MCCLELLAN IN IVEST VIRGINIA.

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•win his own battle or to get out of his embarrassment as he could. Towardevening McClellan began to cut a road for artillery to a neighboring height,from which he hoped his twelve guns would make Pegram’s position unten-able ; but his lines were withdrawn again beyond Roaring Creek at nightfall,and further action was postponed to the next day.

About half of Pegram’s men had succeeded in passing around Rosecrans’sright flank during the night and had gained Beverly. These, with the newlyarrived Confederate regiment, fled southward on the Staunton road. Garnetthad learned in the evening by messenger from Beverly that Rich Mountainsummit was carried, and evacuated his camp in front of Morris about mid-night. He first marched toward Beverly, and was within five miles of thatplace when he received information (false at the time) that the Nationalforces already occupied it. He then retraced his steps nearly to his camp,and, leaving the turnpike at Leadsville, he turned off upon a country road overCheat Mountain into Cheat River Valley, following the stream northwardtoward St. George and West Union, in the forlorn hope of turning the moun-tains at the north end of the ridges and regaining his communications by avery long detour. He might have continued southward through Beverlyalmost at leisure, for McClellan did not enter the town till past noon on the 12th.

Morris learned of-Garnett’s retreat at dawn, and started in pursuit as soonas rations could be issued. He marched first to Leadsville, where he haltedto communicate with McClellan at Beverly and get further orders. Thesereached him in the night, and at daybreak of the 13th he resumed the pur-suit. His advance-guard of three regiments, accompanied by Captain H. W.Benham of the Engineers , overtook the rear of the Confederate column aboutnoon and continued a skirmishing pursuit for some two hours. Garnett him-self handled his rear-guard with skill, and at Carrick’s Ford a livelyencounter was had. A mile or two farther, at another ford and when theskirmishing was very slight, he was killed while withdrawing his skirmishersfrom behind a pile of driftwood which he had used as a barricade. One ofhis cannon had become stalled in the ford, and, with about forty wagons,fell into Morris’s hands. The direct pursuit was here discontinued, butMcClellan had sent a dispatch to General Hill at Grafton, to collect the gar-risons along the railway and block the way of the Confederates where theymust pass around the northern spurs of the mountains.

His military telegraph terminated at the Roaring Creek camp, and the dis-patch written in the evening of the 12th was not forwarded to Hill till nearnoon of the 13th. This officer immediately ordered the collection of thegreater part of his detachments at Oakland and called upon the railwayofficials for special trains to hurry them to the rendezvous. About onethousand men under Colonel James Irvine of the 16th Ohio were at WestUnion where the St. George road reaches the Northwestern Turnpike,and Hill’s information was that a detachment of these held Red House, acrossing several miles in advance by which the retreating enemy might go.Irvine was directed to hold his positions at all hazards till he could be reen-forced. Hill himself hastened with the first train from Grafton to Oakland with