the battalion now encamped on the turnpike, about three miles from the river, and near berryville, and under orders from gen. w. e. jones. the major posted his companies at the fords on the shenandoah, from front royal to key’s ferry, to picket. the camp was lumbered up with a great quantity of captured property, having wagons and tents sufficient for three times the number of men; in fact no regiment in either army was better supplied with camp equipage than white’s battalion. on the night of the 28th november, a dispatch was received from company b, at berry’s ferry, saying that the enemy was crossing at that point, and mr. william dove, or as he was familiarly known in the command, “uncle billy,” the active and efficient wagon-master, went to work loading the wagons, preparatory to a move; but by the time everything was ready, another courier came from company b, saying the alarm was false. at this time the only force in camp was company q, composed, as every old soldier knows, of men who are disabled or on detail.
company a, which was to play the most conspicuous part in what was about to transpire, was 132on duty at castleman’s ferry, commanded by lieut. barrett.
for several days a party of about one hundred federal cavalry had made regular trips up the aldie turnpike to snickersville, thence through the gap to the river bank, and returning at once as quietly as they came. they never disturbed citizens, and no one knew their object, but all supposed it was nothing farther than to notice the disposition of the confederates in the valley, and it is singular that they were permitted to operate in this manner with so much regularity and not be molested; certain it is that no such thing was ever permitted by white afterwards. on the 29th, this party made its appearance at the river as usual, and barrett’s men, on their first appearance, were not prepared to receive such company; some of them being engaged in fishing, some were boating, and nearly all had their horses unsaddled, so incautious had familiarity with the motions of this particular party of yankees rendered them; but the visitors seemed to linger on the river bank for a longer time to-day than usual, and barrett ordered his men to saddle up, at the same time sending a courier to camp to inform capt. myers, who was in command there, that the yankees were at the river, and he thought they intended to cross. he hailed the enemy, and when they replied, asked them “what they wanted,” and invited them to “come over,” to which 133they answered by telling him “not to be uneasy,” that they “would be over presently,” which the lieutenant began to think was highly probable, as their number was increasing every moment in a most alarming manner. as soon as possible he had the company mounted, and sending a man down the river to order the guards below him to fall back, he prepared to do the best he could, under the circumstances, to delay the enemy as long as possible, in order to give the men in camp time to get the baggage away, for their intention to accept his invitation to “come over” was rapidly becoming apparent and certain.
it is now time to go to the camp and see what arrangements have been made there for the visitation that will soon be made on the west bank of the shenandoah.
thanks to the alarm from company b, the night before, the wagons were all loaded and ready to move. all the tents had been struck, with the exception of capt. grubb’s, who having been sick for some days, and unable to move, resolved to stay in his tent. about twenty-five men were in camp, either entirely dismounted or with broken-down horses. some were sick, and besides these the number on detail in the quartermaster’s department would make a total of about sixty in all when lieut. barrett’s courier arrived.
this man came up very leisurely, and did not report to capt. myers at all, but who accidentally 134saw him, and knowing him to be one of barrett’s men, asked him the news at the river, when the fellow responded that there were “some yankees on the other side.”
myers asked if barrett thought it was only the usual scout, or if they looked like crossing, and he replied that he "didn’t know." this was all of lieutenant barrett’s dispatch that reached the commander, and i have always entertained the opinion that the courier ought to have been court-martialed and shot.
after a few minutes’ reflection and study about the matter, myers gave the order for the wagons to move out on the road, but was induced to do so more because “uncle” billy dove was anxious to move now that everything was ready, than from any apprehension that yankees would come.
capt. kilgour and “uncle billy” at once set all the machinery of the quartermaster’s department in motion, and very soon the train begun to move.
we will now go back to the river where we left barrett and his boys watching the enemy; but their watch was of short duration, for suddenly the whole force of yankees moved off briskly, and unmindful of the pistol shots fired at them, dashed into the river and came over. the confederates soon gave way, and the affair turned into a horse-race for camp.
