GOVERNOR ANDREW'S APPEAL. 467 at eleven o'clock, this Sunday evening, May 25, A. D., 1862. Men of Massachusetts: The wily and barbarous horde of traitors to the people, to the government, to our country, and to liberty, menace again the national capital. They have attacked and routed Major-General Banks, are advancing on Harper's Ferry, and are marching on Washington. The President calls on Massachusetts to rise once more for its rescue and defence. The whole active militia will be summoned by a general order issued from the office of the adjutant-general, to report on Boston Common to-morrow. They will march to relieve and avenge their brethren and friends, to oppose with fiery zeal and courageous patriotism the pro their hearts and strengthen their arms, and may He inspire the government and all the people." The Secretary of War, indeed, by his Sunday telegram, had effectually stirred up the country. The scenes of the previous year were renewed as the old 6th Massachusetts regiment, the New York 7th, and others, hastened to revisit the scenes of their previous duties, "through Baltimore," and on the Potomac. raise and organize three or four more infantry regiments, and have them ready to be forwarded to Washington to be armed and equipped," he answered on the instant: "A call so sudden and unexpected finds me without materials for an intelligent reply. Our young men are all preoccupied with other views. Still, if a real call for three regiments is made, I believe we can raise them in forty days. The arms and equipments would need to be furnished here. Our people have never marched without them. They go into camp while forming into regiments, and are drilled and practiced with arms and muskets as soldiers. To attempt the other course would dampen enthusiasm, and make men feel that they were not soldiers, but a mob. Again:gress of the foe. May God encourage if our people feel that they are going into the South to help fight rebels who will kill and destroy them by all means known to savages as well as civilized will deceive them by fraudulent flags of truce, and lying pretences, as they did the Massachusetts boys at Williamsburg; will use their negro slaves against them both as laborers and as fighting men, while they themselves must never fire at the enemy's magazine, I think they will feel the draft is heavy on It was not by new recruits, however, their patriotism. But if the President that the threatened invasion of the rebel will sustain General Hunter, and recog- chiefs at this time were prepared for nize all men, even black men, as legally such a movement-was to be driven capable of that loyalty the blacks are backward. That depended upon new willing to manifest; and let them fight, combinations of troops already in the with God and human nature on their field; upon the central column of Banks, side, the roads will swarm, if need be, and the supporting forces on his right with multitudes whom New England and left, of General Fremont and Genwould pour out to obey your call. Al- eral McDowell. Both were called upon ways ready to do my utmost, I remain, to take part in the movement, and once most faithfully, your obedient servant, more drive the redoubtable "Stonewall" John A. Andrew." A week later, when Jackson from the valley of the ShenanGeneral Banks had crossed the Potomac, doah. A new military department, called and the protection of the capital was in- the Mountain Department, it will be revolved, Governor Andrew, throwing all membered, had been created by Presidoubts and scruples to the winds, and dent Lincoln's war order of March 11th, now satisfied that the call was "real," for General Fremont. Lying between issued the following vigorous proclama- the department of the Potomac on the tion, dated "At headquarters, in Boston, | east, and the new department of General Halleck on the west, it included the en- ings, your marchings, and your combats. tire range of western Virginia, and the Under God, to your bravery and good Alleghany district of Tennessee, east of conduct it is due that not a single reverse Knoxville. The latter region, especially, has attended our arms in all these vast presented an inviting sphere of military regions. Wherever I go I shall bear operations. The opponents of Fremont with me the remembrance of men who, laughed at the airy mountain command leaving home and its endearments, against of the pathfinder of the Rocky Moun- the force of all former tastes and habits, tains, and pronounced the appointment have undertaken to inure themselves to an ingenious device of the government to the toils, privations, hardships and danshelve a general who was too important gers of military life, and have succeeded. to be overlooked, and whom it was not But, comrades, proud as