Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1853-1862, 1861-09-03
Cavalry Operations ia the valley of Vir-


CorIe POI dence OF tae kientnold DispStan.
CAsP NEAR CHARLEsTowS, Va, August p, 1851
propose communicating a trief detail Of Vhemgvs.
mepts of MeDonald's Regiment of Confederate
States Cavalry.
Il must iirst say however, that though this is
termed AleDonGld's regiment the Justly celebrated
and distinguished Turner Ashby, tae Lieut.. C6lolel,
Is the soul Of it The men Of tIis regiment reposs
the most explicit confidence in him and are devoted
to him. 49,
The regiment is Composed of the very best mate
rial-of young men of the Sc order Of Intellect
the sens Of FIrginis's frat and noblest citizens
brave and gallant to a letter. Ashby Is a noble
representative of their eharacteris the very soul
of ehiyalr5-and they are proud of and delight to
serve under him ssa8 s-fr1 r7
On last Saturday detachment Of this regiment,
under the command Of shby, left Winchester about
. o'clock, and took the road leading to Harper's
Ferry. There were ia ALL / presume, some one
hundred and fifty men. Being private in the
ranks l. of course, knew not to what point we were
TO march. Many were the coDjectures that were
we made bat ali seemed to concur in the belief that
were gorg TO the Ferry. At night we eneamped
at this place. Early the next morning Sunday
we wefs again put upon the march, taking, as We
did the norning before the road leading to the Fer
~ aWswel now satifed that we we're going there
Nothing could have pleased the boys better. The
probability Of brush with the enemy seemed to
set them frantic with delight Looking around upon
my comrades in arms, beheld the light Of battle
beaming 10 every countenaBce. The Joy Of meeting
with the Yankees seemed already to possess every
one. We steadily continued on our march, giving
no heel to the eager ten thousand ad
visers we met by the way, who warn
were masked bateries''a this and that place. and
that if did venture into the town we would GER
talnly be all destroyed. Nothing, however, could
daunt the intrepid Ashby, turn him from his
present determined course. He knew the men he
communicate least q portion Of them-snd knew
them to be brave They had fought by his side on
Kelley's Island, and he well knew they would fight
with him again With the courage of the tMOun
tain Rangers the corps he long commanded, he
was thoroughly acquainted; and with them BY his
side he felt of success let him encounter any
odds. fortunately Tor US, perhaps, we marched
into the town without eneounteFing anything what
ever. There was not single Federal soldier to be
seen this side of the river. We soon discovered,
however, several on the opposite shore, where il
was reported they had battery Of one gun. This
we did not believe, from the fact that they would
have opened fire upon we marched into town, if
the gun, as reported, had been there. We soon
commenced diligent search in town Tor sny strag-
Cling soldiers that might have been left there Not
succeeding IN finding y. we ventured down to
the river, where we had the pleasure ofexchanging
shots with tle Federals. TIE distance fred was
considerable, yet we are confident of having killed
or crippled some four or five: The only damage
done US was ahorse shot ia the leg. A Lieuten-
ant in the Shenandoah Rangers was riding him.
The distance being so great, however, there was
little execution done on either side. We remained
several hours IL the town, and then marched back
to this place. Though we lad no fighting Of any
consequence. yet CONCEIVE our march into Har-
per's Ferry remarkable for darilg and boldness.
We knew not but Yhat the town was fall OF Fede.
raj soldiers. We were certain that on Saturday
evening there were six companies there, and we
supposed they were there stu. We were also con-
fdent they had battery on the Maryland
fdent they had battery the Maryland heights,
and felt sure they would open upon Us. let IN the
face of all this, aboRtone hundred and Fifty gallant
and brave boys, in broad daytime marched INTO the
streets of the town, and ventured far enough even
to fire at them the other side. killing or wound
ing several We have the pleasure to know that we
the first Southern soldiers to venture into the
place after its evacuation by Johnston
Since Sunday, we have been scouting this entire
country. Lam confident thers is not now Federal
soldier on this side the Potomac about here. They
sometimes venture over IN the night. A mill near
Shepherdstown was burned some nights ago, and
last night they destroyed mill at Har Jers Ferry.
We anticipate some rare sport in few days.