MCCLELLAN IN IVEST VIRGINIA.
‘45
on the alert, and an expedition of half the 1st Kentucky , under Lieutenant-Colonel D. A. Enyart, sent to break np a Confederate militia encampment atBoone Court House, 40 miles southward, routed the enemy, who left 25 deadupon the field. The march and attack had been swift and vigorous, and theterror of the blow kept that region quiet for some time afterward.
I was puzzled at Floyd’s inaction at Carnifex Ferry, but the mystery ispartly solved by the publication of the Confederate records. There was nocooperation between the commanders, and Wise refused the assistance Floyddemanded, nor could even the authority of Lee reduce the ex-governor ofVirginia to real subordination. The letters of Wise show a capacity forkeeping a command in hot water which was unique. If he had been half astroublesome to me as he was to Floyd, I should, indeed, have had a hot timeof it. But he did me royal service by preventing anything approachingunity of action between the two principal Confederate columns.
Rosecrans now began his march from Clarksburg with three brigades,having left the Upper Potomac line in command of General Kelley, and theCheat Mountain region in command of General J. J. Reynolds . His route(already indicated) was a rough one, and the portion of it between Suttonand Summersville, over Birch Mountain, was very wild and difficult. Heleft his bivouac on the morning of the 10th of September, before daybreak,and, marching through Summersville, reached Cross Lanes about 2 o’clockin the afternoon. Floyd’s position was now about two miles distant, and
waiting only for his column to closeup, he again pressed forward. Gen-eral Benham’s brigade was in front,and soon met the enemy’s pickets.Getting the impression that Floydwas in retreat, Benham pressed for-ward rather rashly, deploying to theleft, and coming under a sharp firefrom the right of the enemy’s works.The woods were dense and tangled,it was too late for a proper recon-noissance, and Rosecrans could onlyhasten the advance and deploymentof the other brigades under ColonelsMcCook and Scammon. Benham hadsent a howitzer battery and two rifledcannon with his head of column atthe left, and these soon got a position,from which, in fact, they enfiladedpart of Floyd’s line, though it wasimpossible to see much of the situa-tion. Charges were made by portionsof Benham’s and McCook’s brigadesas they came up, but they lacked
SCALE
'/z MILE
razr-
The Continuous double,
ROSECRANS FORCES ARE MARKED THUS
A 2?10?72?. l 07iio B 72^28^73^071X0C Scammon's brigade moving up.
D ScTineiders battery in. positionE M c Mullins battery moving up
VOL. I. 10