Sept. 10, 1862
Jackson Crosses South Mountain at Turner's Gap & Couch's Division of the VI Corps Creeps North
Middletown, Boonsboro, and Poolesville, MD
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| https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=252634 |
"After Gen. Robert E. Lee issued Special Order 191 near Frederick dividing the Army of Northern Virginia into four columns, Gen. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson’s command marched across South Mountain on September 10, 1862. His column passed through Turner’s Gap and Boonsboro en route to compel the surrender of the Federal garrison at Harpers Ferry. Gen. James Longstreet’s and Gen. D.H. Hill’s columns also passed by here..."
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| https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=122154 |
Context that mentions this date.
Meanwhile, 35 miles south in Poolesville, MD:
"Federal infantry soon arrived here. Couch’s division, attached to the VI Corps, arrived in Poolesville from Seneca on September 10, and proceeded the next day to Barnesville."
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| https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=1729 |
Some shots of Seneca Creek where it empties into the Potomac, more on that another time:
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| https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=96115 |
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And Middletown on the way there (and back)
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https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=414
"September, 1862, soldiers wounded in the Battle of South Mountain were hospitalized in churches here. July 1863, Gen. Meade established headquarters here as Union Forces pursued Confederates retreating from Gettysburg. July, 1864, Confederate Gen. Early occupied Middletown and collected $1,500 ransom." |
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| https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=21911 |
"Middletown
Enemies and Friends
— Antietam Campaign 1862 —
When Gen. Robert E. Lee and part of the Army of Northern Virginia passes through Middletown on September 10–11, 1862, they encountered a chilly reception. The inhabitants of this single-street hamlet on the National Road loved the Union, and the ragged Confederates who marched west through here epitomized what the citizens regarded as a rebellion. Confronted by openly defiant residents, the Confederates considered Middletown the most Union of all places they saw during their first trek to Maryland. When part of Gen. George B. McClellan's Army of the Potomac marched through town a few days later, the citizens were more welcoming."
* * * * *
Meanwhile, way off in West[ern] Virginia...
September 10, 1862
Battle of Fayetteville (Battle of Fayetteville [1862])
Fayetteville, West Virginia, in Fayette County
Brigadier General Jacob D. Cox [is not present but] commanding the Kanawha Division: Colonel Joseph Andrew Jackson Lightburn (also not present but sent in 3 companies of the 4th Loyal Virginia Infantry, commanded by Captain John L. Vance and 25 men from the 2nd Loyal Virginia Cavalry, commanded by Major John J. Hoffman) > [the real action falls to] Colonel Edward Siber's brigade (37th Ohio Infantry Regiment) and 34th Ohio Infantry Regiment, commanded by Colonel John T. Toland ("Piatt's Zouaves")
vs.
Major General William W. Loring: Brigadier General John S. "Cerro Gordo" Williams (26th Virginia Infantry Battalion [a.k.a. Edgar's Battalion] and the 45th Virginia Infantry Regiment), Colonel Gabriel C. Wharton (51st Virginia Infantry Regiment and the 30th Virginia Sharpshooters Battalion [a.k.a. Clarke's Battalion of Sharpshooters]), King's Artillery Battalion (13th Battalion, Virginia Light Artillery), Brigadier General John Echols (the 50th and 63rd Virginia Infantry regiments), and a cavalry detachment commanded by Major Logan H. N. Salyer.
* Part of the Kanawha Valley Campaign of 1862: Loring attacks here first, fighting also by Gauley Bridge (where there was action around this time last year), fighting more in Fayette County, then leading ultimately to the second Battle of Charleston (because, again, we actually went through all this a year ago). The Union retreats back to Ohio, but a month later Cox returns.
* Not to be confused with Battle of Fayetteville [1863], which is "unremarkable" except for the first use of indirect fire.
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| https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=120516 |
Battle of Fayetteville
(1862)
On September 10, 1862, soldiers under the command of Confederate Gen. W.W. Loring attacked Union forces in Fayetteville under Col. Edward Siber, driving them out of the town towards Charleston, where fighting continued as Loring's men captured the city. Confederates held the Fayetteville area until late October, when Gen. Jacob Cox's larger Union force drove them out.
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| https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=55817 |
Marquis de Lafayette
(1757-1834)
French Statesman
Friend of the American Revolution
“...The new County so to be formed be called Lafayette or Fayette County to perpetuate a remembrance of his virtues and philanthropy through future ages of our political existence...” Petition to the General Assembly of Virginia 1830
Presented to the Citizens of Fayette County September 25, 2004 by the Fayette County Historic Landmark Commission
Daniel E. Wright, Chairman
Carolyn A. Hill, Vice Chairman
Ann Z. Skaggs, Secretary
Pat Phillips Wendell, Treasurer
Thomas B. Bell, Past Commissioner
Sculptor – Joel A. Randell
Erected 2004 by Fayette County Historic Landmark Commission.
