The record-union., 1891-08-22
SAVED BY A BOY MESSENGER.
How a Loyal Woman Warned Gen
eral Kelley Of Danger.
A Romantic Incident of the Gettys-
burg Campaign-General Grants
Boy.

The late General B. f. Kelley, sold
Ben Kelley" as he was affectionately
known by his men, was one of the silent
heroes of the war. Major Davis, the
army officer who has charge Of the pubh-
cation of the rebellion records, told me
that Kelley made less history for the
amount of fighting he did than any gen
eral officer in the service.
Prudent, secretive, vigilant, General
Kelley committed little to paper. No
tell-tale order ever betrayed his plans to
the enemy. His instructions always
went by word of mouth through trusted
Adjutants, and no correspondents or
other supernumeraries were allowed in
his camps. His reports scarcely showed
which side licked when he had been
victorious. They were Characteristic OF
the man, terSe, lacOnic, modest. In the
forthcoming volume of war records, COW
ering some of Kelley's operations along
the Baltimore and Ohio Railway, Major
Davis viii have TO depend largely upon
the reports of the Confederate command
ers for his history. The reports OF Stone
wall Jackson, LOring and McCauSland
relate interesting experiences with hel-
ley's 10000 0mOuntaineerS along the Upper
Potomac and in the shenandoah.
From the beginning TO the close Of the
war Kelley operated in the mountains
and performed service of prOdigiOus
value in keeping open the Baltimore and
Ohio Road, The great supply artery for
the armies Of the East, and he was the
man. also, who kept Stonewall Jackson
out of Pittsburg. Early iIf the war Jack
son conceived the idea Of invading West
ern Pc. usylvania, TO ravage the rich
TO- he ol,als,
Valley, to burn Pittsburg, and to destroy
the great United States arsenal there. Ii
became his hobby, and every movement
of mis- up to the beginningOf 1862 looked tC
that end. The repulse and rOut of LOring,
commanding his advance, at ROmney,
w. V, October q, 1861, by Kelley, was q
bad back-set for the invasion scheme,
and Jackson was summarily ordered to
retreat TO Winchester ana pass the winter
1t was this humiliation that caused the
trouble between jackson and the Con
federate Secretary Of War, which came sc
near losing Jackson TO the ConfederaCy.
Jefferson Davis, General Lee and Gov
ernor Letcher patched up a peace and
InolIiIied Jackson only after the greatest
difficulty.
It is generally understood from the wal
histories that the first field action Of the
rebellion was at Big Bethel Church, Va.
June 10, 1861. between detachnlents OF
the commands Of General B. +. Butler
and Colonel tafterward General) a. p.
Hill; but this is an error, due mainly to
the sCcreuVeness and mOdeSty Of General
Kelley, for Just one week before Big
Bethel, on a beautiful Sunday morning
Kelley, at the head Of a small brigade OF
Virginia, Ohio and Indiana troops, at
tackled and routed Confederate force OI
1900 under Colonel Porterfield, at Phil
lippi, West Va. It was here that Kelley
Oh j
crate CluartermaSter named SimmS, Tho
first Union soldier to fall on the field witt
Confederate lead in him. And thus fell
desperately wounded, the first volunteer
officer to receive a commission from
President Lincoln, and the organizer o1
the first Union regiment mustered in
south Of the line.
About two months ago General Kelley
was moved from Cumberland to his beau
tIIul country place, Swan Meadows, near
Oakland. The Old war veteran knew that
his end was near, and he wanted to die al
the Meadows, the place he loved best
And here it was that he passed away in
tionate wife, surrounded by kinsmen and
neighbors. His environment was idea
for the parting scene.
A short time before his death I had a
long talk with him. He was then on
what he called his last march, and he
spoke calmly of the final halt. He was
"a, and he felt that his time had been
drawn out longer than could have been
expected, shot and slashed to pieces as he
had been. In this conversation he told
me story of the war, which. he said, he
had related TO but one other person, and
that was President Grant. II was to
keep faith with Virginia lady who was
the principal agent in the dramatic epi-
sode that he had been silent. But the
Ia1v- iS laaI aoH now tho old :.
gone. /, therefore. feel at liberty to re-
peat the story.
just after General Kelley received
orders from Halleck to concentrate his
$4,000 men on the north side of the Poto-
mac withing striking distance, to the
westward, OF Lees retreat, it was hoped
that Meade might be able TO follow up
the repulse by an attack, ana Kelley had
orders TO advance with his veterans
and attack Lees flank when he heard
the first gun of Meade's action with the
retreating COntederates. For three DAYS
his force lay on its arms along the crest
of South Mountain, anXiously awaiting
the signal. 1t was known that Meade
and Lee had been in close quarters four
or five days, and the thunders of battle
were expected any moment KelIey's
veterans were wrought up to the fighting
pitch, and were literally spelling TO get
at the 'johnnies." This was especially so
of Mulligan's famous Irish brigade.
On the morning of July 18th General
Kelley sent scouting troop from the
Ringgold Cavalry, which returned three
hours later with information that during
the night Lee had crossed the Potomac,
Kelley Immediately marched without
orders, to Williamsport, where the cross
ing was made, hoping 10 catch belated
brigade or two, but he only got a few
stragglerS and some abandoned prODerty.
4 pvfiar vrnahal him hpra frgr4 i
Hallcck to proceed TO Cherry Run, seven
miles above, cross the river, and Larass
the enemy's right flank. This order came
near losing the whole of kelley's force To
Lee, for Ewell's corps, after crossing, had
gone ten or twelve miles up before strik-
ing back into the country, and Kelley's
crossing at Cherry Run placed hin not
on the enemy's right wing, but between
two of the retreating columns.
Kelley marched up Back Creek seven
miles, in the night Of July l5-IGth, and
went into camp in a gap of North Mount
ain, with headquarters in the pretty little
village of Hedgesyille. Lees troops were
struck with terror when they found out
that the Yankees were in force at ii edges
vile. They thought that it was Meade's
army IN hot pursuit which had thus
caught them saddIe-bagged across North
Mountain. But there was 10Y in the
rebel camp when the report came that it
was only kelley's little army, instead OF
Aeade'S host of 100, 600, and plan was
immediately made to capture it. 4 coun-
ell of war was held on the night of the
18th at the residence of Charles James
Faulkner, Minister TO France under
buchanan, which was temporarily GEN
eral Lees headquarters. The Faulkner
homestead is known as Boydville, and is
near Nartinsburg.
1t was arranged that General Jubal
Early should take large force and move
swiftly through Bakers Gap, about
eighteen miles above Hedgesville, and