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THE 7TH BATTALION CONFEDERATE CAVALRY

History

 

In 1860 the United States, North and South, was more interested in the elections

than usual. The sectional division which characterized much of the American

political experience in the first half of the 19th century was becoming a

crisis. The Republicans won the election because the Democrats divided into

Northern and Southern factions and both Democratic party factions fielded

candidates for president. Abraham Lincoln won the presidency with only 39

percent of the popular vote but a majority of the electoral vote. In fact,

Lincoln won few popular votes in any Southern State and was not on the ballot in

most of them. In the Old Dominion, Lincoln polled fewer than 2,000 votes, and

most of which were cast in the Wheeling area.

Political dialogue took up much of the spare time of men all over the South. In

western Virginia the situation was discussed, but few owned slaves in this

region which would furnish much of the manpower for the Virginia State Line, and

many felt the crisis could not be resolved. Few men were concerned about

abolition. Subsistence farming, hunting and sporadic social gatherings occupied

the time of the denizens of Appalachia in 1860. The hopes for a negotiated

settlement ended when Fort Sumter was fired upon in April 1861. Lincoln called

for 75,000 volunteers to crush the rebellion, and Virginia cast its lot with its

Southern brethren.

The adult male population of Appalachian Virginia fell into clearly defined

categories generally characterized by their affection for, and sometimes their

antipathy to, either one or both sides of the political situation. One group

immediately rushed to defend their state and their kindred in other Southern

states. Another class had obligations at home, generally were older than the

first class but were in sympathy with the Southern cause. This second group

generally enlisted when the Conscription Act was passed and served until

circumstances at home became intol- erable or until the end of the war. A subset

of men in this class also chose to serve in units which they reasonably expected

or had been promised would serve near their home areas. A third group of men

were Unionists who preferred to keep the Union together but cared little one way

or the other about abolition. A fourth class of men were absolutely opposed to

fighting in a war which, in their opinion, did not involve them. These men were

known as scouters because they scouted around the countryside for places to hide

from the Confederate conscription officers. This class of men was often forced

into crime to support themselves while hiding. A fifth class of men were

criminals from before the war. These men simply enlist- ed on one side or the

other to be close enough to steal whatever was at hand. Members of the Virginia

State Line and its successor organizations encompassed all these groups of men.

Such a group of diverse men prob- ably could not agree on the time of the day,

let alone a proper course of military action.

The Virginia State Line resulted in large part from the February 1862 disaster

at Fort Donelson, Tennessee. Confederate Brigadier General John Buchanan Floyd

was ordered, with his brigade, from Western Virginia to western Kentucky in late

1861, and arrived in Bowling Green, Kentucky in early January, 1862. He was then

ordered to Tennessee in early February 1862 to aid in the defense of Nashville,

and his command took positions at Fort Donelson, on the riverine approaches to

the Tennessee captial. Floyd assumed overall control of the Confederate defenses

of that installation and was quickly surrounded by Federals led by General

Ulysses S. Grant. Floyd, who had been Secretary of War under U.S. President

James Buchanan, feared for his life if captured. It was widely thought in the

North that Floyd had done much to aid the South in the looming rebellion while

Secretary of War. The primary charge was that he had moved arms from arsenals in

the North to Southern sites. After assessing the Donelson situation as

untenable, a council of war determined surrender was the only course of action

to prevent an unnecessary effusion of blood.

Floyd succeeded in extricating himself and his Virginia troops. Col- onel Nathan

Bedford Forrest, with his command, fought their way out, winning laurels for the

future general. The rest of the command surren- dered and spent several months

at Camp Chase, Ohio, Camp Douglas, Illinois, or Johnson's Island, Ohio.

As a direct result of the Donelson disaster, President Davis relieved Floyd of

command. The Confederate press also laid blame for the disaster at Floyd's feet

rather than giving credit to a well earned victory by Grant. This was in the day

when Southerners felt that one rebel could whip 10 Yankees. The true blame for

the disaster is three fold: first, the superior planning and execution of the

Federal plan of attack; second, the popular mind set of unquestioned compliance

with orders; and, third, the misjudg- ment of the Confederate commanders in the

Fort Donelson garrison that prevented them from withdrawing in time to avoid

capture. Floyd was certainly culpable on the last and perhaps most significant

count, but not the first two.

Floyd's removal from command incensed the Virginia Legislature as well as

Floyd's political constituent base in Southwest Virginia. Petitions asking for

Floyd's reinstatement were circulated in Virginia and garnered many signatures,

but the Confederate chief executive chose not to act on them. One such petitions

was circulated in Washington County and it alone amassed nearly 1000 signatures.

