. Campaigns of the civil war . and pickets, by the coun-try people, while we are compelled to grope in the dark asmuch as if we were invading a foreign and hostile , he began a vigorous reorganization; Lee im-mediately sent him reinforcements. In a short time he hadColonel Pegram established in the pass at Rich Mountain,with a regiment and six guns, while he himself held thepass at Laurel Hill with three or four regiments, leaving adetachment at Beverly. This was the situation when, early in July, General McClel-lan resolved to take the offensive and drive the rebels fromWe
. Campaigns of the civil war . and pickets, by the coun-try people, while we are compelled to grope in the dark asmuch as if we were invading a foreign and hostile , he began a vigorous reorganization; Lee im-mediately sent him reinforcements. In a short time he hadColonel Pegram established in the pass at Rich Mountain,with a regiment and six guns, while he himself held thepass at Laurel Hill with three or four regiments, leaving adetachment at Beverly. This was the situation when, early in July, General McClel-lan resolved to take the offensive and drive the rebels fromWest Virginia. He had arrived on the scene of action aboutthe same time with Gamett; and though he had a largelypreponderating force in the State, it was considerably de-pleted by the local garrisons necessary to protect the rail-road, and to give confidence to Unionists in exposed the immediate work in hand General Moms had five orsix regiments at Philippi, confronting Garnett; McClellan 148 THE OUTBREAK OF Field of the West Virginia Battles. WEST VIRGINIA. U9 directed, liim to take an advanced position within two milesof the enemys works at Laurel Hill, to give an impressionthat he intended the main attack, and to be ready to pursue,should they retreat. Meanwhile McClellan himself moved to Bnckhannon withsome seven regiments, with the design of turning theenemys position on Rich Mountain. On the evening ofJuly 9th he pushed forward to Roaring Creek, two milesfrom Pegrams entrenched camp. A reconnoissance on the10th showed the enemy strongly posted in a mountain defile,where, with the large force he was supposed to have, a directattack in front could only be made at great sacrifice. Thatevening Brigadier-General Rosecrans proposed a plan toturn the position, and McClellan (with some reluctance, itis said) permitted him to attempt it. At daylight of July 11th, Rosecrans, with portions of fourregiments—a total of nineteen hundred men—set out, and,amid a w
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectuniteds, bookyear1881
