History and Comprehensive Description of Loudoun County, Virginia Part 19

General trade had recently been greatly stimulated, and the resources of the County were being daily multiplied.

Following the resolute lead of the other southern States, the legislature of Virginia, on January 14, 1861, authorized a State convention to consider the advisability of secession, and the members elected in pursuance thereof met in the capitol, at Richmond, at 12 o'clock a.m., on Wednesday, the 13th day of the February following. They const.i.tuted what was perhaps the ablest body of men that ever a.s.sembled in the State, and the friends and foes of secession were alike represented. The delegates from Loudoun were John Janney and John A. Carter, both of whom had represented her in the const.i.tutional convention of 1850,51.

Roll call was followed by the election of a permanent chairman, Mr.

Janney, of Loudoun, receiving a majority of the whole number of votes cast. Two of the members were then designated a committee to wait upon the president of the convention to inform him of his election and conduct him to his seat. Whereupon he addressed the convention as follows:[29]

[Footnote 29: The unabridged publication in this work of Mr. Janney's speech of acceptance has seemed specially appropriate. It is the plea of a Loudoun man for conservative action boldly put forth at a time when men's pa.s.sions were inflamed almost beyond human credulity, and while he himself was the presiding officer of a body which had met to decide the destiny of the Old Dominion and whose deliberations were to be watched with breathless interest by the people of both hemispheres.]

"_Gentlemen of the Convention_: I tender you my sincere and cordial thanks for the honor you have bestowed upon me by calling me to preside over the deliberations of the most important convention that has a.s.sembled in this State since the year 1776.

"I am without experience in the performance of the duties to which you have a.s.signed me, with but little knowledge of parliamentary law and the rules which are to govern our proceedings, and I have nothing to promise you but fidelity and impartiality. Errors I know I shall commit, but these will be excused by your kindness, and promptly corrected by your wisdom.

"Gentlemen, it is now almost seventy-three years since a convention of the people of Virginia was a.s.sembled in this hall to ratify the Const.i.tution of the United States, one of the chief objects of which was to consolidate, not the Government, but the Union of the States.

"Causes which have pa.s.sed, and are daily pa.s.sing, into history, which will set its seal upon them, but which I do not mean to review, have brought the Const.i.tution and the Union into imminent peril, and Virginia has come to the rescue. It is what the whole country expected of her. Her pride as well as her patriotism--her interest as well as her honor, called upon her with an emphasis which she could not disregard, to save the monuments of her own glory. Her honored son who sleeps at Mount Vernon, the political mecca of all future ages, presided over the body which framed the Const.i.tution; and another of her honored sons, whose brow was adorned with a civic wreath which will never fade, and who now reposes in Orange county, was its princ.i.p.al architect, and one of its ablest expounders--and, in the administration of the government, five of her citizens have been elected to the chief magistracy of the Republic.

"It can not be that a Government thus founded and administered can fail, without the hazard of bringing reproach, either upon the wisdom of our fathers, or upon the intelligence, patriotism, and virtue of their descendants.

It is not my purpose to indicate the course which this body will probably pursue, or the measures it may be proper to adopt. The opinions of today may all be changed to-morrow.

Events are thronging upon us, and we must deal with them as they present themselves.

"Gentlemen, there is a flag which for nearly a century has been borne in triumph through the battle and the breeze, and which now floats over this capitol, on which there is a star representing this ancient Commonwealth, and my earnest prayer, in which I know every member of this body will cordially unite, is that it may remain there forever, provided always that its l.u.s.tre is untarnished. We demand for our own citizens perfect equality of rights with those of the empire States of New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, but we ask for nothing that we will not cheerfully concede to those of Delaware and Rhode Island.

"The amount of responsibility which rests upon this body can not be exaggerated. When my const.i.tuents asked me if I would consent to serve them here if elected, I answered in the affirmative, but I did so with fear and trembling. The people of Virginia have, it is true, reserved to themselves, in a certain contingency, the right to review our action, but still the measures which we adopt may be fraught with good or evil to the whole country.

"Is it too much to hope that we, and others who are engaged in the work of peace and conciliation, may so solve the problems which now perplex us, as to win back our sisters of the South, who, for what they deem sufficient cause, have wandered from their old orbits? May we not expect that our old sister, Ma.s.sachusetts, will retrace her steps? Will she not follow the n.o.ble example of Rhode Island, the little State with a heart large enough for a whole continent? Will she not, when she remembers who it was who first drew his sword from the scabbard on her own soil at Cambridge, and never finally returned it, until her liberty and independence were achieved, and whence he came, repeal her obnoxious laws, which many of her wisest and best citizens regard as a stain upon her legislative records?

"Gentlemen, this is no party convention. It is our duty on an occasion like this to elevate ourselves into an atmosphere, in which party pa.s.sion and prejudice can not exist--to conduct all our deliberations with calmness and wisdom, and to maintain, with inflexible firmness, whatever position we may find it necessary to a.s.sume."