Another was prepared on April 18, 1862 in Lynchburg, and signed by C. L. Mosby,

G. W. Latham, Samuel Thurman and 75 others. The Lynchburgers summarized for

President Davis what they saw happening in Southwest Virginia:

  ...[A]s your friends and fellow citizens we venture respect- fully to request

  that in view of the widespread and growing dissatisfaction of a large number

  of our people of Southwest Virginia at the suspension of General John B.

  Floyd, and the feeling of alarm and anxiety which even in this (the Lynchburg)

  community exists for the safety of the region from which we get most our

  important and necessary supplies, you will, if consistent with your own views

  of duty and of public interest, at once reinstate and place General Floyd in

  command of Western Virginia.

The Virginia Legislature was pressured into authorizing the Virginia State Line,

which it approved on May 15, 1862. The Virginia State Line was intended to

embrace classes of men not liable for service under the Confederate conscription

act of April 6, 1862. The first stated purpose of the State Line was to recover

the western part of the State from Federal control. Other theoretically cogent

reasons were to protect the salt mines in Southwest Virginia and guard the

Virginia Tennessee Railroad. The Lynchburg Republican carried the following

article on May 19, stating the popular view of the Virginia State Line's

mission:

The General Assembly of Virginia has appointed Gen. John B. Floyd, Major General

of the Virginia forces, with authority to raise a force of 20,000 men;

non-conscripts for the defense of western Virginia. The act is important and it

is to be hoped will stir up the spirit of the west in defense of the mines and

railroads which are now so important to the south to sustenance and defense.

There is no man in Virginia who has a stronger hold on the popular heart than

Gen. Floyd, nor is there a man in the state who can rally around him such an

enthusiastic army from among his own people and section, but it must be

confesssed that the lot of Gen. Floyd is a hard one. He is called on to raise

and organize an army 20,000 men after the whole field has been picked of its

best and most abun- dant material, and he is asked to do this after having been

displaced from the command of a splendid brigade raised by him at the

commencement of the war, and led gallantly through many a hard fought battle.

But he is equal to any emergency and if the thing can be done, it will be done.

Whether done or not, however, he well deserves this exalt- ed honor conferred by

the unanimous vote of the Legislature in the face of ostracism which the whole

country deplores and condems.

The Southern Advocate on July 31, 1862 summarized the local citizens' interests

in the State Line and made some obligatory predictions of a brilliant, glorious

career for this arm of the service. The Advocate's editor, having mastered the

merit of relating to the readership and feeding upon public fears, continued the

article by listing the counties of Lee, Wise, and Russell by name and

enumerating past sacrifices and future dangers.

Floyd promoted public acceptance of his fledgling military organiza- tion by

playing upon public fear, patriotic zeal and ridicule of Northern figures in

area newspapers. Floyd's years in politics and government in- trigue served him

well during this stage of his life. He knew very well the value of an ace in the

hole and experience had taught him the most oppor- tune time to play it. Knowing

that patriotic orations and name calling would not complete his muster rolls, he

saved his most powerful incentive until it could be most effective. Under the

headline "Address From General Floyd" the Southern Advocate on September 4, 1862

announced:

  General Floyd makes an appeal to all men in southwest Virginia not of

  conscript age....

  ...By it [responding to the Governor's call], the choice is offered them of 12

  months service in the state or of a three years service by the extension of

  the conscript act in the army of the Confederate States. In addition to this,

  the advantages of a Partisan Ranger service will be extended to the Virginia

  State Line and all property taken from the enemy will be equally distributed

  among those capturing it.

Hatred and patriotism aside, the two points of shorter service time and

recognition as partisan rangers were to be the primary factors in attracting men

to Floyd. These two inducements became points of contention which would help

bring the State Line to an ignominious end.

Many of Floyd's former military comrades were neither as enthusias- tic as some

members of the public nor as receptive to reinstatement of General Floyd as were

Virginia's lawmakers. Brigadier General Henry Heth wrote Colonel G. W. C. Lee,

President Davis' aide-de-camp, on July 4, 1862. Heth complained:

  ...A party of bad, bold, and disappointed men are trying in every way to break

  down the C.S. army in the section of country which I have just left. I regret

  to say that it is my belief that General Floyd is at the head of this

  organization. The object appears to be to break down the C.S. army in

  Southwestern Virginia, and upon its ruin to build up an army of their own, or

  to render it unpopular, and if possible, inefficient. They urge upon the

  people that the conscript law never was intended to be carried into effect;

  that Con- gress had no idea of compelling all but it was to be optional,

  trusting to their patriotism; that the law was especially passed to affect the

  Army as it stood, and keep up its or- ganization; in other words, that the

  conscript law is a law and no law. A system of maligning and abusing C.S.

