May 24, 1861

May 24, 1861--This morning I heard more favorable reports and was satisfied of their truth. By these new reports I was assured that there would be no fighting for the present and Grafton would be occupied peaceably. With more pleasant feelings therefore I resumed my journey.

The morning was bright and lovely and sweet prospects and singing birds, scene after scene of a most attractive character unfolded as I moved along. As landscape after landscape opened up to view, it was hard to realize the mournful probabilities that ere long the dreadful storm of war might ravage and desolate these hitherto quiet and peaceful surroundings.

About noon I entered the town of Philippa, where I was most kindly received and entertained at the home of Mr. L. Morrall, Clerk of the county of Barbour. Three military companies were here during the afternoon on the march to Grafton, the rendezvous: The Pocahontas Rescuers from Pocahontas, lead by Captain D. A. Stofer accompanied by Gen. Wm. Skeen and wife; the Barbour Greys, commanded by Capt. Reger, and the Mountain Guards, commanded by Capt. Sturms, an aged and grey veteran, entering upon his third war.

May 23, 1861

Thursday morning I set out on my way to Grafton. It was May 23, 1861. Hon. John Hutton, a most estimable gentleman, but of the decided opinion that a mistake had been made in sending troops to West Virginia, advised me to leave my military accoutrements with him for I would be much safer without them, and this I did such was my confidence in his judgement. Upon leaving I asked Aunt Dolley Hutton, a very pious lady, in fullest sympathy with the Confederate soldiers so willingly going where her husband was sure they would be sacrificed to no good purpose, to tell all the good people to remember us in their prayers, which she tearfully promised to do. After riding a few miles down the beautiful valley, the emerald gem of all West Virginia, I came to Mr. Henry Harper's not far from Beverly, where I found the young preacher and his party, with whom I had traveled the previous day. He was in much anxiety of mind, arising from a letter just received from Rev. T. L. Preston to Mr. Harper. We took a walk and had a long interview. It appeared that at the last meeting of the Lexington Presbytery Mr. Preston was prevailed on by his friends to apply for the chaplaincy of the cadet corps which had been called into the service of Virginia. Mr. Preston requested Mr. Harris to visit the churches in Tygarts Valley, which he had been supplying and while thus engaged had his home at Mr. Harper's, and if it was agreeable to supply them during his absence to Harpers Ferry. Mr.

May 22, 1861

On the morning of the following day May 22nd, 1861, I arose quite early and very much refreshed. Having breakfasted, I joined Mr. Harris and his party, as soon as they drove by, and took up my line of march for Cheat Mountain, not without some misgivings of possible trouble however.

We were so fortunate as to cross the mountain without any hindrance whatever and had there been no such thing as war, the shady recesses of that renowned mountain could not have been freer from the least suspicion of rude alarms and fratricidal strife, as it was that day.

May 21, 1861

Orders came from Governor Letcher to take up the march for Grafton, and the troops started the 18th of May. At the solicitation of Captain Hull and others, and being more than willing besides, I tendered my services as a volunteer chaplain.

My congregations, McDowell and Williamsville, readily granted me leave of absence, and so on the 21st of May I set out to join the troops at Grafton. At first it was a perplexing matter to me whether I should furnish myself with arms, but having been advised to do so I borrowed a double-barreled shotgun. It was a show weapon for those times. The kind lady at whose home I had lived about a year, Mrs. Washington Hull, provided me with ample supplies of roasted chicken, good biscuit, and sweet cakes. Thus equipped and furnished I began my lonely journey from McDowell, heading for the seat of war at Grafton. The day was very uncomfortable because of a chilly blowing rain.

At Monterey I halted a little while, it being quite early, but I was there long enough to have my eyes opened to the fact that soldiers ought to be careful and not wear out their welcome. Old Mother Shumate had a sad tale of the care and inconvenience that was endured in providing volunteers with accommodations upon such short notice.

On to Grafton

by William T. Price

Published 1901

Introduction

They mustered in their simple dress,
For wrongs to seek a stern redress;
To right those wrongs, come weal or woe;
To perish or o'ercome the foe!"

Tacitus, one of the most accomplished historians of the ages, makes this very wise observation on the uses of history:

This I hold to be the office of history; to rescue virtuous actions from oblivion, to which a want of records would consign them, and that men should feel a dread of being considered infamous in the opinion of posterity, from their depraved expressions and base actions.

This correspondent has taken it in hand to transcribe the contents of a diary that was kept during an excursion to Grafton during May and June 1861, as a volunteer chaplain.

During the national troubles that characterized the year of 1861, a military post was located at Grafton, a railroad town in Tyler County, now West Virginia. As a strategical point, it was regarded as very important, because the Parkersburg branch made a junction here with the main stem of the B&O Railway. A volunteer company, numbering over two hundred young men, the choice of the Highland families, was raised in a few days after the Lincoln proclamation, and organized with Felix Harness Hull, captain.

The names of Robert H. Bradshaw and Jesse Gilmore recur vividly to the writer's memory, as enthusiasts in the impending cause.