Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1922-09-12
MILITARY OPERATIONS.
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Continued from nrst page.)
tinued at a trot until we gained the
hill Immediately above Smithfield;
when | closed up the column, draw
ing sabres, charged into the town,
expecting TO find the enemy there;
but to my chagrin, learned that they
had passed through without halting,
taking the road to Summit Point,
and were now considerable dis
lance ahead. l followed on at a |
good swinging trot, with four or five
well mounted men in advance, until |
we got nearly to Summit Point, |
when my scouts returned, saying the |
enemy had passed through that place
also a short time previous, and were /
now on the road back to Charles
Town.
Ny horses were by this time much |
Jaded, and some hardly able to keep
up; still, determined not to abandon
the enterprise, / struck across the
fields, hoping to cut them off before |
they could reach Charles Town. In |
this l did not succeed; but three of |
my men ran into their rear guard
just as they were entering the place. |
One of them, Charles Forman, was
captured. | dismounted half nv
men, put them in position, and tried
to draw out the enemy, but they
had their own plan in view, and re-
fused to follow. This made me
rather suspicious, so putting twelve
men under Captain Blackford as
rear guard, l started for Summit
Point and camp.
had reached the white House.
owned by Mr.. Morrow. two miles
from Summit Point, had halted to
let the men dismount and get water
from the large spring about fifty
yards off, and was the only mounted
man left in the road / had ridden
up to the yard fence, and was talk
ing to the ladies, when | heard a
voice exclaim, Here they are bows
by God, we've got them now?" At
the same instant a bullet whistled
through a lilac bush between the
ladies and myself. / wheeled around
and saw the head of a cavalry col
umn on the rocky hill above. and
between me and Summit Point.
Here was perilous position.
Seeing only the first section of
ours, | knew not how many were
behind them. l could not retreat,
and therefore determined to make
the best fight possible under the
circumstances. l ordered ten of my
men who had cabrines to get behind
4 the ruins of an old stone stable, and
fight them to the last. Seeing my
horses without their riders, the
others thought we were apprized of
their coming, and had prepared an
ambuscade; and though Captain
Somers, whom ! recognized, begged,
lmplored, and cursed them, they
would not charge, but stood still on
the hill, popping away at US with
their carbines.
One of my men-Ford, from
Baltlmore-came up with a rifle and
putting his hand on my thigh, asked
what he should do. | told him to
get behind the stone wall, and take
"a good aim every time he fired.
AL right, Major" Just as he
spoke the word ball pierced his
head, killing him instantly.
AT that moment Captain Somers,
who l must say was a brave man.
spurred his horse down the hill, and
engaged me with his pistol, firing
wildly, for | saw he was much ex-
cited. / reserved my fire till he
came within twenty PAGES, steadied
my horse with the bit, took a long
sure aim, and Somers fell from his
horse. The ball entered the side of
his nose, and came out book of his
head.
By this time nine of my men had
mounted, and, as the sharpshooters
had been doing good work, | thought
l could risk charge, but it was IN
necessary to give the order, for |
heard Read or Bosley say, "come,
boys it's shame to leave the Major
there by HIMSELF" and by the time
had returned the pistol and drawn
my sabre, the boys were at nv side.
so on we went.
When we gained the hill top, |
saw, to my amazement, that there
were about sixty before me, but, as
there was good post and rail fence
on either side, they could show no
more front than my ten men. To
whip the foremost was to whip all
AS l passed by the stone stable I
ordered the rest to mount and fol-
low. Captain Somers was lying
across the road. | was obliged to
Jump my horse over his dead BODY.
four others lying near were either
dead or wounded.
Settling myself in the saddle.
dashed in among the blue Jackets.
cutting and thrusting right and left.
and parrying blow when necessary
They were from Michigan and Marv-
land, and for while thew fought
well. Observing an officer fighting
IKE turk and cheering his men on.
made for him. He was a man az
my own size, wore a very heavy
beard, and looked, thought very
savage as he yelled out, ''come on
you damned rebel, I'll soon fix vour
mint. This promised good sport.
| closed with him, making a mower
full front cut,which he parted. and
at the same instant made riobt
cut at my neck. BY bringing my
SABRE down In time, my side caught
the blow Now | had the advan-
tage. Quick as a flash | cut him
across the cheek, inf1icting a large
saSh, anu ne Tell to the ground II
gave him in charge of one of nv
men, and then followed after NV
hrst ten, who had pushed the column
back two hundred yards while the
lieutenant and | were busy with our
AFFAIR. The latter soon after escap-
ed by Jumping stone wall and run
mng into thick woods. We soon
got them on the run, nor did we
give them time to stop and reform
until they had passed through and
beyond Summit Point.
We had taken eighteen prisoners
and were unable to pursue them
farther until my men had come IN.
for the federals had formed and
turned upon the two or three men
who were still in pursuit, but by the
time thew had nuShad 49,.