ might and main;
Till first ae caper, syne anither,
Tam tint his reason ‘ thegither,
And roars out, “Weel done, Cutty-sark!”
And in an instant all was dark:
And scarcely had he Maggie rallied,
When out the hellish legion sallied.

As bees bizz out wi’ angry fyke,
When plundering herds assail their byke;
As open pussie’s mortal foes,
When, pop! she starts before their nose;
As eager runs the market-crowd,
When “Catch the thief!” resounds aloud;
So Maggie runs, the witches follow,
Wi’ mony an eldritch skriech and hollo.

Ah, Tam! ah, Tam! thou’ll get thy fairin’!
In hell they’ll roast thee like a herrin’!
In vain thy Kate awaits thy commin’!
Kate soon will be a woefu’ woman!
Now, do thy speedy utmost, Meg,
And win the key-stane o’ the brig;
There at them thou thy tail may toss,
A running stream they dare na cross.
But ere the key-stane she could make,
The fient a tail she had to shake!
For Nannie, far before the rest,
Hard upon noble Maggie prest,
And flew at Tam wi’ furious ettle;
But little wist she Maggie’s mettle –
Ae spring brought off her master hale,
But left behind her ain gray tail;
The carlin claught her by the rump,
And left poor Maggie scarce a stump.

No, wha this tale o’ truth shall read,
Ilk man and mother’s son take heed;
Whene’er to drink you are inclin’d,
Or cutty-sarks run in your mind,
Think! ye may buy joys o’er dear –
Remember Tam o’ Shanter’s mare.
– A Rabbie Burns classic, published in 1791.

Compiled by the Bee Line Chapter National Society Daughters of the American Revolution. (1981). “Tombstone Inscriptions – Jefferson County, West Virginia. Hagerstwon, MD: HBP, Inc.

Image Credits:

Daniel G. Moler, Henry Snyder, George W. Moler – Charles & George Moler.

Milton J. Billmyer – Meryl Lemen.

Prisoners from the Front
Winslow Homer – 1866. Metropolitan Museum of Art – New York, NY

Parts of an English Saddle
Date Modified February 22, 2007
Source Image modified from Image:English saddle.jpg
Author Modification by Montanabw, original image by Alex brollo
Other versions
Original image: Image:English saddle.jpg
wikipedia.org 17 July 2001 Web. 12 July 2013

Semblance Mary Ann Baker
Strother, David Hunter; Berkeley Springs, Aug. 5th, 1858. (W1995.030.387pg46)
wvu.edu

Semblance Elias Baker
Strother, David Hunter; November 2nd 1858. Baltimore (W1995.030.387pg48)
wvu.edu.

semblance of Elias Baker Sr.
Pyne, W. H. (William Henry). (1815?). “Etchings of rustic figures, for the embellishment of landscape.” London, UK: J. Rimell and son. Print.

Pyne, W. H. (William Henry). (1815?). “Etchings of rustic figures, for the embellishment of landscape.” Internet Archives. 26 January 1997 Web. 20 January 2014. frontispiece.
p. 8.

William Morgan
findagrave

Charles Lee
Wikipedia.org 17 July 2001 Web. 12 July 2015.

Netta Lee, Edmund Lee, Edmund Jennings Lee – Jim Surkamp/Helen Goldsborough Collection.

David Hunter Strother – Library of Congress.

Nikki Landerkin Uses DNA to Find Her Family

by Jim Surkamp on September 23, 2016 in Jefferson County

dna_finding_your-family
nikki_landerkin_named

Made possible with the generous community-minded support of American Public University System. Any views expressed in posts and videos of civilwarscholars.com are meant to encourage discussion and the dispassionate search for understanding of American history and do not in any way reflect the modern-day policies of the University. More . . .

My name is Nikki Landerkin and I am a lifetime resident of Martinsburg, West Virginia, Berkeley County. However, through research I’ve discovered that almost all of my line come from or came to Jefferson County, West Virginia.