one of the men ran in at mr. shepherd’s to 135notify major white, and found him lying down, but he soon got out and mounted his horse, reaching the pike just as the yankees came up. they were now about a mile from camp and all together, pursuers and pursued, rode like "tam o’shanter," and all together reached the camp, but here the yankees made a halt until their reserve came up, before charging in upon the scattered crowd of demoralized men in the camp.
the major had been wounded in the thigh, and lieut. barrett, with about twenty of his men, taken prisoners, and now the question was, “how are the wagons to be saved?”
major white, notwithstanding his wound, rallied such of his men as were mounted and armed, and from every hill-top in the fields fired upon and checked the enemy, while all the men except the dozen with him, did their best running.
an old citizen of clarke county, col. morgan, whose residence was near, saw the flying fugitives racing across the field; he came out and attempted to rally them, but seeing that they only ran the faster, the old gentleman, with the spirit of his famous ancestor, “the wagoner general of the revolution,” swore he would fight them alone; but when the carbine balls began to clip the blue grass around him, he thought better of it and went home.
the yankees pressed white and his party very closely as far as berryville, and captured one 136wagon, but not the team, the driver having cut his horses loose and made his escape. capt. kilgour stuck to his train bravely, and with “uncle billy,” directed its movements until the yankee bullets commenced singing around him, when he gave it up, and made “toney” show his speed and bottom too.
at berryville, the 12th virginia cavalry, under lt.-col. burke, made its appearance and charged gallantly into the yankee column, but were soon compelled to retire, when they came on again after white and his boys, one of whom, mag. thompson, was badly wounded and taken prisoner, but the enemy was generous enough to parole him and leave him in the care of some ladies at a house near the road.
at the 7th mile post from the river the pursuit ceased, and the yankees went back to berryville, just in time to miss the capture of the baggage wagon of company a, from which the driver had cut the lead horses, only about two hundred yards from where they halted.
the major now went on to winchester, whither most of his men had preceded him, while capt. myers, with a small party, waited by their wagon until the horses were brought back, which was about dark, when they too rode on up the pike, and met general jones and staff at the opekon, who made them turn back and go to berryville to learn if the enemy was still there; but on arriving 137at that place they found the yankee rear guard retiring towards the river. the miserable affair was over, but it left its influence upon the command, and their pride in the battalion was clashed by the shame of the surprise.
the surgeon, dr. wootten of maryland, who had never seen the battalion, but was just on his way to join it, was met by the yankees and carried off with the others.
as before stated, capt. grubb was in his tent sick, when gen. stahl’s people (for that dutchman was in command) came up, and many of them crowded around, asking questions, among which they wanted to know what was the matter with him. "i don’t know," said dick, “but they tell me i have the small-pox.”
after that he wasn’t disturbed at all for some time, but finally an adjutant who was seasoned to it came to see him, treating him very kindly, however, and assisted him to move to some negro quarters near by, where he took his parole and left him, while the officer returned and set fire to his tent.
the enemy was about twelve hundred strong and all superbly mounted, especially the advance column, so that all the men in company a who were on indifferent horses were easily picked up in the three-mile chase from castleman’s, where the only error of their commander was committed, in keeping his men at the river until the yankees were nearly over.
138lieut. conrad related, that on their run up the pike, he having staid in the rear as long as it was possible to do without letting himself be taken, he passed lieut. barrett, who was mounted on a large racking horse that had the name of “john,” (and “john” had no motion faster than his rack, either,) and was doing what conrad called his “level best.” just as conrad rode by, he called out, "you must go faster than that, lieutenant, or they’ll get you." but barrett, casting an eye over his shoulder, and giving at the same time an extra dig with his spurs, coolly remarked, "no they won’t; they’ll never catch me while old john racks this way." lieut. conrad says that in three minutes they were all around him, and soon after he made an unconditional surrender of “old john” and all.
lieut. barrett wore a pair of u. s. a. lieutenant’s shoulder straps, and on the way down the pike some of the yankees cut them off for him, saying no rebel had any right to wear their officers’ rigging.
the next morning, major white got his command together and made a scout over into loudoun, but the enemy had all disappeared, and for many a day gen. stahl considered this exploit of whipping “dat dam bob white,” as he called him, the chiefest plume in his cap; and some of his men, who were afterwards captured, say that he insisted on being made general-in-chief of the u. s. cavalry for it.
