CAMP AT MONTEREY, [VIRGINIA],
July 24, 1861.
As there will probably be no official report of the unfortunate retreat of the lamented General [Robert Selden] Garnett and his command from Laurel Hill, and of the events which immediately led to the retreat, and as untrue statements may be circulated in relation thereto, I feel it to be due to myself, as well as to the gallant officers and men under my command, to make a brief statement of facts. If that gallant soldier and good man, General Garnett, had lived to make his official report, full justice would have been done to all concerned.
On the morning of July 7, our scouts came in and reported that the enemy was advancing upon our position from the direction of Philippi. The report proved to be true, and the enemy halted and took position about two miles from our camp, but he drove back a Georgia company, which was on picket duty, and with an advance party took possession of a thickly-timbered hill near the village of Burlington.
Colonel [James N.] Ramsey of the Georgia Regiment, with two or three companies of his regiment, was ordered down and gallantly drove the enemy from the hill and held it till about 2 o’clock, when he was relieved by the Twenty-third Virginia Regiment, under the command of Colonel [William B.] Taliaferro. The Twenty-third and the enemy kept up a sharp skirmish till near night, when I was ordered down with seven of my companies to relieve the Twenty-third and to hold the hill during the night. My companies were Captain [William] White’s, [George] Graham’s, [Henry C.] Wood’s, [Thomas S.] Gibson’s, J. L. White’s, [John F.] Terry’s, and [John F.] McElhenney’s.
The skirmishing was renewed as soon as we got in position and was kept up till dark. During the night an occasional gun was fired, but things were comparatively quiet. The firing was resumed again at daylight and continued pretty brisk till 8 o’clock, when we were relieved by the Georgia Regiment, and they kept up the skirmish till about 2 p.m., when I relieved them with six companies of my regiment, Captain Gibson’s Company being left out of the seven which were out the night previous.
We again resumed the skirmish, which grew warmer as the day advanced. Our men were sheltered behind trees and near sundown had advanced on some parts of the line to the skirts of the woods nearest the enemy. Some of the enemy had taken shelter nearest our line in a stable, and in the houses of Burlington, and commenced cannonading our position. One ball cut off a tree on and near the center of our line, and several exploded very near us. A little before sundown the enemy advanced up the road in strong force, and Captain William White, who had proceeded farthest toward the enemy, fell back to the line and formed. Captain White had been much exposed and gallantly stood the enemy’s fire. The enemy proceeded up the road with loud yells, till a turn in the road brought them within range of the guns of Captains Graham and William White, when the fire opened on both sides, and the enemy, after one fire, hastily retreated down the road again.
As the enemy approached, the Twenty-third Virginia Regiment arrived, and although not in position to effect much, its presence doubtless hastened the retreat of the enemy. My own and the Twenty-third instantly re-arranged our positions, expecting that the enemy might renew the attack, but night coming on, he did not appear again. We did not ascertain what was the effect of our fire, owing to the night coming on, but the enemy report some loss at that point. We remained in position till about 10 o’clock at night, when, by order of General Garnett, we were withdrawn and we did not occupy that hill again.
The next two days a hill about midway between the two forces was occupied and held alternately by the different regiments of General Garnett’s command. In this position the enemy, with his long-range guns, annoyed us from a house and barn in a field but were made to scamper away by a few shots from Captain [L. M.] Shumaker’s Battery. On July 11, General Garnett received information that the enemy had gained Colonel [John] Pegram’s rear at the Rich Mountain, which placed him in our rear.
The General determined to abandon Laurel Hill at once, and we marched about 12 at night. My regiment was assigned to bring up the rear, and with General Garnett and Captain Shumaker’s Battery we remained at the trenches till the balance of the command had gone some distance up the mountain. On getting within a few miles of Beverly, [West Virginia], the General was informed that the road had been blockaded, and he then determined to proceed through Tucker and Preston and into Hardy, and having passed the road that led that way, we reversed the order of march, which threw my regiment to the front, which order was preserved during the day, except that Colonel [George W.] Hansbrough’s Battalion passed us to the front. That night we camped on Cheat River, and next morning Colonel Hansbrough, Colonel [Henry R.] Jackson, and myself were marched in front of the train.
General Garnett, now anticipating an attack from General [Charles W.] Hill, (as I understood), also placed Captain Shumaker with his battery in front of the train. We were now upon a narrow mountainous country road, and with a long train of wagons our line was necessarily extended for a considerable distance. Colonel Taliaferro’s Virginians and Colonel Ramsey’s Georgia regiments were in the rear of the train. During the day, General Garnett, being in front, received information that the enemy was attacking the rear. My regiment was crossing the river (wading it), and when it was nearly over General Garnett ordered me to draw up on the far side and await further orders. He then recrossed the river, and I did not see him afterwards. I drew up my regiment, as ordered, and waited for some time, when I was informed that General Garnett had been killed, and in a short time Colonel Taliaferro’s and Colonel Ramsey’s commands passed us, leaving my regiment again in the rear. We remained in line for a considerable time, but the enemy not appearing, and receiving no orders from any one, we marched off, Colonel Jackson immediately preceding my regiment.
It was the determination of Colonel Jackson and myself to fight the enemy at that ford of the river, if he made further pursuit. At the time of the attack the Georgia Regiment was in the rear, of which seven of the companies were cut off from the balance of the command, and made their way through the mountains to this place. The other three companies fell back upon Colonel Taliaferro’s Regiment, at which point one of Captain Shumaker’s pieces, in charge of Lieutenant [Adolphus C.] Lanier, was put in position, which, together with two or three of Colonel Taliaferro’s companies, poured a destructive fire into the enemy’s ranks and kept it up till a retreat was ordered. The cannon wagon being broken by the fall of a wounded horse, the piece was abandoned.
All speak in high terms of the gallant conduct of Lieutenant Lanier and men, and of Colonel Taliaferro’s companies.
My regiment kept the rear all that night and till some time next day; while thus situated, with our wagons several miles in front, an officer had our baggage thrown out. Next morning found us in the state of Maryland, and from thence we marched up the South Branch of the Potomac to this place, the enemy being in front or rear or on our flank most of the way. The march was an exceedingly difficult and arduous one.
I cannot close without a word relative to our late commander, General Garnett. That he was brave, the very manner of his death testifies; that he was a courteous, high-minded, honorable gentleman, all who had intercourse with him bear witness; that he was a cool, calm, sagacious commander is amply shown by his being able to hold his position against a far superior force, headed by an accomplished officer, for several weeks, in a hostile country; that he was a good and true man is known to all who knew him at all. He will long be lamented by the brave and the good.
SAMUEL V. FULKERSON,
Colonel, Commanding Thirty-seventh Regiment
Virginia Volunteers.
Editors of the Dispatch.
[Daily Dispatch, newspaper, Richmond, Virginia, July 29, 1861]
Sources
Hewett, Janet B., Noah Andre Trudeau, and Bryce A, Suderow, eds., Supplement to the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Pt. I, Vol. 1. Wilmington: Broadfoot Publishing Company, 1994.
Spirit of '61 