The national Republican., 1861-11-25
Important from the Kanawha
FINAL CHASE AFTER FLOYD.
REBELS DEFEATED AND ROUTED.
A SECESSION COLONEL KILLED.
ARP FIGHV Ar McCOY,s Mills.

REBELS DEFEATED AND ROUTED.
A SECESSION COLONEL KILLED.
The Campaign Ended in the Kanawha Region.
A correspondent of the Cincinnati Gazette,
riting from Fayette Courthouse, Va, No
vember l5, givea, the following particulars o
the engagement at McCoy's Mills, the result Of
which seems to have been to end the campaign
in Western Virginia tor the present:
| Floyd re'reated the night Of the skirmish ut
| C"'t0n Hill, leaving strong rear guard be-
bind him. Next morning discovering from our
| con's that he had vacated his position, We fol-
lowed up to Union Scbool-House, still ap-
prehcnsive that hn might attack us knowing
hat, in point Of numbers. his force was supe
| ri, to our owD.
| A scouting party, under Sergeant Lambert,
| who mentioned in my last, got on his track,
killed one of his scouts, and brought informa
| ton that induced the General to order for
ward movement. W. left Union School-liouse
luIe in the afternoon. marched some four miles
to Colonel Dickinson's place. Here we obtain.
ed some items and captured few secesh guns.
After halting for u couple OF hours, we took
up The ne Of march, and. tired as we were,
|
when we again halted to allow the men and
norses 10 refresh themselves. Soon after day
ght the order to march was given, and we
| pushed on over roads rendered almost impas-
sable by the heavy rains and cut to pieces by
the recent passage Of Floyds artillery and
wagon trains. Our skirmishers, under the com.
mand of the gallant Captain Gardner, OF
the Thirteenth Ohio, were In advance Of the
column on both sides Of the road, and proceed.
ed cautiously. Just US they reached bend in
the road, one of the company private Seig, Of
company F-crawled over and espied two
'quadrons of cavalry under Colonel Croghan,
II Kentucky, and here commenced the bat.
| tie Of
i NCoYs MILLS.
| A volley was instantly opened on the enemy,
who were, as their wounded afterwards ac-
kuowledged, taken completely by surprise. At
the first fire several saddles were emptied, and
Colonel Croghan fell mortally wounded In the
abdomen. The rebels, though surprised, show
ed fight and retired slowly, firing as they went;
but our men having possession of the elevated
ground on both sides, exposed them to gall.
ing cross fire, and forced them back. The main
body then advanced having, Us before, strong
PARTIES of skirmishers. Colonel Croghan was
carried to the nearest house, and was cared for
AZ we'll as the state of the case would admit of
by Surgeon Chase of the Thirteenth Ohio He
was gallant man and an accomplished officer,
aid though an enemy. the sight of his dying
agonies drew tears from the eyes of men ln-
used to weep" The Colonel's father and Gen.
Benham were old acquaintauces, lin fact, be.
iieve, classmates at West Point) and the inter
vi W between them was, of course, unusually
painful. We did all we could for the untort,l-
nate man. but human aid was In vain, and he
expired the same afternoon We brought down
the body on our retarn, and General Benham
intends forwarding it to his friends at on,e.
At 1920 our advance reached McCoy's Mills,
and sharp action at once ensued. The enemy q
tOrces consisted tf the cavalry engaged in the
former skirmish, and at least one--I think
two regiments of infantry. They held their
own against our skirmishera, and, having the
advantage Of ground bid fair to give us con-
siderable troub, aud delay, for some time, at
least, in our pursuit Of their main force.
Gen. Benham at once ordered the Seventh
under Col. Creighton. and half of the Thirty
seventh Germun, to take possession Of ridge
un the right Of the road The advance, con-
sisting OF the Thirteenth, Col. Smith-who did
the work as we'll as man could DO it-occupied
the left, aud Capt. Schneider's battery being
brought TO the extreme front, we prepared to
dslodge them.
Colonel Smith discovered large body of
cavalry on an exposed part of the hill within
fair range. and the gallant German, only too
glad OF chance to let his barkers speak, took
deliberate aim, and bang went the gun, whiz
welt the ball, and-away went the cavalry
under cover. rode by the side Of the artillery :,
and distinctly saw the shot strike among them.
We now poured it in hot and heavy, and they
scattered in all directions All this time our
troops on the right were firing whenever they
had a fair chance, and constantly advancing.
AT or before this time portion OF the Thr.
teenth took up position on their extreme left
threatening to get in their rear. The rebels
finding the climate becoming too warm for
even their Southern constitutions, and the ther.
mcmeer constantly rising, fed in disorder -
dazzling down through cornGeld, our men
popping away at them in the most lively and
pleasant manner. They did not seeui to see
The point of the joke and, from what we saw
afterward it is my deliberate opinion that they
ar" running yet--at least we never got within
guushot of them again. 1t is difficult to cor,
rectly estimate the loss of the enemy as we
were too much hurried TO make search for the m
but it could not have been less than fifteen
killed and wOunded-probably much more.
We did not lose a man. They had no artil.
lery, and all of our men within reach Of their
musketry were kept carefully nuder cover by
their commanding oflicers--wnosc caution and
skill cannot be too highly commended. From
this point we had abundant evidence of the
utter rout and hasty fight of the enemy
They were badly scared, and though in the
course of our march we passed positions which
competent officers assured me were almost
impregnab1e, they did not attempt to take i'd
vantage of one OF them, Floyd was blind
! drunk the night he came through Fayette g.
H., aud | think has been in a state of chronic
: intoxication for some time He certainly il
much better adapted for pilfering than fighting,
having cot the least stomach for anything In
the shape Of danger. All along the road we
found -four, clothing knapsacks, cantcens tents,
. &c scattered 1T short intervals.
Now commenced our hardships. We had
been delayed by the action and knowing that
the Virginia ohivalry are perfect race-horses
in running from on enemy, however diatory