139two days after stahl’s expedition, gen. jones ordered his brigade to assemble at winchester, and when dark came down with night, he marched it to strasburg, where he halted for a little time.
it was here that the old general tried to teach white’s men how to bivouac in winter nights with no comforts but fires and their blankets. said he, “lie down by the fire on the opposite side from where the wind blows, and the fire keeps the wind from you while the smoke blows over you and keeps off frost or dew.” “oh, but,” said one of the men, “the smoke is a little too bitter for me.” “yes,” replied the general, “you get some of the bitter, but you get a damned sight of the sweet, too.” there is good philosophy in this, apart from the profanity—and all who are compelled to camp out would do well to practice it.
general jones did not move any further up the valley, but marched back towards winchester and encamped near kernstown.
here it was that the same capt. webster, who had been with means’ men in loudoun, and whom white had paroled at waterford, in august, came out to the camp of the battalion, in company with charley cooper, who rode with him from upperville without taking from him his arms. webster gave himself up to myers, who happened to be in command of the camp at that time, and to whom he told his plans and purposes, and explained 140the feasibility of capturing means and all his party, so very clearly, that myers fell very much in love with the scheme, and was sure that major white would embrace the apparently certain opportunity to break up the loudoun rangers for the war.
webster’s proposition commenced with explaining that means had driven him from his company, and also had caused him to be arrested and confined in the old capitol prison in washington, from which he had escaped and now only lived to revenge his wrongs by being instrumental in putting means in the power of white’s men, who be was sure would not permit him to live.
he proposed to be tied on a horse, placed in charge of as strong a guard as maj. white should deem necessary, the guards to be instructed to kill him if he made one step that did not please them; and for white to take his battalion, and with webster thus bound and guarded for a guide, go to means’ camp and capture it. or, if not willing to go with him, to leave him at gen. jones’ headquarters and then move the battalion by his directions, with the absolute certainty that he would be hung or shot if the expedition failed, under his instructions, to get means and all his men.
capt. myers thought webster’s life was sufficient pledge of his sincerity in the matter, and in imagination already saw the pet scheme of the 141whole battalion fully executed, being certain that white would gladly avail himself of the opportunity thus opened for it. but, alas for human calculations! when the major arrived in camp he not only refused to speak to webster at all, but instantly ordered him to be securely tied with ropes, hand and foot, and placed under strong guard, at the same time bitterly censuring his subordinate for holding conversation with him instead of tying him as soon as he came in camp, and declared his belief that webster had only come there for the purpose of killing him. at the same time he ordered cooper to be confined in the general guard house, where he remained in confinement until february, when he was acquitted by a brigade court-martial.
about dark, some of the officers visited webster and found him suffering severely from the manner in which he was tied, the ropes having cut into his flesh, and they applied to the major, asking to have him relieved, but were refused. they then made the following request in writing:
“camp 35th va cavalry, dec. —, 1862.
“major—we have seen the prisoner, capt. webster, tied in such a manner that his hands are blackened from it, and we respectfully propose, that if you will permit, we will untie him and guard him ourselves.
“we are perfectly willing to hang or shoot him, if you say 142so, but desire to see him treated with humanity while a prisoner.
“f. m. myers, capt. co. a.
“wm. f. dowdell, 1st lieut. co. c.
“b. f. conrad, 2d lieut., jr., co. a.
“n. w. dorsey, 2d lieut. co. b.
“s. e. grubb, 2d lieut. co. c.
“r. c. marlow, 2d lieut. co. a.”
the major returned the paper endorsed as follows:
“head-quarters, white’s battalion
“dec. —, 1862.}
“capt. myers—you can have webster untied if you choose, but i shall hold the officers signing this paper personally responsible for his safe keeping.
