The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1866-07-18

chinery. The whole command, indeed,
for several days, was nothing more than
"a uorziag party" Gen. Harper, carly
on the morning Of their arrival had them
at work in the rubbish, saving every
thing which could possibly be Of use, re-
moving arms, &C., and during the day or
gained a system by which all the nachl-
merry was subsequently, taken down, in
voiced, boxed and marked, and sent into
the interior, under tho superintendenco
Of competent officers and agents Not q
dollar of money had been provided for all
this work, or to sustain the troops, and but
little aid could be procured from the ar
mory workmen, who were generally dis
affected. Many Of them were small prop
erty holders, who looked upon the reno
val Of the armory as their ruin. A Com
mitteee Of these worlmen waited upon the
General soon after his arrival. They rep
resented that wages were due them from
the Government, and to that extent it WAS
their property we were taking. For that,
the General told them they must
trust to the honor Of Virginia. In one of
his communications made to the Execu-
tive that day, after speaking of their in
disposition to give their services, he re-
marked, Il hope, however, the interview
impressed them with different views of
their interests" He urged that ''their Ia
Dor which was their support, was their
most valuable interest, and that they
would be needed wherever the works may
be re-established," &c. But only por-
ton of them could be induced to lend their
services. TO these General Harper Or
dered the issue Of doaJIc s-atioas, and
promised future payment by the State
With the aid Of these men, leaving the
machinery in one Of the Factories, (the
Rife Factory undisturbed, he was ena-
bled to repair thousands Of the burnt guns,
most Of which merely required re-stock-
ing, repair many otherwise unseryiceable,
and turn out large quantity Of ncwarm
by assembling components. This system
thus devised was allowed to work undis-
turbod by both Col. Jackson and General
"a
johnson, who succeeded him, until all the
arms, stock and machinery were removed
General Harper, at the request Of Col.
Jackson, remained at the Ferry the next
and part Of the following day after his
arrival, in order to post himas fully as pos
sible in regard to all the interests of the.
command, and took occasion to advise him
against certain insidious influences he had
detected which were attempted to be ezer-
cised over him. He also had copied into
book, for the use Of Col Jackson, the
whole series Of his orders, showing what
had been done, and what wase doing, nor4
did he leave without the consent Of Col.
jackson, though reluctantly obtained. 1t
was natural that the volunteer Regiments
which had come into service under officers
Of their own choice, should feel uneasy
and dissatisfied under the idea that they
were to be held there, and probably placed
under the command Of men who were en-
tire strangers to them. They had rallied
to the standard Of Virginia in defence Of
their rights, and they could hardly be ex-
pccted to realize 50 suddenly the prof6s-
siona5 nsactns, t4asas soldiers they had
no rights. In order to allay this feeling,
officers ofthe different commands wcresent
for BY General Harper and implored to
exert their influence to avert consequent
ces which might prove disgracciful and dis
astrous. There was but little sleep that
night at Head Quarters, or among either
officers or men. In the morning, General
Harper suggested to Col. Jackson that he
now had no authority to issue an order to
the troops yet he thought it was eminent
" proper he should do so, as they were
wholly ignorant Of the reason Of these chan
ges. Col. Jackson promptly replied Il
wish, General, you would, and / will have
it sent out to the troops
Thereupon General Harper issued the
following order:
Division Head Quarters,
Harper's Ferry, April 30, '61.*
General Order,
No. %.
The General Commanding has to an
nounce to the troops of his command the
following order:
Executive Department, !
Richmond, April p, 1861.
To General Nenton Harper,
Commanding Forces Of Virginia.
General--As the object which brought
you into the field has been accomplished
with great credit to the troops under your
command, and as the ordinance Of the Con
yention Of Virginia, imposes upon the Exc
cutive the duty recognizing the Gener-
al, Field AID Staff officers OF the volunteer
forces Of Virginia called into the service
Of the State at this time, you are relieved
from duty until such time as may be ne
cessary to effect this organization Ac-