Volume 14 , Issue 14

Highland County Virginia - Civil War 1861

This week we explore Highland county of Virginia and it's history and attitude of Highland people and the militia companies and the Battle of Camp Alleghany (13 December 1861, 105 acres, Pocahontas County, West Virginia) in the war of 1861 (Civil War) and how it affected Highland.


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This is a Google interactive map of Monterey, Virginia that you can zoom in and out to get a view of the surroundings.

In the presidential contest of 1860 the two great sections of the Union were arrayed against one another, each having a radical and a conservative candidate. The North presented Lincoln and Douglas. The South presented Breckenridge and Bell. Lincoln and Breckenridge represented the extremes in the four-sided contest. Only a handful of Southern men, and these in the border states, voted for Lincoln (Republican). Only a handful of Northern men, except in the small area where a fusion of the Douglas and Breckenridge followers was attempted, voted for Breckenridge. The conservative Douglas had a considerable number of votes in the South and the conservative Bell a considerable number in the North. Lincoln won the election because he was the successful candidate of the more populous section. Lincoln lacked a million votes of having a majority over the other three men.

It was the temper of the times that caused the political fight be be followed by the appeal to arms. In each section the conservative element came over to a more or less complete support of the radical, except in portions of the border states.

Highland gave a majority of more than 100 to Douglas, the Northern conservative. The vote in Highland was significant of the feeling of the people. It was Unionist from the Southern viewpoint. Secession was not in favor. Nine-tenths of the people were white, and the organization of society was more Northern than Southern.Yet the political sentiment was Southern. The river bottoms were largely held by a wealthy and influential class of slave holders. The commercial outlets were eastward, where the distinctive Southern feeling was still more pronounced. Unlike many counties west of the Alleghany, its social and industrial contact with the North was slight.

When the crisis came, in April of 1861, the people of Highland Valley followed their honest conceptions of civic duty, just as people did in all sections of the Union, both North and South. The mass of the Highland people sided with the action of their state, but there were some persons of undecided convictions. Some could not bring themselves to uphold secession and kept out of military service or went within the Federal lines.

George W. Hull was a delegate to the convention of 1861, opposed secession until President Lincoln's call on Virginia for 2,700 volunteers to help put down the revolution in the cotton states brought matters to a crisis. George Hull reluctantly, supported the measure.

George W. Hull/Hohl was a my 1st cousin 5 times removed through the following ancestors:

1. Hannah KEISTER (1757 - 1837), Mother of George W.
2. Frederick KEISTER (1730 - 1815), Father of Hannah Esther KEISTER (1767 - 1825) Daughter of Frederick
3. Esther (Hester) HULL (1804 - 1853), Daughter of Esther
4. William Fechtig WARWICK (1822 - 1902), Son of Esther (Hester)
5. John Robert WARWICK (1857 - 1937), Son of William Fechtig
6. Constance Estella WARWICK (1882 - 1968), Daughter of John Robert
7. Gene M MCGILL (1914 - 1986), father of Linda Kay McGill Wagner.

For the May term of court all the justices were summoned, and of the 20 the following were present: John Bird, Thomas L. Brown, Cornelius Colaw, Samuel C. Eagle, William W. Fleming, William Hevener, Josiah Hiner, Felix H. Hull, Henry C. Jones, Peter H. Kinkead, Franklin McNulty, John H. Pullin, Henry Seybert, Adam C. Stephenson, David Stephenson, Edward Steuart, and Zachariah Tomlinson.

The Highland company was mustered into service at Monterey, May 18, 1861. Its officers were Felix H. Hull, Captain; J. William Myers, 1st Lieutenant; Samuel A. Gilmor, 2nd Lieutenant, and Jesse Gilmor, 3rd Lieutenant. It marched the same day to join the army under Porterfield in its advance on Grafton. It was in the skirmish at Philippi and the small battles of Laurel Hill and Rich mountains. The defeated army had to move down the Cheat to the Northwestern Turnpike, follow that road into the South Branch Valley at Petersburg. It then marched up the river, reaching Monterey July 19, 1861. In this retreat the men suffered severely from bad weather and roads, hard marches, and a lack of equipment and provisions.

It was by this time that re-enforcements reached Monterey. The Highland company was over 100 strong, but it was divided. All the men front he east of Highland were put into a separate company, styled B, with Robert H. Bradshaw, Captain; William R. Keister, 1st Lieutenant; Andrew S. T. Davis, 2nd Lieutenant; and Harrison H. Jones, Orderly sergeant. At West View, in May of the 1862, there was a reorganization, where Bradshaw being re-elected. W. R. Lyman, a cadet of the Virginia Military Institute who had acted as drillmaster and had volunteered as a private, was now elected 1st lieutenant. Jones was promoted to be 2nd Lieutenant, and William C. Kincaid became 3rd Lieutenant. After the death of Bradshaw at Port Republic, Lyman became Captain. He resigned in the early spring of 1864, and the company was thereafter commanded by its Lieutenants, Kincaid and Pullin.

The other company was designated as E. Its captain was S. A. Gilmor, later succeeded by J. C. Matheny. The Lieutenants were J. S. Gilmor, A. F. Swadley, and David Bird. The two companies were attached to the 31st Regiment, Virginia Infantry.

General Robert E. Lee took command in this section, and while in Monterey his headquarters was in the old corner house opposite the Methodist Church. He advanced to the Greenbrier, whence, September 11 and 12, he moved against General Reynolds, in position at Cheat Mountain and Elkwater. Finding the Federal position too strong he fell back after some skirmishing in which Colonel Washington was killed and some prisoners taken on each side. Some say that the orders of Lee were not properly followed. Son afterward he returned to Richmond leaving six regiments and two batteries not eh Greenbrier.

Finding transportation to the Greenbrier to difficult, Edward Johnson fell back up the Alleghany to pass on the turnpike a mile west of the Highland boundary. Here is where he established a fortified camp and went into winter quarters. Possession of this important thoroughfare was of much interest to each party.

On December 13th, guided by deserters, Milroy assailed Camp Alleghany at day break. Milroy's two columns of 900 men each failed to strike simultaneously and were repulsed and driven back after a hot engagement of eight hours. The Confederate force at this time consisted of the 25th, 31st and 52d Virginia Infantry, Hansborough's Battalion, the 12th Georgia, and the batteries of Lee and Miller; in all about 1,400 men. Four days after the battle the county clerk of Highland was ordered to remove his papers to a place of greater safety. The court protested against the use of its jail as a military prison, and orderd the commandant at Monterey to remove a Federal soldier named Thomas Carr.

The beginning of April the Army of the Northwest under Johnson consisted of 3,000 men and 12 guns. There were six regiments of infantry, the 12th Georgia, and the 25th, 31st, 44th, 52d and 58th Virginia, and a small force of cavalry. The main army was at Camp Alleghany, but there were small commands at Franklin, Crabbottom, Monterey, and Huntersville.

After the Civil War, the first county court after the close of hostilities met September 21, 1865. Eighteen members were present. During a subsequent period, ending with the restoration of local state government in 1870, many citizens were ineligible of local state government in 1870, many citizens were ineligible to office, being unable to act because of the nature of their connection with the Confederate army or government. Citizens on assuming office took the oath of allegiance to the Federal government.   |  View or Add Comments (0 Comments)   |   Receive updates ( subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

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