“e. v. white, major comd’g.”
webster was at once freed from his bonds, and his self-constituted guardsmen sat with him all night, listening to the story of his life, which, supposing all he said to be true, was as full of romantic adventure as any ever depicted by old sir walter; and i doubt if in the annals of rascality a more finished character than webster ever had a place, for certainly, by his own confession, no sin in the decalogue had been untouched by him. when morning came he was sent, in charge of lieut. sam. grubb, to richmond, where we will leave him for the present, to the tender mercies of gen. winder.
about this time, white received permission from gen. jones to scout into loudoun, and arrived there just while slocum’s corps was passing 143through to the aid of burnside, then fighting the battle of fredericksburg, and the battalion immediately beheld visions of captured trains and prisoners. the major’s first bivouac was in the baptist meeting-house at ketocton, from which point he sent lieut. dowdell with a party to hillsboro’ to find, under the friendly shadows of night, the situation of affairs in the rear of slocum’s march.
dowdell pushed on and found no enemy until he reached wheatland, where he learned that a considerable number of infantry stragglers were asleep in the mill, and the lieutenant immediately went in, taking quiet possession of the arms of the sleeping soldiers, and demanding a surrender, which, under the circumstances, they deemed it prudent to comply with.
when morning broke, major white marched his command towards wheatland and met dowdell, who informed him that the enemy’s rear guard had camped the night before at bowie’s, on the turnpike. moving quietly along the road the battalion picked up about one hundred prisoners, whom they sent back to gen. jones, and learning that a wagon train was lost somewhere in the neighborhood of hamilton, the major sent a party to bring it in, but it could not be found. he then marched to leesburg, and there was informed that some wagons, with a small guard of cavalry, had passed through the town on the ball’s mill road, about two hours before, and he at once resolved 144to capture them; so ordering lieut. crown, of company b, to take the advance with a party of his men, and to keep all the blue-coats in front to deceive the enemy, he pushed on as rapidly as possible after his prize. in a short time crown sent him a report that the enemy had halted a few miles ahead to feed their horses, and thinking there could be no escape for the wagons now, he ordered crown to go ahead and make the attack; and very soon the ringing pistol shots in front proclaimed that the advance guard was among the enemy.
the gallant lieut. crown had, in fact, pushed ahead so rapidly that he struck the escort of the train, which was vastly superior to his force in point of numbers, too far in front of the battalion to receive timely support, and his men had been hard pressed before the major could get up; but they had fought as company b always did it, and with their sabres were clearing the ground when their comrades reached them. but the enemy had held out long enough for the wagons to get started and for a regiment of infantry to return to their rescue; which latter circumstance induced the major to wheel his men off the road to avoid the fire, which was very hot, and to permit the train to rejoin the army.
all that men could do had been done; the escort of the wagon train had been whipped fairly, in open fight, by crown’s boys, and nothing remained 145to be done but turn the wagons and go back, and but for the unforeseen accidental circumstance of the officer commanding the rear guard of the army sending the infantry regiment to see what had become of the train, the raid would have been perfectly successful. as it was, with as good a grace as might be, the baffled battalion returned, after considerable skirmishing, to leesburg, and the major was there informed that a few wagons were wandering in the direction of waterford, having, so report said, taken the wrong road at wheatland, and thitherward the battalion marched, but on reaching the village of waterford learned that no such train had been in that neighborhood, and there was no longer a doubt but that the reported straggling wagons were the same which the timely arrival of infantry had saved from capture beyond leesburg.
the major then turned his attention to means’ gang, and to make sure of them, if they were over the river at all, went down into town after dark, but the “rangers” were not around, and after frightening the intensely tory citizens of waterford half out of their wits, the battalion marched to beans’ mill and encamped for the night.
the next morning, very unexpectedly, but greatly to the discomfort of the people there, the major moved his column back to waterford, and very much to his own surprise, as himself and 146dr. wootten were riding a considerable distance ahead of the command, met means’ people in full force advancing to meet the battalion, not intending to find it of course, but they did so nevertheless, and the result was a horse race, in which the rangers, on their fresh, fast nags, made such extra time that only two of them were captured.