The proceedings were dignified, solemn, and, at times, even sad.

During the entire session good feelings prevailed to a remarkable degree. For these harmonious relations credit is princ.i.p.ally due the secessionists. Very often their actions were regarded with suspicion by their opponents who, at such times, pursued a policy of obstruction when nothing was to be gained thereby. But they were given every privilege and shown every consideration.

On April 17, 1861, the convention, in secret session, pa.s.sed the ordinance of secession by a vote of 88 to 55 on condition that it should be submitted to the people for their approval or rejection at an election to be held the 23d of May for that purpose. Loudoun's delegates voted solidly against the measure.

In the convention opinions varied as to whether peace or war would follow secession. The great majority of the members, as of the people, believed that peaceful relations would continue. All truly wished for peace. A number expressed themselves as fearing war, but this was when opposing secession. Yet in nearly all the speeches made in the convention there seemed to be distinguishable a feeling of fear and dread lest war should follow. However, had war been a certainty secession would not have been delayed or defeated.

There was warm discussion on the question of submitting the ordinance to the people for ratification or rejection. Many, both before and after the pa.s.sage of the ordinance, favored its reference to the people in the vain hope that the measure would in this way be frustrated. They declared that, in a matter of such vital importance, involving the lives and liberties of a whole people, the ordinance should be submitted to them for their discussion, and that secession should be attempted only after ratification by a direct vote of the people on that single issue.

Affecting and exciting scenes followed the pa.s.sage of the ordinance.

One by one the strong members of the minority arose and, for the sake of unity at home, surrendered the opinions of a lifetime and forgot the prejudices of years. This was done with no feeling of humiliation.

To the last they were treated with distinguished consideration by their opponents.

Shortly after the convention began its deliberations a ma.s.s meeting was held in Leesburg, where the secession sentiment was practically unanimous, for the purpose of adopting resolutions to be sent to that important body recommending the immediate pa.s.sage of the ordinance of secession. The citizens were addressed by Col. J.M. Kilgore and others.

The vote in Loudoun for the ratification or rejection of the ordinance of secession, while not close, was somewhat spirited and marked by slight disturbances at the polls. In practically every precinct outside the German and Quaker settlements a majority vote was cast in favor of secession.

No county in the State eclipsed Loudoun in devotion to the principles on which Virginia's withdrawal from the Union was based, and the courage displayed by her in maintaining these principles made her the acknowledged equal of any community in the Southland.

_Loudoun's Partic.i.p.ation in the War._

A discussion in this volume of the great Civil War and its causes has at no time been contemplated, and vain appeals addressed to surviving Confederate soldiers and Government record keepers long ago demonstrated the impracticability of a thorough account of the part borne by Loudoun soldiers in that grand, uneven struggle of 1861-'65.

Their exact numbers even can not be ascertained as the original enlistment records were either lost or destroyed and duplicates never completed.

It may with truth be said that the extent of the service rendered by Loudoun in this, as well as preceding wars, will never be fully known or adequately appreciated. However, certain it is that thousands of her sons espoused the cause of the Confederacy, hundreds died in its defense, and not a few, by their valor and devotion, won enduring fame and meritorious mention in the annals of their government.

At home or in the ranks, throughout this trying period of civil strife, her people, with no notable exceptions, remained liberal and brave and constant, albeit they probably suffered more real hardships and deprivations than any other community of like size in the Southland. There were few Confederate troops for its defense, and the Federals held each neighborhood responsible for all attacks made in its vicinity, often destroying private property as a punishment.

Both armies, prompted either by fancied military necessity or malice, burned or confiscated valuable forage crops and other stores, and nearly every locality, at one time or another, witnessed depredation, robbery, murder, arson, and rapine. Several towns were sh.e.l.led, sacked, and burned, but the worst damage was done the country districts by raiding parties of Federals. Much of the destruction is now seen to have been unnecessary from a military point of view.

Whole armies were subsisted on the products of Loudoun's fruitful acres. Opposing forces, sometimes only detachments and roving bands, but quite as often battalions, regiments, brigades, and even whole divisions were never absent from the County and the clash of swords and fire of musketry were an ever-present clamor and one to which Loudoun ears early became accustomed.

Also, there were times when the main bodies of one or the other of both armies were encamped wholly or in part within her limits, as in September, 1862, when the triumphant army of Lee, on the eve of the first Maryland campaign, was halted at Leesburg and stripped of all superfluous transportation, broken-down horses, and wagons and batteries not supplied with good horses being left behind;[30] again, in June, 1863, when Hooker was being held in bounds with his great army stretched from Mana.s.sas, near Bull Run, to Leesburg, near the Potomac; and yet again, in July, 1863, when Lee's army, falling back from Maryland after the battle of Gettysburg, was followed by the Federal forces under General Meade, who crossed the Potomac and advanced through Loudoun.

