Holmes County Republican. [volume] (Millersburg, Holmes County, Ohio) 1856-1865, 1861-10-24
Correspondence of the Cleveland Herald.
The Great KanaWha Valley
FIOOd..Salt WOrks..Incident
..LOsses, &c.
GALLIPoLIs, Oct. 6, 1861.

FIOO0..Salt WOrks..lncl0ent
-.LOsses, &c.
GALLIPoLIs, Oct. 6, 1861.
Not having seen any detailed account o
the ravages of the late terrible flood iu th'
Kanawha valley and its tributaries. Civ
you few incidents, partly from my own
observation and partly from other reliable
sources of information.
The Kanawha River is formed SOM
ninety-fve miles above where it empties
into the Ohio by the junction ofthe Gauley
and New River, and flows down one Of th'
prettiest and most fertile valleys under the
sun. For variety and beauty Of scenery
have never seen its equal. The width o
this valley varies from one-half to three
miles. The country on either side for an
indfiuite distance is very rugged & noun
famous, and of course is but little cultiva
ted. Previous to the Rebellion this valley
furnished vast amount of produce
wheat, corn, pork and tobacco-fol
expectation. But aside from this the chic
wealth of the Kanawha Valley has consist
ed in its extensive Salt Works which am
told, are principally owned by secessionists
who live in Eastern Virginia.
From the products of these Salt Works
the Mississippi Valley has, up to the time
Of the Rebellion, been principally supplied
Owing to our blockade this, as well as Salt
from most other sources, has been cut of
from finding its way into the Southern
States; hence the great efforts made by
the Rebels to re possess themselves, of the
kanawha Salt Works. So scarce has salt
become, even in Eastern Virginia, that, as
| am Informed, it is sold in Richmond at
seven dollars a bushel, or over S35 per
barrel. l am more and more convinced
every succeeding day that kind providence
is frowning upon this gigantic rebellion
for what the two contending armies had
not destroyed in their devastating tread up
this beautiful valley, he has sent one OF
the most destructive floods upon record to
sweep away ......-
For two days, the % and 26 of Septem
Der, the Ohio River at this place present.
ed such scend as Ihope never co witness
again. Houses, barns, mills, bridges, fen
ces, hay and wheat stacks, tobacco ware
houses, &C., without number, rushed by us
borne onward by the resistIess flood. So
rapid was the rise in the Kanawha that it
poured out IFS maddened tide into the
Ohio at Point Pleasant, four miles above
here, it damned up the Ohio, forcing the
accumulating masses of buildings. bridges,
logs stacks, &c., several miles up the river.
These masses were solid in places as to en-
able persons to walk entirely across the
Ohio River dry. At Charleston, Va, six
ty miles up the Kanawha, the river rose
eleven feet higher than was ever known
before, almost completely submerging the
town. Had it not happened that the Elk
River which flows into the Kanawha in
the north of Charleston, being swollen
some three feet higher than the Kapawha,
the whole town would have been swept
away. The damage to the town even now
is immense. Large brick blocks skirtiug
the river have been undermined and are
falling down. 2
But the crowEing devastation in the up
per valley is that of the Salt Works. Ou;
of several hundred establishments, l am
told only four remain unscathed by the
flood. Very many are in utter ruins. Not
only all the salt on hand, but the manu-
factories, were swept away. l cannot see
how the people in that part of Western
Virginia are to avoid starvation the COM
ing winter. They have nothing to eat for
man or beast, and unless the government
interposes to feed them, they must starve.
The government has suffered by this flood
considerably. A large amount, some three
hundred boxes, of army clothing, was we,
at Chareston, and, am sorry to say it, by
the negligence or inefficiency of some of
the officers at that post. Much of this
clothing 1 am tcld is ruined. The Com
missary stores were taken care of in time
to save them. Capt. Enyart, twelve
miles above Charleston, was all under wa
ter. Only some xix inches Of the tops Of
the tents were visible. The sick and
wounded in that hospital were compelled
to be taken out amid cold and driving
rain aud placed upon rude RATS of boards
and rails, and taken to the hills, where
they remained all night in their wet clo-
thing. Many of these poor fellows were
subsequently braugbt down here and are
now in comfortable quarters.
For the information of the friends of our
brave soldiers in Gen. Rosecrans' Division
in Western Virginia, 1 wish TO say that
hospital accommodations for some three
hundred are now provided at this place,
and as fast as the sick and wounded are
able 10 be removed from their CAMPS they
are brought down here, where every con-
venienee for their comfort, possible, is pro-
vided for them. Through the kindness of
the people at Gallipolis the large and
beautiful Union School building has been
appropriated for this hospital. Thither
almost hourly may be seen our kind heart
ed ladies vending their way with some
token Of comfort or delicacy for the poor
soldier. J. H. c.