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| https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=55816 |
Abraham Vandal
1758-1848
* Born in Dutchess, NY
* Soldier in the American Revolutionary War 1776-1781
* Married Mary Dillon 1780
* Father of Eight Children
* Early Fayetteville Settler
* In 1812 Abraham purchased 200 acres, including the present site of Fayetteville
New York native Abraham Vandal settled Fayetteville or Vandalia around 1812. Historians believe his cabin was located on the present site of the Fayette County National Bank.
In 1834, Vandal gave the county the lot, located near a dead chestnut tree in a rye field, for the courthouse. Since the construction of the first courthouse in 1838, three subsequent buildings have shared the same site.
Fayette County and its seat of government, Fayetteville, both take their names from the French statesman and friend of the American Revolution, the Marquis de Lafayette.
Vandal died on November 12, 1848, and is buried in the Westlake Cemetery at Ansted.
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Here's the Fayetteville County Courthouse grounds,
but that marker will have to wait until 1863. |
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| https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=262680 |
Battle of Fayetteville
Defense and Retreat
—West Virginia Civil War Trails—
In early September 1862, Union Col. Edward Siber and about 1,500 men of the 34th and 37th Ohio Infantries garrisoned Fort Scammon, built on the hill behind the courthouse in front of you. From there, Siber prepared to defend Fayetteville as Confederate Gen. William Loring's 5,000-man army, emboldened by the fact only 5,000 total US Army troops remained in western Virginia, marched into the Kanawha Valley to replenish salt supplies abundantly available in the area.
On September 10, Loring's troops pushed to approximately 300 yards of the fort and rained artillery fire upon it. Federal infantry and artillery fired back, but Siber withdrew his outnumbered force from Fayetteville around 1:00 AM. The Union troops managed to get away before the Confederates realized they were gone.
At nearby Gauley Bridge, Union Col. Joseph A.J. Lightburn heard the cannon fire and rushed reinforcements to Siber, but they arrived too late. Lightburn did engage the Confederates in Charleston on September 13, where, outnumbered, he was also forced to retreat. The Kanawha Valley was now in the hands of the Confederates, who remained here until mid-October, when Union soldiers returned in force and retook the area without opposition.
(captions)
Soldiers of the 34th Ohio Volunteer Infantry wearing their unusual early issue uniforms.
- Courtesy Library of Congress
Gen. William W. Loring Courtesy WVU Archives
An April 1863 image of the 12th Ohio's camp at Fayetteville shows Fort Scammon is at upper left. A Confederate Army engineer described the fort as an "admirable selected position, enfilading the surrounding open plains."
- Courtesy of the WVU Archives
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| #NextYearInAnsted |
*
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| https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=223876 |
Faith During War
A Jewish Seder in the Wilds
At the top of the hill here a community came together to help Jewish soldiers keep their faith in the midst of war. In early April 1862, Pvt. Joseph A. Joel and 20 other Jewish soldiers in the 23rd Ohio Infantry asked Col. Rutherford B. Hayes, a future president, for relief from duty to observe the upcoming holiday of Passover. The request was granted, but they still had the arduous task of preparing for the week-long holiday.
Many of the items needed to observe Passover were not readily available in West Virginia or in a military camp. The regimental sutler, possibly G.W. Forbes, was also Jewish and was able to retrieve the soldiers' order of Matzos from Ohio. The soldiers were surprised to find the sutler had slipped prayer books and Haggadahs into the boxes of unleavened bread. With these gifts in hand, the soldiers decided to build a log hut and forage for the symbolic foods and supplies to hold their Seder, a ceremonial dinner that marks the beginning of the Passover holiday.
The dinner occurred on April 14, and Joel recounted his experience in the March 3, 1866, issue of the Jewish Messenger, saying, “there is no occasion in my life that gives me more pleasure and satisfaction than when I remember the celebration of Passover of 1862.”
“There, in the wild woods of West Virginia, away from home and friends, we consecrated and offered up to the ever-loving G-d of Israel our prayers and sacrifice.”
-Private Joseph A. Joel
A Proper Plateful.
Each Seder dinner items symbolizes a part of the story recounting the Hebrews liberation from Egypt. For example, Charoset, a sweet relish meant to symbolize the clay the enslaved Hebrews were forced to make into bricks. Here is the soldiers menu.
Traditional Menu —— Adaptations
Matzos —— Matzos
4 cups of wine —— Cider
Shulchan Orech (Passover feast) —— Cooked Chicken
Beitza (roasted eggs) —— Roasted Eggs
Zeroa (lamb shank bone) —— Whole Lamb
Maror/Chazeret (horseradish) —— Ramps (assumed)
Karpas (parsley) —— Ramps
Charoset (sweet relish) —— A brick
*
Sources:
Drawing of Fayetteville April 1863 – West Virginia University, West Virginia & Regional History Center
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fayetteville_(1862)
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