from this point the battalion crossed the potomac, and struck out for poolsville, md., reaching that town about 8 o’clock, p. m., and finding the federals there entirely oblivious to danger, knowing, as they did, of slocum’s march through loudoun, and besides, they felt perfectly safe anyhow, because the old potomac rolled its watery barrier between themselves and the fighting boys of dixie, and they felt so easy, that no guards were posted at all, and many of them were at church (it was sunday night) listening to a sermon from the rev. mr. —— ——.
as may well be imagined, there was great commotion in the congregation at the sudden apparition of the confederates, but from the pulpit the preacher proclaimed to the people that they had gentlemen to deal with, and urged them to be quiet, which assurance and advice served to quell, in a great measure, the fears that, with the rebels, would come destruction and death to town and inhabitants. the portion of the reverend gentleman’s audience who wore the uniform of uncle sam, took no encouragement from that portion of 147his discourse, but as rapidly as they could, passed out and endeavored to reach their quarters in the town hall.
one of them, the orderly sergeant, was killed in the street, and the others surrendered. those who were at their quarters in the hall made a sharp fight, but were also soon compelled to give up to the victorious raiders. only one man on the confederate side was injured, and he was killed, but by a singular circumstance the battalion lost nothing by his death, he being an independent and had volunteered to take his brother’s place, who was unwell when the command marched from camp. his name was jenkins.
after spending some time very delightfully in the village, where nearly all of company b was perfectly at home, the battalion crossed the river with a large amount of captured property, including about sixty horses, and marched to white post, in clarke county, where the major had stored a quantity of the supplies drawn from the commissary department of gen. burnside’s army, in november, and here they halted for some days, learning that gen. jones had moved his headquarters to new market.
the major made another scout in loudoun, soon after, but nothing could be accomplished, and his time of his absence having expired, he returned to the brigade, arriving at camp on christmas day.
148general lee noticed the poolsville raid in the following note to gen. jones:
head-quarters, army n. v.,
"january 31st, 1863.}
“brig.-gen. wm. e. jones,
“commanding valley district:
“general—i have received major e. v. white’s report, dated dec. 24th, 1862, of his scout to poolsville, maryland, and have forwarded it to the adjutant and inspector-general at richmond, calling the attention of the war department to the gallant conduct of major white and his command.
“i am much gratified at the manner in which major white conducted his scout, and the substantial results accomplished, with such slight loss on his part.
“i have the honor to be, general, very respectfully,
“your obedient servant.
“r. e. lee, general.”
general jones was on the eve of marching to western virginia at the time white reached him, and leaving the major in command of the valley district, with his battalion and such portions of other regiments as could not move with him, that enterprising officer went on his raid. here the battalion learned for the first time that its independence was gone and it was a portion of gen. jones’ brigade permanently, and that the men were regular troops.
insubordination, and almost open mutiny, was the result, especially in the two companies a and b. the members of the old company claimed that theirs was an independent command, organized to serve on the border, and that they joined 149it under the assurance that they never would be attached to any regiment or brigade, but be always on the border, and report to the nearest commanding general, and according to the terms of their enlistment they were never to forfeit, without their consent, the independent character of their command. this was the second time the same issue had arisen in its history, the first being the time when the company was thrown under command of lieut.-col. munford, in march, 1862, and the men watched jealously any movement which threw them, for ever so short a time, with any other command.
company b claimed, that as marylanders, they owed no allegiance to the confederacy. they had come over voluntarily, because their sympathies were with the south, but being foreigners they had the right to select for themselves the manner in which they would serve her, and in accordance with their privilege had united with the command of major white, under the assurance and belief that his was an independent organization, and that now, the contract having been broken on the part of the government, they were no longer bound to remain in the battalion.
