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The
Tragic Fate Of Guyandotte
By Joe Geiger, Jr.
In 1861,
western Virginia was the scene of a fierce struggle which
magnified the bitterly divided sympathies of its populace.
In effect, this area of Virginia experienced its own civil
war, and within two years, the great conflict engulfing the
United States led to the formation of the new state of West
Virginia. By the fall of 1861, Union forces had gained
tenuous control over most of this region, although
Confederate cavalry raids were frequent and discouraging to
Union supporters. One such raid, carried out on November 10,
1861, targeted the town of Guyandotte, Virginia, which
served as the hostile host of a Union recruit camp. While
successful, this action precipitated the burning of the town
by Union troops and sympathizers in one of the Civil War's
early acts of retaliatory destruction. These events
foreshadowed the increasingly harsh nature of the Civil War,
reflecting the hardships suffered by the soldiers of both
sides, as well as the civilian population and local
communities. Guyandotte's fate was a result of the
residents' suspected collaboration with the Confederate
raiders and the town's established reputation as a "hot bed
of secession."
By the middle
of the nineteenth century, Guyandotte was a small, bustling
port on the Ohio River. Founded in 1810 at the confluence of
the Ohio and Guyandotte rivers in Cabell County, the town
featured a number of profitable businesses including the
Buffington Mill, reportedly the largest flour mill on the
Ohio River between Cincinnati and Pittsburgh. Guyandotte
hosted many river travelers and a road, built in the early
1830s, connected the town with the James River and Kanawha
Turnpike at Barboursville, the county seat. To boost
commerce, locks and dams were built along the Guyandotte
River in the early 1850s, enabling navigation southward into
the Guyandotte Valley. The Guyandotte Herald
predicted continued growth for the town, stating that "once
the Guyandotte is fairly opened, the increase of business
will be beyond conception."
In 1857, Eli
Thayer, a United States congressman from Massachusetts,
unveiled his plans for founding a colony in the region.
Thayer, a staunch abolitionist, firmly believed that the
colony's labor force would be provided by organized
emigration and lead to the elimination of slavery. Following
a successful venture in Kansas during the tumultuous
mid-1850s, Thayer set his sights on Virginia, the country's
most prominent slave state. This small-scaled colonization
plan exemplified the bitter divisiveness which led the
country inevitably toward armed conflict. While many
Virginians were hostile toward his plans, others, especially
those from the less prosperous western part of the state
where slavery was not as important, welcomed Thayer and the
influx of labor and capital promised by his venture.
After a brief
visit to the area in May 1857, Thayer selected a site ten
miles west of Guyandotte for his fledgling community, which
he named Ceredo. On July 25, he returned to address a town
meeting in Guyandotte. Thayer assured local citizens that
his primary objective was to make a profit and that he had
no intention of violating state laws regarding slavery. The
Guyandotte audience supported Thayer's plans with
resolutions welcoming the new colony.
While the
Northern press applauded the reception given Thayer, a
tremendous outcry arose from the South condemning
Guyandotte's citizens as "Yankee speculators" and
"anti-Virginians." In response to the criticism, another
meeting was held in Guyandotte on the afternoon of August
26, attended by the town's vocal anti-Thayer faction. The
resolutions passed at this meeting vowed to extinguish any
attempts to abolish slavery and declared steadfast loyalty
to Virginia. Congressman Albert Gallatin Jenkins, who had
recently visited the budding community, gave a stirring
speech denouncing Thayer and Ceredo. Jenkins, a Cabell
County native, also called upon Virginia Governor Henry Wise
to intervene, but Wise refused to become involved in the
controversy.
Regional
tension was exacerbated as a result of John Brown's raid on
Harpers Ferry, which strengthened support for secession in
Guyandotte. Although few of the town's citizens were
slaveholders, they protested against Northern sympathy for
Brown and vowed "to repel at all hazards" any further
encroachment upon their right as Virginians to own slaves.
Local supporters of the newly formed Confederacy rejoiced
when Virginia seceded from the Union on April 17, 1861.
William McComas, the Cabell County delegate to the
convention which decided the fate of the Old Dominion, voted
against secession, as would a majority of the county's
voters one month later. The Wheeling Daily Intelligencer
declared the county's vote misleading, however, and noted
that Guyandotte in particular was a "hot bed of secession."
The town voted to secede, reportedly the only town along the
Ohio River to do so, and the Virginia state flag was boldly
displayed.