I began researching when I was just new to genealogy. My cousin had started researching our Basey line. He had found a lot of names but had absolutely no records. He was getting sick and in a random conversation on a random Saturday, he asked me if I wanted to take it over. Because he was dying, I said: “Sure.” The next weekend the records came to my home. Like I said I had a million names and absolutely not one shred of records. I dabbled with it off-and-on in the summer. I’m a school teacher so anytime when summer came I would check into my ancestry and “my leaf wouldn’t shake.” I thought: ”Well I’ve done the best I can.” I put it away for another year. This went on for about two years. Until about two years ago – on a random Saturday on a summer day – I went down to the library in Martinsburg and I went to the West Virginia genealogy room, and really expected to find everything there was about my family because we’ve been here for several generations. I was really shocked to learn there weren’t any records – not only of my family, but of any family of color in Martinsburg. So I thought: “You know, I’m going to go to the historical society. Surely they have something. The people there are wonderful and they had one record at that time and that was of a barbecue of an off-branch of my family from 1998; and the year was 2014. So they didn’t have any records at all. My family owned businesses. There were no pictures of those businesses. There were no pictures of my family members – they are like “dust in the wind.” Someone made a comment to me that I would never be able to find anything on them because we were black. And I got angry. I got determined and I made it a goal to compile as much as I could. And I did. I used all my records and hard-copy records. But after a while I went cold. I hit a brick wall. I couldn’t find anything else.

So I turned to DNA. I tested my mother. She’s the last and oldest remaining relative that holds both of my maternal grand-parents’ DNA. And they raised me. So that’s the absolute, best way to honor them is to find out much as I could about my family. And, we were shocked with the results. My mother’s DNA came back: 27 plus per cent European, Middle-eastern, west Angolan, Portuguese, Scandinavian, Italien, Iberian Peninsula – and African. But it wasn’t exactly what we thought. The first set of DNA was all text. People had written in Arabic. It had descendants of the original Arabian tribes. I had to have a student who was at my school who was from Morocco translate for me, and I realized quite quickly I was over my head. I had every answer you could possibly have. DNA provides you with more than enough answers. But if you don’t know the questions, it’s pretty dismal. So I cried, and I cried some more. Then, I got determined. I determined that I had to really learn how to incorporate DNA into research. I stopped looking at the results. I spent about two months just reading up on everything that had to do with research, with DNA, chromosomes – anything and everything that I could use to further my search. At the same time, I had one of my male cousins tested for one of our lines, our Basey line, and it provided me with 954 ancestors – all of them from no where near Martinsburg, West Virginia. I realized quite quickly that I had to break that information down, make it user-friendly, try to compare ancestor names with living matches and really start using every resource out there to get what I needed. Facebook has been a godsend if not just for “likes” and “pokes.” I’ve met people on groups. There are tons of genealogy groups and historical society groups for people like me, who are new to it and want talk to other people – but there isn’t anyone in your area. There’s no one around to help you. So through those groups, I was able to become educated about what I needed to do. No question is too stupid. They never make you feel stupid. You may ask the same questions more than once and that’s fine. And through that I met my cousins – Dr. Shelley Murphy, Joyceann Gray, and Monique Crippen-Hopkins – and they are amazing. I love them to death. They intimidate me because they know so much, and they make me want to be better . Like if you’re gonna hang with those ladies you better have your A-game. It can’t be a B- game. it has to be an A-game. Whether they know it or not, they have inspired me to know more, and do more, and become more pro-active. I was afraid to talk to people, especially when I have white DNA – especially when you have local family white DNA. I was afraid to have one of those courageous conversations and say: “I am your relative and I can prove it.” But listening to their stories and listening to their pep talks, and their guidance – they helped me! And so, with all of that, I am able to now start with my great-grandparents and work my way back. I’m still working on it, because all of this is relatively new and you learn something every day.