I am of the thought expedient to put too prominently manly energy you have thus displayed, I forward. The command assigned him, am prouder still to bear testimony to the however, was not an unimportant one. pure and lofty patriotism which has It was identified with the interests of called it forth. No mean and sectional freedom. A hardy race, naturally foes spirit, no low truckling to reckless leadto slavery, inhabited the mountains, and ership, no blind and ignorant fanaticism. if the enemy were to be outflanked in has animated you. By your intelligence, southern Virginia, cutting off the Rich- your magnanimity and forbearance tomond communications, or if eastern Ten-wards those whom the rebellion has misnessee were to be occupied, the enemy led, you have shown that you entered would be greatly straitened, and one of the most difficult problems of the war would be solved. It was the expectation of his friends, and the intention of Fremont himself, that his division, starting from the north, would gain strength as it proceeded, and earn its brightest laurels in the South. The raid of the rebel General Jackson diverted his ener-themselves; or, dying, will bequeath libgies to another quarter, and his new hopes of renown were brought to an end in that field of central Virginia so fatal to military prospects at various periods of the war. into the conflict with a conviction that the interests of free government, and even of human freedom itself, opposed by arbitrary and despotic will by rebellion in favor of despotism, lay in the issue, and that you fought for the liberties of all, both north and south. Such men deserve to be, and will be, free dren, is my cherished wish and hope." erty and a glorious name to their posterity. That it may be your happy lot, in the Union and the constitution and the laws, to be free and happy yourselves, and to bequeath freedom, happiThe new appointment of General Fre-ness, and a glorious name to your chilmont absorbed the old department of western Virginia, long and honorably held by General Rosecrans. The latter officer, on the 29th of March, on the arrival of Fremont at Wheeling, the headquarters of the mountain department, resigned his command in an eloquent general order: "Companions in arms," said he, "in this vast department of mountains and forests, in the rains of summer, the cold and storms of winter, for nine months, I have witnessed your uncomplaining zeal and activity, your watch Two months were passed by General Fremont in necessary preparations for the organization of his corps, under unusual difficulties, from the insufficient provision made for the new department. Early in May, when he was suddenly called to take the field, his command was composed of troops in part originally under the command of General Rosecrans, and in part of the division of Brigadier-General Blenker, from the army of the Potomac. This officer, a HIGHLAND COUNTY, VA. 469 native of Hesse Darmstadt, after serving ward the camp of General Milroy, in the in his youth with. the Bavarian legion, adjoining county, when he received inwhich accompanied the newly elected telligence from the latter officer of a King Otho to Greece, and subsequently threatened attack by the enemy. There taking part in the revolutionary proceed- had been considerable skirmishing beings of 1848, in his own country, emi- tween the rival forces in the region, and grated to the United States on the unsuc- on the 8th of May a serious encounter cessful termination of the latter struggle. between them took place near McDowell, A resident of New York city, at the some twelve miles beyond Monterey. outbreak of the rebellion, he became im- General Milroy, discovering the enemy mediately engaged in raising a German in position on the adjacent Bull Mountregiment of volunteers, the 8th, which ain, sent a Virginia and four Ohio regileft for Washington in May, 1861, and ments to attack them. The troops stationed in the reserve at Bull Run, did gallantly ascended the mountain, and for effective service on that day, in covering five hours, from three in the afternoon the retreat of the Union forces. For his till eight in the evening, contested the good conduct on that occasion, Colonel position, when they retired. General Blenker was made a Brigadier General Schenck, who, after a forced march of of Volunteers. The staff of General thirty-four miles in twenty-four hours, Fremont included several of the officers had joined General Milroy before the who had been with him in Missouri. battle, then brought off the inferior Among others, it embraced Colonels Union force in safety to Franklin, in a Aberts and Fiala, Colonel D'Utassy, march of three days, the enemy followformerly of the New York Garibaldi ing at a distance, with a loss