Daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1865, 1864-01-22
SOUTHERN NEWS.
4uR RAID IN HARDY COUNTY.

Correspondence Ot the Hichm"nd Enquirer.
CAXP NEAR NEwAARKEr, Jan. 10, 1864.
We have Just returned from ten days
raid behind the enemy's liue. Our force
consisted OF portion OF FiIz Lees cavalry
division. under General Chambers, and
RUssrr's brigade, under Gen. Rosscr-all
uudrr the command OF FItE Lee.
FuL Lees division h d already been Ie-
iuced by bis perIinacious, but Intellectual
efforts 10 capture Averill, TO but moiety
OF his proper number; while Rosser'S brig
ate had Just achieved successful tour
around Meide's army, and. ns II matter of
coursc, was greatly diminished. We
started with about l loo men in all. Il
was raining when we started, and soon
commenced snoWiug Many cOnsOied them
selves for such an InauSpIcIOuS beginning
with the Old adagC that "a bad beginning
makes = good end We hoped against
hope, and ksPt up light hearts, though ut
every step the weather and the roads got
worse. AS We entered the mountain re-
giOus the snow became hail, and snow aud
rain, as they al! mixed Run froEe as they
fell. The roads were like sheets Of glass,
while the little mountain streams, that
the road crossed and TecrOssed a thousand
times, with their icy battIemeuts and but
tresses. at every ford, presented barriers
more formidable than large rivers.
L. WAS imposs Bile to get the artillery and
the wagon train over the first mountain.
1t was as much as could expected OF Il
horse to transport himself up and down
those icy inclined planes. So the wagon
lrnin aud artillery after waiting awhile,
for more favorable weather, was sent back.
The second Jay the weather became
worse, and on the third day it was NO bet
ter. Many OF the men, frost bitten and
frozen, fell out OF ranks, AID stopped at
the farm houses, waiting for a thnw. FIz
Lee, however, pushed on, after recruiting n
day at MoOEivId, iu Hardy county, Va.
Fordiug the south bTanch of the Potomac
ue entered the Moortield Gap. in the Pat
tersou Greek range Of mountains. This
range OF mountains has acquired sort Of
historical importance, from being regarded,
bT geaeral consent, as the dividing line
between Union and Secesh. All the gaps
in the mountain, including pig paths and
higbways, have been bIOckaded BY the
Yankees with falling timber, except those
that they have garrisoued- Removing the
obstrucIious which were found there, our
column gradually succeeded in wOrming
itself through the gap.
As the head OF the column emerged and
came in view of the Patterson Greek VAL
lev, 10 the astonishment and delight Of one
a train of forty wagons was discovered
meanderiug ''its slow length along. On
II came, right into our ravenous jaws.
In the rear of the train marched An in.
fantry guard ofone hundred men. As soon
AS they passed our front, ROsser's brigade
dArted down the mountain side after them,
leapiug feuces and bitches IN their course.
and gaIIopiug With headioug fury ever the
frozen sWamps that filed the valley.
Every WAGNER in the train could see
Rosser, With his brigade. dashing like a
tbunderbolL down the mOuntHin side after
them, with n war whOop that penetrated to
| their very souls it echoed and re-echOed
along the valley. Presto, cheque aud
| Immediately, as If by the power of ma
vician, the uusu-psctIng train that was
pursuiug the eyeu tenor Of its way, became
a surging, chaotic mass.
Driver after driver lrnped from his post
of duty aud rAn to the wOods. The mules
however, in many cases did not Abate their
speed, but, As if stunning u fate that con
| signed them to the short ra,iOns OF Dixie,
rsdoubIsd their eueTgy and refused to De
lbaIted. All the wogOn5 were captured
and about sixty of the guard, whoiat first
ran without firing until they had gotten
position on hillside hAuked BY an i'm
passable ditch, aud here they made quite
stubborn resistance for a while.
\ That same evening General Chamblis;
went up the creek short distance, and
having invested u sIOCkHds fort Of the en-
emy, garrisOned with twenty men, obtained
it's surrender.