there can be no doubt as to the justice of the claims advanced by both companies, but soldiers must submit to the powers that be, and as soldiers they had no right to question the validity of the orders which removed from one branch of service 150and assigned them to another. a napoleon or a jackson would have had somebody shot for such conduct, and in so doing would have totally destroyed the efficiency of the battalion, for after the first military execution, double their number could not have kept three companies in service a day longer. their homes were in the enemy’s lines, and among the mountains, and wild as they were, they would have remained untamed for the war, under such discipline as this.
the other companies were all quiet, but company c was resolved to share the fortunes of the old company, and only waited for its action to be defined to come out and join her. the dissatisfaction was intense, and the major absolutely alone and unaided in his efforts to stem the tide of sedition and mutiny in his camp, but his firmness and coolness made him master of the fiery spirits with whom he had to deal, and simply by appealing to their better nature won them from their desperate resolves, and very soon peace reigned in white’s battalion. but never for a day did the men forget their first love, or turn away their longing hearts from sighing after their lost independence.
gen. jones soon returned from his raid to petersburg and moorfield, and from now until february nothing occurred to mar the monotony of camp life, save the interminable drilling and sabre grinding which the general imposed upon his men.
151early in february, major white was promoted to lieutenant-colonel, by the president, and an election was held to fill the vacancy occasioned thereby, which resulted in the choice of capt. f. m. myers, of company a, to be major of the battalion.
about this time gen. lee, through gen. jones, ordered white to report to gen. jackson, and the following letter from jackson explains the duty upon which he was to engage while under the orders of “stonewall:”
“head-quarters, 2d corps, a. n. v.,
“february 5th, 1863.}
“major—the courier who bears this has an order from gen. r. e. lee, through brig.-gen. w. e. jones, directing you with the whole, or part of your battalion, as may be necessary, to report to me for orders.
“the object to be accomplished is explained by the accompanying papers from gen. cooper.
“i wish you to take such of your battalion, or the whole of it, if necessary, and arrest the witnesses and send them to gen. cooper in richmond.
“charge those who may have the securing of them to treat them kindly, unless it should be necessary to do otherwise. say to the witnesses, it has been thought, that by arresting them, they would not be so likely to be annoyed by the enemy, as if they had only been summoned and gone to richmond.
“i hope that you will take special pains to see that all of them are safely delivered to gen. cooper.
“i think that you had better arrest them all during the same night; but i leave you to decide upon this, and i have such confidence in you that i leave the whole process of securing them to your discretion.
“i have written to gen. jones to let you take your entire 152battalion, if you think it necessary, and in the event you only require part of it to let you make the selection.
“keep your instructions, and also your destination, confidential, until your plans require you to make them known.
“i hope sometime to have the pleasure of being with you again.
“i am, major, your obedient servant.
“t. j. jackson, lieut.-gen’l.
“major e. v. white,
“commanding cavalry battalion.”
“it is important that you move at once. please write to me on your return, respecting your success.
t. j. j.”
the accompanying papers contained the names of isaac vandevanter, john ross, gen. r. l. wright and henry s. williams, as witnesses against capt. webster, whom white had sent to richmond in december, and against whom two charges had been preferred, one of which was that he had murdered two citizens of loudoun county, viz: richard simpson, formerly a captain in that gallant command, the 8th va. infantry, but at the time of his murder not in any manner connected with the service; and john jones, of hillsborough, whom webster wantonly shot in his own door. the second charge was, that he had broken his parole, given at waterford, in august, 1862, when he surrendered to white at the baptist meeting-house.
in following up this subject, we may as well dispose of webster finally, by remarking that he was found guilty of both charges, and on the second was condemned to be hung, which sentence 153was shortly afterwards executed in richmond. just before his execution, webster confessed that the charges were correct, and also that he had been married seven times, five of his wives being alive.
many persons, especially among the ladies, expressed the opinion that he richly merited his doom on the last count, even if neither of the others had been sustained; and many others thought that if the remedy for this case had been applied in all, the abolition army would have been very nearly broken up, for in the eyes of the civilized world, and by the laws of nations, they were all murderers or worse.
white moved promptly, and without any incident worthy of note, executed general jackson’s order to the letter.
