Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1864-07-08


The following statement in regard to
Hunters raid on Lynchburg is furnished
to us by responsible citizen, whose nephew,
belonging to the 18th Ohio Regiment, has
just returned and supplied him with the
facts stated:
The regiment left Fayetteville, Virginia,
ON the 2d of Nav last, and marched to the
Dublin depot on the Virginia q Tennessee
railroad. and fought the battle OF Cloyd
Mountain on the 9th of May. After this
battle the regiment marched to New River.
bridge and fought q battle there. After
this the regiment marched to Meadow
Rluffs. march of ten days. The regiment
tarried at Meadow Bluffs eleven days and
then marched to Stanton to join General
Hunter. This march to Stanton occupied
ten days. From Stanton the army passed
through Lexington, lying there two days,
and burning the Military Institute, the res
idence of Governor Letcher and some houses
containing stores. The army thence marched
directly to Lynchburg, reaching that CITY
on the evening of the 18th Of June. Ihat
evening line of battle was formed, tne en-
emy attacked, and two lines OF 6reastworKs
were carried, after which the division was
Oruefeu 10 TeIlrts luO dlny oh'o N'N"iho
slept on their arms. lH
On the morning of the 18th nothing oc-
Cured but skirmishing, except q demon
stration of the enemy eleven lines deep
made on our centre. Averill at the same
| time made an unsuccessful effort to burn
the bridge i'm the vicinity of the city. On
the evening of the 18th the army was or
dered to retreat, and the line of march was
taken up for the Kanawha valley. whether
or not it was retreat the narrator was not
advised. The army marched about los
| miles to Gauley Bridge, meeting a supply
train some few miles before reaching the
latter place. On the evening of the l7th
the army, while before Lynchburg, received
its last regular rations. During tne retreat
the soldiers received nothing except once
each handful of shelled corn. The report
was current that twenty-seven men died
from hunger on the march, three Dying az
ter receiving supplies, but from exhaustion
unable to eat. The men marched the first
night after leaving Lynchburg twenty-five
miles. and continued the march night and
day until reaching Gauley Bridge. A large
number of men unable to bear the fatigue
dropped down exhausted by hunger, hard
marching and want of sleep. The number
tbe writer could not ascertain but 1t was
very large. Nothing was found on the road
to eat. Fruit was not ripe, not even whor-
lie berries. The corn, if any in the country,
could not be found. The cavalry horses
had nothing but grass to subsist upon, and,
as a consequence, very large number OF
them fell down on the march exhausted. 1t
was understood to be the order of General
Ayerill to shoot all exhausted horses, pre-
venting them thus from falling into the
hands of the enemy. .-...
The army burned the Military Institute
at Lexington, after rifling it of its library,
which was found to be very fine. He has
i'm his possession one of the books. The
railroad i'm the vicinity of Lynchburg was
DESTROYED to considerable distance, though
the important bridge aimed to be burned
was too well guarded. The soldiers were
informed by the inhabitants that General
Lee had railroad corps, composed of En-
glishmen, who repaired roads with great
facility. When rails are destroyed, rails
are borrowed from switches and unimpor-
tant roads to make the repairs. In this
way delay of transportation OF troops or
supplies Is prevented.
The crops in the vicinity of Stanton, in
the valley and around Lynchburg, seemed
to be very fine. Abundance of the cereals
seemed to have been sown, and the wheat
was just ready for harvesting.
The soldiers thought if General Hunters
intention was to take Lynchburg, he failed.
If il was to destroy portion OF railroad
and burn the Military Institute, he sue
ceeded. The loss of men frOni all causes
was very large. The loss of horses fell not
short'of four thousand.
The narrator has been in the service three
wears, and was i'm a number of battles. He
fought at Scara Creek, Carnifex Ferry, Fay
etteville, Cloyd Mountain, New River
Bridge, and Lynchburg. He also particle
pated in a number of skirmishes. He was
taken prisoner at East river while doing
picket duty, was taken to Richmond, stay
ing there for two weeks and while the bat
ties of Mcclellan were being fought before
that city. He was taken from Richmond
to Salisbury, North Carolina, sent thence
to Bell Island. He was paroled from Bell
Island, came home and returned to his regi-
ment again. He comes home unhurt. The
hair from his temples was cut of once by a
bullet which knocked him down. He also
received a ball through his cartridge box
at Lynchburg. He, although of fine physic-
al powers, would have died of starvation
and fatigue when retreatiug from Lynch
burg. but with five others left the army and
took to the woods, where from the farm
houses he procured something to eat. He
was almost unable to walk when he regain
ed the regiment at Gauley. ,.5r, bid
He saws the rebels fight well. He thinks
western men do not fight better than east
ern men.q A regiment of eastern men, he
thinks, will stand and fight longer in liRe
than western men. Western men are more
excitable, and if things are to be carried by
excitement, with rush, western men are
the best .Ir. rsua'C9 tg. .I4Jin. al
He thinks the secret of success in battles
Il. nh, uraharo hn
enthusiasm of the soldiers at the time. The
army having the advantage in this respect
Is sure to win the battle. According to his
experience, one-third of the men engaged
in battle really lag back, doing no fighting,
and he believed this true of both armies.
The Confederates were sometimes en-
countered in open, level places, but their
general rule was to fight behind fortifica-
tions, or to select battle field in dense
woods, Jungle, or some place of that sort.
The method of destroying railroads was
to file a regiment along the road parallel to
it. The men then went to work pulling up
ties, with the rails on them. The ties were
then built up in square piles, the rails
placed on top of them, and fire applied
Turpentine, If the rails did not readily
burn, was applied. .'a IN ,a,.'ar
While marching from Lynchburg some
| two thousand or more of the soldiers became
bare-footed, and had to wrap up their feet
with pieces of blanket. A number Of ne
groes weretaken on the rout A very large
proportion Of the negroes were furnished
with horses or were carried in wagons OF
ambulances. A soldier whose feet were
wrapped up with pieces of blanket and ex-
hausted from the march, halted negro on
a horse and took possession of the horse
Gen. Hunter hearing of the fact, rode UP
to the soldier, ordered him to dismount anc
horse-whipped him, placing the negro again