  offic- ers was inaugurated in Southwestern Virginia as soon as General Floyd

  returned to the section of the country, prior to the passage of the conscript

  law. To such an extent was it carried on by General Floyd's agents in General

  Marshall's command that General M. informed me he was compelled to represent

  the case officially to the War Department. I was subsequently informed by

  Colonel McCausland that as soon as his regiment was attached to my command the

  same system was pursued among his men, persuading them not to re-enlist under

  my command. The simplest official act of a commander in Southwestern Virginia

  is censured by the newspapers in the pay of this party, and the utmost done to

  break down his influence. If the army which the State of Virginia has

  authorized General Floyd to raise is ever organized, I am confident that

  conscripts and deserters will form its larger proportion. Although the

  adjutant- general...has been very explicit in regard to receiving conscripts,

  his orders are ignored....

Heth's charge about newspapers was certainly true. Floyd owned the Abingdon

Virginian and was a major investor in Goodson's Southern Advocate. Prior to the

war he bought the Sandy Valley Advocate in Catlettsburg, Kentucky, which was,

according to one Big Sandy Valley historian, the pioneer advocate of development

of the mineral resources of the eastern Kentucky-western Virginia region. Floyd

was no stranger to the potential of the printing press.

The Virginia State Line was answerable to the Adjutant General of the

Commonwealth and the Governor of the Old Dominion, not Confederate officials.

Many of General Floyd's reports to Governor Letcher were part of the Virginia

state records which were lost when Grant's forces captured Richmond in early

April 1865, two years after Floyd's death.

 Organization

Major James Milton French of the 63rd Virginia Infantry sought and received

permission to try to recruit a new infantry regiment in early 1863. His

recruiting area was the border counties in Western Virginia and Eastern Kentucky

in early 1863. He was to have become the Colonel of the new regiment. He was

successful in raising four companies and portions of three others. At least

three of these companies were raised from members of the disbanded Virginia

State Line and were from Wise County, Virginia. Most of these men later served

with the notorious Lieutenant Colonel Clar- ence J. Prentice, commander of the

7th Confederate Cavalry Battalion.

It would also seem that Clarence Prentice simply assumed the organization French

had established in March and early April 1863.

A full organizational structure for the battalion has not been deciphered.

Records for both battalions are severely lacking. What is known in presented

below:

      French's BattalionPrentice's Battalion

      Company ACapt. Wilburn FultonCapt. Robert Bates

      Company BCapt. William A. PowersCapt. George D. French

    Company CCapt. Robert BatesCapt. H. B. Roberts

    Company DCapt. George D. FrenchCapt. Richard L. Skeen

    Company ECapt. John P. Chase

    Company FCapt. William A. Chaney

    Company GCapt. Algernon Sidney Cook

    Company HCapt. Richard Hager

    Company ICapt. M. L. Carter

 

H. B. Robert's, John P. Chase's and Company H of the 7th Battalion Confederate

Cavalry were also part of French's Battalion, but which place they had in the

line is unknown.

James Milton French, born in 1835 in what became Bland County, Virginia. He

studied law, and became one of the earliest attorneys in Wise County. He became

well respected in his community by citizens on both sides of the political

fence. At the onset of hostilities Milt French joined the 51st Virginia Infantry

as a lieutenant, but was dropped at that regiment's reorganization. He became

Major of the 63rd Virginia Infantry, commanded by Colonel James J. McMahon.

McMahon, a Washington County Presbyter- ian minister, had enlisted as volunteer

aide de camp to Brigadier General John B. Floyd. McMahon served with Floyd until

the Confederate fiasco at Fort Donelson, Tennessee on February 16, 1862. McMahon

escaped with Floyd and returned to Southwest Virginia. Upon his return he

recruited a regiment from Washington, Smyth, Wythe, Carroll, Montgomery and

Gray- son counties. Though uncertain, French may have been affiliated with Floyd

during the early days of the war as well.

One character who aligned his forces with Floyd was one Nathaniel McClure

Menifee. Menifee had some fleeting Kentucky connections, but was raised in

Missouri and lived in California several years before the war. Menifee claimed

to hold a colonel's commission from Kentucky's provisional government. He and a

few men, some of whom joined French, were guilty of several heinous crimes in

Pike County, Kentucky. However, before these crimes were well publicized, he

convinced several Wise County boys into joining his command. These men were led

by Captain John Chase, Sam Newberry and Wilburn Fulton. These three men became

disillusioned with Menifee quickly. They were, however, stuck in a command they

preferred to be in. They pressed charged against Menifee. The renegade Colonel

was court-martialed, but remained free. He extracted revenge on Sam New- berry.