A meeting held
in Guyandotte on April 20 was attended by several local
militia companies and a large number of county residents. A
newly sewn state flag was raised by two of the town's oldest
citizens "amid the enthusiastic applause of the multitude
and the rejoicing of the ladies, a large number of whom were
present."One of many speeches given that day was interrupted
by the arrival of a steamer, which brought the official news
of Virginia's break with the Union. The already upbeat mood
turned jubilant, and salutes were fired to the Confederacy
and to President Jefferson Davis. Albert Jenkins, who had
given up his congressional seat, arrived and led some of the
volunteer companies to his farm at Greenbottom, where they
began drilling in preparation for war. Known as the Border
Rangers, these local men soon joined a Confederate force at
Camp Tompkins in the Kanawha Valley.
Despite the
troops' departure, Confederate sympathy remained rampant in
Cabell County, especially in Guyandotte. Property and
livestock were stolen from Union sympathizers and some were
forced to flee into Ohio. On May 25, when merchandise bound
for a Guyandotte resident was seized as contraband in
Proctorville, Ohio, some of Guyandotte's citizens threatened
to cross the Ohio River and take the goods by force. Nearly
two hundred members of the local Ohio Home Guard gathered to
repel any "invasion." Responding to fears expressed by some
Guyandotte citizens, the Ironton Register stated that
"if the people of Guyandotte keep that traitor flag down,
and attend to their own affairs, they need not be at all
afraid of trouble from loyal citizens of the
Government."Although no fighting occurred and tempers
cooled, Guyandotte's reputation was further blemished in the
eyes of Union supporters.
In July 1861, a
Union regiment, the Second Kentucky Infantry, was ordered to
Guyandotte as a result of the Border Rangers' seizure of a
steamboat near Greenbottom. Shortly after the arrival of
Union troops on July 11, several of Guyandotte's citizens
took the oath of allegiance and Union flags were prominently
displayed. A uniformed Home Guard unit rowed across the
river accompanied by an elderly female color-bearer, Mrs.
Caroline White. White, a Union supporter from Guyandotte who
had fled to Ohio, presented a flag to one of the Union
companies and gave them her blessing, to which the soldiers
replied with "vociferous cheers." After dispersing local
militia in a brief fight at Barboursville on July 13,
however, the Second Kentucky moved into the Kanawha Valley
and civil chaos in the county resumed unchecked.
To counter the
aggressive Confederate sympathizers, Union authorities
initiated the formation of local Union regiments. In Ceredo,
threats of destruction issued by area secessionists led the
townspeople to form the Fifth Virginia Infantry. Later in
the year, Kellian V. Whaley, who had filled the
congressional seat vacated by Albert Jenkins, was authorized
to form another Union regiment, the Ninth Virginia Infantry.
Whaley began raising troops in Ceredo, but in late October
the regiment's recruit camp was moved to Guyandotte, a step
which must have horrified the town's Confederate
supporters.Nearly one hundred and fifty troops were
stationed in Guyandotte, but they were untrained recruits
who had not yet been mustered into service. Sickness,
particularly measles, was prevalent in the camp. The
regimental surgeon recorded that twenty men were on furlough
and eighteen others were hospitalized. Colonel John Zeigler,
who commanded the Fifth Virginia, lent Whaley about
thirty-five cavalrymen, but their commanding officer refused
to allow his troopers to patrol outside the town, thereby
rendering them ineffectual. The head of the cavalry
detachment, Lieutenant William E. Feazel, declared, "I did
not come here to scout, but to recruit my horses and get
them shod." The lack of reconnaissance left the town open to
an attack, a fatal mistake exploited by the Confederates.
In the first
week of November, Confederate General John B. Floyd ordered
a cavalry force to "proceed in the direction of the Ohio
River, and to strike the enemy a blow. . . ."The raid was
led by Colonel John Clarkson, whose force numbered about
seven hundred horsemen from the Fifth and Eighth Virginia
Cavalry regiments, the latter led by Colonel Albert Jenkins.
Clarkson's cavalry departed from Camp Dickerson in Fayette
County on November 4 and struggled through the rugged
mountain wilderness, reaching the outskirts of Barboursville
at sunset on November 10. The Confederate cavalry charged
into town at full speed, capturing several Union
sympathizers before crossing the Mud River and moving toward
Guyandotte.
