HEADQUARTERS DISTRICT OF THE KANAWHA,
Point Pleasant, July 11, 1861.
Maj. Gen. G. B. McClellan:
Sir: On Sunday night, the 7th instant, at about 10 o’clock, I left Camp Dennison with seven companies of the Eleventh Regiment Ohio Volunteers (having been preceded the night before by the Twelfth Ohio), and reached Gallipolis with the Eleventh on the 9th instant. The Twelfth arrived there yesterday, and last evening I brought both regiments to this point. Before leaving Camp Dennison it was apparent that there would be a little delay in the equipment of the Kentucky regiments, and upon consultation with General Bates I determined to take the Eighth Ohio Regiment, in order to be sure of a sufficient reliable force to commence operations in the valley of the Great Kanawha. Before starting, however, an order received from you determined General Bates to send the Fifth and Eighth Ohio to Grafton, and the Eleventh immediately volunteered to take the place of the Eighth in my command. I was the more willing to accept them, since their colonel, Charles A. De Villiers, a former member of my staff, was known to be a good disciplinarian, who had seen service where precaution against guerrilla attacks was necessary. One company of that regiment is doing guard duty at depot at Bellaire, and the Governor of Ohio will forward two companies to fill up the regiment in a few days. I found at Gallipolis a company of about sixty mounted men under command of Captain George, armed with Sharps carbines, single-barrel pistols, and sabers. They have no uniforms or horse equipage, and the caps of the self-primers are not reliable. They will be of little service to me for a few days. I found also a section of light artillery, under command of Captain Cotter, consisting of two brass 6-pounder guns, rifled, with a supply of ammunition, unfixed, but no sufficient caps for the James shell. They have four horses to each caisson and gun and strongly urge a request for two more. I learned at Gallipolis that Captain Jenkins, with a mounted company, was disturbing the Union men of Virginia along the river a few miles above Guyandotte, and sent a small steamer to meet the Kentucky regiments, with orders for the First to stop at Guyandotte, protect the district above described, and wait orders to move along the road to Red House, when I should be prepared with the other regiments to move on Charleston. I expect to have the First situated as above stated to-night and the Second to join the Twelfth or Twenty-first Ohio to-morrow morning.
The Twelfth and Twenty-first Ohio will leave this afternoon for Thirteen-Mile Creek up the Kanawha, where the roads from Letart and Ripley join the Kanawha road. I have had two companies of the Twenty-first scouting up both sides of the river this morning and they will notify me of any obstruction or opposition. At Thirteen-Mile Creek I propose to intrench the two guns I have mentioned above, and with them I shall use for the present two smooth-bore 6-pounders, one brass and one iron, which I have brought from Gallipolis. The Eleventh I shall keep here for a few days, sending out detachments to Letart and in that direction to keep down the rebel marauders and encourage the Union. The Second Kentucky I shall send to Ripley if they can be made ready to march within twenty-four hours from their landing at Thirteen-Mile Creek. As soon, also, as the other troops are ready I shall move the Twelfth and Twenty-first to Red House Shoals, where I will clear the river of obstructions, open the communication with Guyandotte, and order the First Kentucky to move up toward Charleston, joining us near Red House. So much I expect to accomplish before the beginning of next week, and as the regiments are new to my command I shall not be disappointed if the motion is somewhat slow until I get discipline a little better established. By Monday or Tuesday next I hope to have another company of cavalry, four more rifled guns, and some needed equipments, camp equipage, &c., and a train of wagons. When these reach me I will at once resume the advance, the regiment at Ripley taking the road by Sissonville and keeping in communication with me across the country, our pickets and scouts meeting. The movement of troops to Thirteen-Mile Creek and Red House will be by boat, the sides of the river being occupied by scouting parties. Your orders in regard to the two companies of the Seventeenth, the Indiana regiment at Parkersburg, and the Ohio Twenty-second, I have forwarded. The best information indicates that Governor Wise has about 2,500 men, a rather mixed force, at Charleston, having left Ripley suddenly on the rumor of the movement of my command some days ago. I bitterly regret I could not obtain the transportation a few days earlier. I shall hope to be able to push forward scouts from Ripley across country to communicate with Colonel Tyler at Bulltown and, should I do so, will be glad to have him authorized to co-operate with me toward Summersville, as I think there will be an opportunity for him to get in the rear of the rebels if they concentrate at Gauley Bridge with a view of holding that defile against me.
Hoping my plans may meet your approval, I remain, general, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
J. D. COX,
Brigadier-General, Commanding District of the Kanawha.
Sources
The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Series I, Vol. LI, Part I. With additions and corrections. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1902.
Spirit of '61 