General Lee; His Campaigns in Virginia, 1861-1865 baixar o livro de graça

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III GENERAL LEE GOES TO WESTERN VIRGINIA AT this period President Davis became very anxious about the condition of affairs in the western portion of Virginia. Our forces, under General Gar- nett, had been defeated by the Federals under General McClellan; Colonel Pegram, with about six hundred troops of Garnett's army, had been compelled to surrender; and the main army, under General Garnett, had been defeated at Laurel Hill on July 9th, forced to retire, overtaken and vigorously assailed on July 13th at Carrick's Ford, where, in rallying his men, the brave Garnett was killed. General Loring had been assigned to the command of that army and had fallen back and taken a defensive position at Valley Mountain. Mr. Davis wished to send General Lee to that section to restore confidence to the troops and check the Federal advance. There was, moreover, a lack of harmony between generals Floyd and Wise, who were operating separate commands in the Kanawha district, and it was hoped that the presence of General Lee would tend to harmonize their differences. The President held his wish in abeyance until after the battle of Manassas, and in the latter days of July General Lee left Richmond for his new field of duty. He was accompanied by his two aides, Colonel John A. Washington and myself. The journey was made as far as Staunton by rail, and from thence the party proceeded on horseback to Monterey, in Highland County. The ride through the country was most enjoyable; that section abounds in lovely scenery, and the mountain air was most invigorating and a delightful change from the heated atmosphere of the crowded city. On arriving at Monterey the delights of a ride on horseback were very seriously impaired by the setting in of a rainy season, and to the same cause is to be attr...