The Hancock Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Ohio) 1857-1870, 1861-11-08

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in United State. service lor three years.
Company divided on july nh. - private,
| and 9d Lieutenant sent 10 Cheat river under
| command Of Col Irwin; the remainder kent
| on duty ~ Grafton and vicinity til July 18Th.
| 1861. When / len with - men on the cars
| for Oakland, II q parl OF Gen. Hills command,
| the remaining - men, with the lst Lieutenant.
were len in Grafton and vicinity until July
| 18th, when they came forward 10 Oakland
| Myself md - men arrived at Oakland at or
| about II o'clock, u, NJ, Jnly 18Th, but It took
till daylight before we could get our horses otf
! the car, and cared for We were uD and en-.
| gagged in this work all night, Neither horse,
I nor men had any food from noon of the Eth
| till the morning of the lith, and then had
| great difficulty in getting anything for either,
| and great deal ut time wa, consumed in yet
| ting supply pressed into service tor one meal.
About 4. VI. al the lith, we gOt news that
| the enemy had escaped and immediately
moved forward with General Hill, under his
| order to the Red House. There he ordered
me with / picked men 10 press on and rcpOrt
| to Col Irwin for reconnaissance 10 the front
| the other : men being detained by Gen. Hill
| tor special service after he -hOuld get such
| facts from prisoners and others as hc needed
! for his guidance | did q, | was directed; :;
pressed forward In pursuit Of the enemy, pass.
| ing all of our bodies Of foot truOpS and nj a
mile aud Il half or two miles in their advance
joined the % scouts with the I'd Lieutenant,
| who had been serving with Col. Irwin for the
| last days. There were now abOu, 10 Of my
men together | inquired Of them then and
| have since particularly, aS to the whereabouts
Of the enemy, and learned from them and my
| own observation, that only the few stragglcrs
| were ut any time seen By any of our party
| None Of my men NJ any time came in sight
| Of the Cncmy's rear guard.
\ UnDuutgl officer spVNiur tXit Ia nc IInI,r |,
| command of Col. lrwin--l think his Adiu.
tnt-waS forward with my men, and under
| his orders the scouts from my COMPANY gave
up the pursuit, and returned 10 the infantry
n the point where the council was held bv
| Gen. Hill. | will say in conclusion that hy
| his order and with Gen, Hill We went forward
from Oakland at the gallon and with all of the
| speed our horses could possibly endure not
stopping for moment hy the way until we
reached the Red House, and then only for A
moment. We were again ordered, and went
! forward al the rate OF not less than 10 to IL
miles per hour passing all Of the foot troops
by the way, and were halted rs before stated.
(SignCd) JoHN KEYS,
Capt, Commanding itmggold Cavalry
July 81, 1861.
REisON ron DELAY oF THIS REPORT
Immediately after coming back from Oak
land, was again ordered TO take an escort of
2j men and go with Gen. Reynolds 10 Beverly,
which | did. When there II was thought
necessary and wc escorted the General to
camp, nj the foot Of Cheat Mountains, where
we arrived the second dgy and again proceed.
ed to camp on the summit of Cheat Noun
tain and back on the same day by o'clock.
On the following day, July 20, we again start
cd for Grafton rs mn escort to Gen. Schlcigh
and Capt. Cram, L. :. A.. campcd at Beverly
over night, and reached Grafton the evening
Of the 30th
(Signcdl }, KEYS,
Capt II, Cavalry,
To Brig. Con. G. W. HILL