of 28 Guard, and Major Zagonyi, the cavalry killed, 60 severely, and 145 slightly chieftain of the brilliant charge before Springfield. The first movement in General Fremont's department was in Highland County, where, on the 13th of April, the pickets of General Milroy's camp, at Monterey, were attacked and driven in by a body of about a thousand rebels, with cavalry and two pieces of artillery.. Reinforcements were sent out by General Milroy, and after a brisk skirmish the assailants were put to flight with considerable loss. The enemy, however, did not quit the region, but established themselves in a fortified position on the eastern slope of the Shenandoah mountains. A few days later, on the 23d, a party, sent out by General Schenek, from Romney, had a sharp encounter with a body of guerrillas. A fortnight later he had advanced with his brigade to Franklin, the capital of Pendleton County, whence he was proceeding to Major General Fremont to Secretary Stanton, Wheeling, Va., April 13, 1862. wounded.* The prompt arrival of General Fremont, from Petersburg, with the Blenker division, so strengthened the command that no further advance was made by the enemy in this direction. The want of supplies, from the difficulty of communication with the Potomac, prevented their being pursued. Shortly after this affair, on the 20th of May, Colonel Crook commanding the brigade, at Lewisburg, in Greenbrier County, made a successful dash through Covington, to the Virginia Central Railroad, burning the bridge at Jackson river. This was followed by an attack on Colonel Crook's brigade, at Lewisburg, on the 23d, by the rebel General Heath, with 3,000 men, when, after a lively engagement, the enemy were routed, and fled in confusion. Colonel Crook captured four cannon, two hundred stand of arms, and one hundred prisoners. The Union loss was ten killed and forty *Correspondence New York Tribune. Franklin, Va., May 14, 1862. necessities to each regiment. Furnished only with ammunition and rations for three days, the men, with "alacrity and good feeling," pursued their way through Moorefield, by forced marches over mountain roads, rendered unusually difficult by the inclement season. In a week the advance, under Colonel Cluseret, came up, near Strasburg, with the rebel General Jackson's forces, which had commenced their retreat up the valley, in anticipation of the combined movement on foot for their capture. wounded. In announcing this victory to baggage and provision trains as the force his forces, at Franklin, General Fremont was supplied with were left behind, but expressed his conviction that they lack-four wagons being reserved for absolute ed but the opportunity "to emulate the gallantry, and share the glory of their comrades of the army of the Kanawha."* On the night of the 24th of May, the day after Ewell's attack on Colonel Kenly, at Front Royal, General Fremont received, at Franklin, orders from President Lincoln to march to the relief of General Banks, in the valley of the Shenandoah. The entire force at his command, numbering 11,500 men, consisted of the Blenker division, the brigades of Generals Schenck and Milroy, and a light brigade of Ohio and Virginia troops, under Colonel Cluseret, a French officer of education and experience, who had distinguished himself at the Crimea, in Algiers, and lately in the Italian war for independence, as a member of the staff of Garibaldi, when he had been wounded at Capua. Attracted by the struggle in the United States, Colonel Cluseret offered his services to the Government, and on his arrival at Washington, early in 1862, was appointed on the staff of General McClellan. He was next assigned to the command of General Fremont. The army of General Fremont, when called upon by the President, was not in the best condition to move. They were in a region cut off from proper supplies, had lately been exhausted in forced marches, and had for some days been scantily fed with beef only. "Their insufficient diet," says their commander, "had materially affected their health, and the Medical Director reported the entire command 'in a condition of starvation and incipient scurvy."" Fremont, however, was not the man to lose time in such an emergency. At day-light the next morning, Sunday, his troops were in motion, taking the road to Petersburg, where tents and knapsacks, with such *Order of Major-General Fremont, Franklin, Va., May 24, 1862. On General Banks' retreat to the Potomac, Brigadier-General Rufus Saxton, was placed in command of the forces, immediately sent to Harper's Ferry for the maintenance of that position. This officer, a native of Massachusetts, a graduate of West Point of 1849, when he entered the artillery, had distinguished himself by his scientific attainments