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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