[Footnote 30: On the 5th day of September, to the martial strains of "Maryland, My Maryland" from every band in the army, and with his men cheering and shouting with delight, Jackson forded the Potomac at Edwards' Ferry (Loudoun County), where the river was broad but shallow, near the scene of Evan's victory over the Federals in the previous October, and where Wayne had crossed his Pennsylvania brigade in marching to the field of Yorktown, in 1781.]

General Early, after the short and b.l.o.o.d.y battle of Monocacy, and following his invasion of Maryland and demonstration against Washington, recrossed the Potomac at White's Ford, July 14, 1864, and, resting near Leesburg, on the 16th marched to the Shenandoah valley by way of Leesburg and Purcellville, through Snicker's Gap of the Blue Ridge, with Jackson's Cavalry in advance.

Pitched battles and lesser engagements were fought at Edwards' Ferry, b.a.l.l.s Bluff, Snickersville (now Bluemont), Leesburg, Middleburg, Aldie, Hamilton, Waterford, Union, Ashby's Gap, and other points in the County.

During Stonewall Jackson's investment of Harper's Ferry in September, 1862, guns were put in position on Loudoun Heights, supported by two regiments of infantry, and a portion of Jackson's own immediate command was placed with artillery on a bluffy shoulder of that mountain.

The following military organizations were recruited wholly or in part in Loudoun County and mustered into the Confederate service: 8th Virginia Regiment (a part of Pickett's famous fighting division), Loudoun Guard (Company C, 17th Virginia Regiment), Loudoun Cavalry ("Laurel Brigade"), and White's Battalion of Cavalry (the "Comanches,"

25th Virginia Battalion). Mosby's command, the "Partisan Rangers,"

also attracted several score of her patriotic citizenry.

The sons of Loudoun, serving in these and other organizations, bore a distinguished part on every crimsoned field from Pennsylvania to the coast of Florida.

Garnett's Brigade, to which the 8th Virginia regiment was attached, was led into action during the memorable charge on the third day of the battle of Gettysburg. The brigade moved forward in the front line, and gained the enemy's strongest position, where the fighting became hand to hand and of the most desperate character. It went into action with 1,287 men and 140 officers, and after the struggle, of this number, only about 300 came back slowly and sadly from the scene of carnage. General Garnett, himself, was shot from his horse while near the center of the advancing brigade, within about twenty-five paces of the "stone fence," from behind which the Federals poured forth their murderous fire.

_The Loudoun Rangers_ (_Federal_).

This volunteer organization consisted of two companies of disaffected Virginians, all of whom were recruited in the German settlements northwest of Leesburg. Company A, at the outset, was commanded by Captain Daniel M. Keyes, of Lovettsville, who later resigned on account of wounds received in action. He was succeeded by Captain Samuel C. Means, of Waterford. Company B's commander was Captain James W. Grubb. The total enlistment of each company was 120 and 67, respectively. All the officers and privates were of either German, Quaker, or Scotch-Irish lineage, the first-named cla.s.s predominating.

The command was mustered into the Federal service at Lovettsville, the 20th day of June, 1862. Its historian, Briscoe Goodhart, a member of Company A, in his _History of the Loudoun_ (Virginia) _Rangers_, has said that it "was an independent command, organized in obedience to a special order of the Honorable Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War, and was at first subject to his orders only, but subsequently merged into the Eighth Corps, commanded at that time by the venerable Major General John Ellis Wool...."

The "Rangers," as the name implies, were scouts and, in this highly useful capacity, served the enemies of their State with shameless ardor. But, as a body, they fought few engagements and none of a decisive nature. Their first and, perhaps, sharpest encounter happened in and around the old Baptist Church at Waterford.

The following absolution or justification is offered in the preface to the above-quoted work:

"As the name of their organization indicates, they came from a State which was arrayed in arms against the authority of the National Government. No Governor, or Senator, or Member of Congress guarded their interests; nor was any State or local bounty held forth to them as an allurement. Their enlistment in the Union Army--their country's army--was the spontaneous outgrowth of a spirit of lofty patriotism.

"As they saw their duty they were not lacking in moral courage to perform that duty; and with no lapse of years shall we ever fail to insist that the principles for which the Rangers contended were eternally right, and that their opponents were eternally wrong."

Far from being a well-ordered command with a clearly defined _modus operandi_, the two companies were poorly drilled, imperfectly accoutred, only aimlessly and periodically active, and, moreover, were on the point of dissolution at the outset.

Operating, for the most part, independently and in detached parties the command offered no serious menace to citizens or soldiery, though the latter were sometimes hara.s.sed and annoyed by them.

Mosby, who had greatly desired and often essayed their capture, was finally given the opportunity for which he had eagerly waited.