in the conduct of an expedition across the Rocky Mountains, and in the coast survey. At the beginning of the war he was acting with General Lyon at St. Louis, and was afterward with General McClellan in western Virginia. He had of late been with General Sherman in South Carolina, and being for the time in Washington, was ordered, on the sudden emergency which had occurred, to the upper Potomac. He proved himself, as was expected, an efficient officer. Assuming command on the 26th of May, he rapidly employed the reinforcementsseveral regiments and battalions of New York, Pennsylvania, and Maryland troops-in occupation of the surrounding heights, and reconnoissances of the neighborhood. Numerous sharp skirmishes occurred; but the disposition of the Union forces was so skillfully made that the enemy gained no advantage. One serious attempt was made by them on the line of defence at the town. "Jackson, the commander of the rebel forces," PURSUIT OF JACKSON. says General Saxton, "having given the order to his army to storm our position, they advanced beyond Bolivar heights in force, to attack us, about dark, Friday evening, in a storm. General Slough opened upon them from Camp Hill with Crounse's, and part of Reynold's battery, and Lieutenant Daniels, from battery Stanton, on Maryland heights. The scene at this time was very impressive. The hills around were alive with the signal lights of the enemy, the rain descended in torrents, vivid flashes of lightning illumined at intervals the grim, but magnificent scenery, while the crash of the thunder echoing among the mountains, drowned into comparative insignificance the roar of our artillery. After an action of an hour's duration, the enemy retired. He made another unsuccessful attack at midnight with regiments of Mississippi and Louisiana infantry, and after a short engagement disappeared. Signal lights continued to be seen in every direction."* 471 eral Fremont, of his march from Franklin, "and this at the instance of the medical directors, and crossing the Shenandoah mountains by a night march, in a storm of cold rain, my corps attacked Jackson's column at Strasburg, acknowledged to be in greatly superior force, and drove him in disorder during the next eight days to Port Republic. The road was strewn with arms, blankets, and clothing, thrown away in their haste, or abandoned by their pickets where they had been surprised, and the woods and roads lined by their stragglers, unable to keep up with the rapid retreat. For nine days we kept in sight of the enemy-the pursuit interrupted only by the streams where the enemy succeeded in destroying the bridges, for which our advance was in continual contest with his rear."* General Fremont, pursuing the foe through Woodstock, Mount Jackson, crossed the Shenandoah on the 5th, on a pontoon bridge, and coming up with the This affair occurred on the night of enemy beyond New Market, a sharp enthe 30th of May. On the following day counter attended the arrival of the Union the enemy were in full retreat up the advance the next day at Harrisonburg. valley, which it was the design of Gen- The enemy were driven from the town eral Fremont to intercept when he early in the afternoon, and severe skircrossed the mountains at Strasburg. mishing continued till evening. "At There, as we have seen, he came upon four o'clock the 1st New Jersey cavalry, the enemy on the 31st of May and after driving the enemy through the vilpromptly offered them battle. The pol- lage, fell into an ambuscade in the roads icy of Jackson, however, was to avoid a to the south-east of the town, in which general engagement, and he rapidly con- Colonel Wyndham, of that regiment, was tinued his flight, leaving Strasburg the captured, and considerable loss was susnext morning for Woodstock, and the tained. Colonel Cluseret, with his briupper portion of the valley. At Stras-gade, subsequently engaged the enemy burg General Fremont was joined by a in the timber, driving him from his posibody of cavalry under General Bayard, tion, and taking his camp. At about a portion of McDowell's corps which had eight o'clock a battalion of Colonel been ordered from eastern Virginia. Kane's Pennsylvania regiment entered Front Royal, on the railway, had been the woods, under the direction of Brigareëntered on the 30th of May, and the dier-General Bayard, and maintained for enemy driven out, by a troop of Rhode half an hour a vigorous attack (in which Island cavalry under Colonel Nelson. both sides suffered severely), driving the Making but one day's halt," says Gen- enemy. The enemy attempted to shell * Brigadier - General Saxton to Secretary Stanton, Harper's Ferry, June 3, 1862. *Letter of General Fremont to the editors of the Evening Post. New York, Feb. 9, 1863. |