Menifee killed Newberry at the latter's mother's funeral at Guest's Station in

Wise County in the spring of 1863.

Floyd also had his own troubles. He had hoped to propel himself to the

Confederate Senate from Virginia for his State Line service. Allen Caperton won

the position instead and Floyd had no further use for the military organization

created for him. He furloughed his men in late February 1863. The Virginia

General Assembly abolished the Virginia State Line on March 31, 1863. Several

new commands were recruited from the disbanded men. Key among them were most of

the 19th and 21st Virginia Cavalry Regiments. Levi's Battery which was part of

Thomas' North Car- olina Legion of Highlanders and Cherokee Indians. Several

former members of the 4th Virginia State Line flocked to the banner of James

Milton French and his proposed 65th Virginia Infantry Regiment.

In official records this organization was called "French's Regiment of Virginia

Infantry, under (acting) Colonel James M. French. It was never fully organized.

Lee Wallace wrote of this unit:

  Authority was granted by Major General Samuel Jones, commanding the Department

  of Western Virginia, to Major James M. French, 63d Regt. to raise a

  regiment... Colonel James M. French's __ Regiment VA Infantry in course of

  organization was assigned to [Williams' Brigade]... U.S. Prisoner of War

  records show that Major French was cap- tured on April 15, 1863, with several

  officers and men of French's Bn. Va. Inf. which was recruiting in Eastern

  Kentucky. French was soon afterwards exchanged, and returned to his former

  position as major of the 63rd Regi- ment. He was [later] promoted to colonel,

  evidently having abandoned the idea of a new regiment. From a comparison of

  names of the captured members of this battalion reported captured some of the

  men previously belonged to Kentucky and Virginia organizations. Several were

  members of the Virginia State Line. Prisoner of War records show that at least

  seven companies had been formed, of which four have been identified. The four

  companies identified were: Company A was under Captain William Fulton and was

  a cavalry company. Company B was commanded by Captain William A. Powers while

  Company C was led by Captain Robert Bates. Company D was commanded by Captain

  George D. French, younger brother of James Milton French.

The Virginia State Line was officially transferred to the control of the

Confederate States of America on March 31, 1863. The Virginia Legislature wanted

to transfer these men to the Confederate Army as complete units. General Floyd

however, furloughed his men about February 28, 1863 and most of them just went

home. This resulted in a need to re-recruit these men into the Southern Army.

One man, who from all accounts was a very responsible person, Major James Milton

French, attempted to recruit a regular military regiment. French's regiment was

tentatively called the 65th Virginia Infantry and was composed of the remnants

of the 4th and 5th Virginia State Line in recruited in Wise County. French who

was on de- tached recruiting duty from the 63rd Virginia Infantry, had been a

pre-war attorney in Gladeville. He was well known in Wise County and was able to

recruit 300 to 400 men quickly.

French, in a desire to complete his regimental compliment of about 1,000 men,

moved into Pike County, Kentucky in early April 1863. French felt he could

complete his organization in eastern Kentucky. This was a fateful mistake on his

part. On April 15, a Federal patrol dispersed his command and captured several

of his men.

Colonel George W. Gallup informed U.S. Army General Ambrose Burnside on April

19, 1863:

  Having definite information of a rebel camp, under command of a Major [James

  M.] French, having been established at Piketon, in Pike County, Kentucky, 80

  miles distant from this post headquarters [Louisa, Kentucky], at the request

  of Col. John Dils, Thirty-ninth Kentucky Regiment, I sent him, with a

  detachment of 200 men of the Thirty-ninth Kentucky Regiment, selected, good,

  mounted riflemen, with orders to rout them. He left on a morning of April 13,

  instant, and came upon the enemy on the morning of the 15th in- stant.

  Colonel Dils attacked them at daylight on the 15th instant, and brisk

  skirmishing ensued for about an hour, when the enemy was compelled to

  surrender the town. We captured Major French, 1 surgeon, 1 mustering officer,

  5 captains, 9 lieutenants, 70 men, 30 horses and saddles, about 40 guns, and

  all their stores, and... destroyed their camp. I also sent out a detachment of

  the Fourteenth Regiment Kentucky Volunteer Infantry (1 corporal and 13 men) to

  watch the movements of General Marshall toward Breathitt County. They followed

  the enemy, under General Marshall, closely to Breathitt County, 75 miles, and

  came upon a party of Captain [J. H.] Bradshaw's Company, and captured 12 men,

  and, on their way back, one piece of artillery, the only one Marshall brought

  into Kentucky with him, and returned to this post without the loss of a man

  killed or wounded.

