The National tribune., 1904-07-14
MEN OF THE KANAWHA.
Their Commanders Farewell After Years Of
Great Service.

Headquarters 9TH West Virginia Veteran
Cavalry. Aug. I, 1865.
"Officers and Soldiers: You are on the
eve of departing for your homes; our or
ganlZation will soon cease to exist; and, )
it is probable that many of us will never
meet again, l would speak 4 few parting
words. as your commanding officer. While
profoundly thankful to God for bringing
the war TO so glorious an end, and for his
mercy in permitting us to live to see its
termination. and heartily rejoicing with
you all at the prospect Of soon visiting
our friends and homes. still, / see this sep
aration with feelings of the deepest regret.
"No commanding officer ever had truer
men under him. and, | believe, few reg-
ments can equal ours in the general kind
feelings displayed by the officers and men
for each other and in freedom from in
ternal discensions.
1--WE have been happy family, and this
breaking-up Of our relations calls forth
every noble and manly feeling Of our ma
ture.
81 can testify to the devoted patriotism
which SO many Of you exhibited by yolun-
teering in the early part of the war (when
the conflict was around your very door
stones) at immediate great personal risk.
and leaving your wives, little ones and
earthly possessions surrounded by your
enemies. can willingly bear record to
the sound and noble loyalty which the
800 men of the Kanawha Valley, who
have belonged to the regiment. have man
| ifested in battling for the right, when so
many of their friends and kinsmen have
fought for the wrong.
Eve will long remember the dangerous
and exciting scouting service in the Kama
wha Valley in 1861. We will never forget
the trying times of 1862, with Fremont. in
the Shenandoah Valley, at Strasburg, Mt
T.. ,t,,yru md ay-CS-
with Sisel and Pope and Milroy in East
ern Virginia, at Madison c. H., Cedar
Mountain. Freeman's Ford, and Bull Run.
and with Cox. driving the enemy from our
own valleys and mountains. We will with
pleasure often call to mind the brighter
days of 1863: with Averell at Williams
pOrt Martnshnrg. Winchester. Monterey,
Huntersville. Warm Springs, White Sui
phur Springs. Droop Mountain, Lewis
burg. Covington: and the heroic fortitude
shown on the Salem Raid. We will
proudly recount the experiences of 1864,
at the beginning Of which more than three
fourths of your number nobly reenlisted
as veterans. and soon after fought success
fully. under Crook, at Princeton, Cloyd
Mountain. Dublin, Newbern and New
River Bridge. Then Crook and Averell. AT
Lexington. Liberty. New London, Buck
hannon and Lynchburg, on the Hunter
| raid. After that. divided up in detached
posts. yet successfully held. for months.
a line more than 100 miles long. although
repea tedly attacked by several times your
number.
"You should be thankful that you wit
messed the closing scenes of the rebellion
! on the very ground where you first felt its
curse. and received the submission of the
very men who first wronged you.
"YoH need not blush with anything but
pride when you read the record. and you
can gloriously recite the deeds done on
| these battlefields to your children and your
children's children.
I'VE will ever retain in affectionate and
honorable remembrance the recollections
of those gallant men of the regiment who
devotedly fell on the battle-ground, or were
fOully murdered in rebel prisons. The
names of such officers as Curtiss, Gardner
Parker, Priester, Morehart, Neumann and
Newcomb: such men as Foster, Monk,
Wood. Forth, Marshall, Hamrick. Grin
stead. Harper, Cook, Ballard, Vaughn and
host of others, are engraved upon the
tablets of our hearts.
''The battle is ended, our country is re-
generated and saved-our work, as SOL
diers, is finished. We have now to enter
upon the responsible and binding duties
of citizens. Exert yourselves to aid and
hasten the restoration Of civil law in every
part of West Virginia. Submit yourselves
thoroughly to it; you have been good and
ga!iant sOidlefS. see tnat, as citizens. you
still maintain the fair reputation of our
regiment.
THE Kenawha Valley is rich in min
eral and other wealth; develop it, and
every mark of the ravages Of war will
soon be effaced
Accept my most profound and heart
felt thanks for the cheerful and active as
sistance. almost universal good discipline,
and prompt obedience you have ever
evinced
'Be assured that the recollections of our
four years associations are indelibly inn
pressed upon my life. I offer my earnest