These men were hurriedly shipped off to a Federal prison camp-- Camp Chase,

Ohio. It was during their brief stay at Camp Chase that the Wise County boys met

Major Clarence J. Prentice of Louisville, Ken- tucky.

Major French was respected by a Pike County resident and Federal Army officer,

Colonel John Dils. Colonel Dils intervened with Federal prison officials for the

captured members of French's command and they were quickly exchanged. Dils in

fact characterized French as the only honest rebel he ever knew. Knowing

French's record with the 63rd Virginia and his postwar legal and judicial

career, he was obviously an honest man and good officer. Personal respect for

French was his drawing card; it took a special man to attract men who had ridden

with the nefarious Menifee and would ride with the equally notorious Prentice to

join him, however briefly.

Ephraim A. Dunbar, recalled in a letter to his nephew R. E. Chase in 1923 the

following information.

  Coln James Milton French the oldest son of old Uncle George French and was a

  young lawyer of some note. [He] had been verry active aiding in the drilling

  and training of about the first volenteers from that county (Wise). I don't

  know, whether he held any commission or not when he went to the war.... About

  the time that Menifee was getting in bad with the war department, Coln French

  came back to Wise co and made some speeches against the kind of war- fare that

  Menifee had started. He made one speech at Holly Creek (now Clintwood). [T]]he

  people was well pleased with his idea of a state line force that would protect

  all citizens alike regardless of their political faith. In the spring of 1863

  I think it was French got some companies from Bland Co. and some from Wise

  together....[H]e was in camp awhile at Gladesville also on Indian Creek. Had

  his idea been carried out it would have been a good thing for that section...

  [H]e made the great mistake of mooving his little command to Pikeville, Ky and

  trying to make his headquar- ters there. He soon prooved that he was a better

  talker than he was a military strategist. He had not been in camp but a short

  time until the Federal forces come up the river surrounded the town captured

  him and most of his men. However he formed quite a friendship with old Coln.

  Dilts of Piketon, while he was there. I heard of Dilt's saying that Coln.

  French was all the honest rebel that ever lived. It was also through the

  enfluence of Dilts that he and his men ware exchanged much sooner than they

  would have been. When he and his men ware exchanged his men that was from

  Bland never came back to the state line service, but joined the eastern army

  and he made some record as an officer in the war.

French's Battalion was also referred to in the records of those captured, as the

65th Virginia Infantry. A few records call the unit the 7th Virginia Mounted

Infantry. The battalion did not disintegrate while French and several of his men

were held in Federal prisons.

 

 

1863

Federal cavalrymen who were planning a raid on the salt works at Saltville.

Marshall's district, consisting of Washington, Russell, Buchanan, Wise, Scott

and Lee counties had been transferred to the Department of East Tennessee. Major

General Samuel Jones felt that Floyd's Virginia State Line was the appropriate

bridge between the departments and was a suitable garrison of the saltworks

which were on the line between the departments. On February 1, General Jones,

commander of Confederate forces in southwestern Virginia responded to an

unlocated message of January 31 that he would send 1,200 to 1,500 men to

Saltville if the expected raid came. Jones, good to his word, ordered the 9th

Georgia Artillery Battalion in Tazewell County to standby to cooperate with

Floyd and obey his orders if necessary.

The Virginia State Line was officially transferred to the control of the

Confederate States of America on March 31, 1863. The Virginia Legislature wanted

to transfer these men to the Confederate army as complete units. General Floyd,

however, furloughed his men about February 28, 1863 and most of them simply went

home. This resulted in a need to re-recruit these men into the Southern

military. Floyd failed to win election as Confederate senator from Virginia in

1863's elections, and his reason for maintaining an army in the field ended.

General Floyd, who had stomach cancer, was dead before the year was over.

One man, who from all accounts was a very responsible, honest person, Major

James Milton French, attempted to recruit a regular military regiment. French's

regiment was tentatively called the 65th Virginia Infantry and was composed of

the remnants of the 4th and 5th Virginia State Line recruited in Wise County.

French who was on detached recruiting duty from the 63rd Virginia Infantry, had

been a prewar attorney in Gladeville. He was well known in Wise County and was

able to recruit 400 to 500 men quickly. French had apparently established a

recruiting depot at Camp Pound by February 22, 1863, the first anniversary of

the permanent