It is uncertain
when Guyandotte was chosen as the target of the Confederate
raid. In fact, Ceredo may have been the original
destination. Seven companies of the Ceredo-based Fifth
Virginia had been ordered to the Kanawha Valley, leaving
only a small Union force to guard the town. Somewhere along
the march, however, the decision to attack Guyandotte was
made and the fate of the Federal recruits was sealed. It is
quite possible that a few of the town's citizens who had
sons serving under Colonel Albert Jenkins had gotten word to
their boys that a Union regiment was forming in the town.
This may have infuriated the proud Border Rangers and
sparked cries for action. The Border Rangers, now Company E
of the Eighth Virginia, were certainly elated at the thought
of returning to Guyandotte. Corporal James D. Sedinger, a
native of the town, recalled, "the boys were all happy then.
We were going home for the first time since the spring."
As Clarkson's
column approached Guyandotte, orders were issued for the
assault. The Border Rangers were to seize the suspension
bridge which spanned the Guyandotte River, preventing escape
to the west, while a detachment led by Major Henry Fitzhugh
moved to the east end of Guyandotte to complete the
encirclement. The remaining Confederate cavalry penetrated
the center of town to attack and annihilate the small Union
force.
Guyandotte was
deceptively peaceful on Sunday night, November 10, 1861.
Some of the recruits were returning home from worship
services while others were visiting with friends or simply
relaxing, unaware of the dramatic events about to unfold.
The silence was shattered as the Confederates raced into
town unopposed. A Union picket guarding a small bridge just
outside the town had seen their approach, but he was so
stunned by the sudden appearance of the enemy that he failed
to fire a warning shot. The Border Rangers, headed by
Captain James Corns, met another picket as they stormed the
suspension bridge. Standing firmly in harm's way, the Union
soldier shot and killed one of the Border Rangers before
being hit by return fire. Sedinger noted, "why he did not
throw down and surrender was always a mystery to us. He was
a small red headed man -- would weigh about one hundred and
forty pounds." The Confederate company dismounted on the
west side of the bridge as the remainder of Clarkson's force
began its attack.
When the first
shots rang out, the Union soldiers dashed into the streets,
curious as to the source of the commotion. The Ninth's young
drummer boy began sounding the alarm, but his instrument was
pierced by a Confederate bullet. By the time the recruits
realized they were under attack, it was too late. Many were
cut off from their Enfield rifles and were unable to resist
as the Confederate cavalry raced through the town hunting
down Union troops and sympathizers. Some tried to flee
across the suspension bridge but were cut down by the Border
Rangers, who had secured this escape route.
Others who
attempted to swim across the Guyandotte River were fired on
by some of the town's Confederate supporters gathered along
the riverbank. Several witnesses later described the murder
of a Union recruit attempting to swim across the river by a
former sheriff of Cabell County, Wilson B. Moore. Moore
apparently persuaded the youth that he would not be harmed
if he surrendered. When the recruit reached shore, Moore
aimed his revolver at the Union man and "discharged its
contents into his head, literally blowing his brains out,
mutilating his head in a shocking manner."
Major Whaley
and a small portion of his command positioned themselves
near the suspension bridge. Whaley decided to seek
assistance and ordered Lieutenant William Wilson to take
command of the tiny resistance force. Wilson wrote of his
experience shortly after the battle: "We continued to fire
for some time. I saw Sine fall. He said he was a dead man. I
saw one little man bleeding at the mouth. He cursed and
swore, but continued to load and fire. . . . He was grit to
the bone -- no better soldier, when wounded, certain. About
this time I was wounded and the enemy drew nearer. I gave
the boys orders to leave, and every man to take care of
himself."
Meanwhile
Whaley had made his way to the stables, seeking cavalry
support to reopen an escape route across the bridge. To his
dismay the major discovered that although the horses were
saddled, no troopers could be found. He managed to round up
a few Union recruits who continued to resist the
Confederates' overwhelming numerical advantage. These Union
soldiers fought bravely but they were steadily pushed back
and forced to make a final stand around the Forest Hotel.
Suddenly Captain Henry Clay Pate, who had four years earlier
been on the losing end of a battle with John Brown in
"Bleeding Kansas," stormed forward with his Petersburg
Rangers. This fierce charge overwhelmed the remaining
defenders and ended the battle. Major Whaley's life was
threatened when he refused to assist Pate in rounding up the
scattered Union recruits, but Colonel Clarkson rode up and
saved him, declaring, "he is a brave man, and I desin so to
report him."
Although Union
armed resistance had been brief, the victorious Confederates
spent the remainder of the night rounding up terrified
recruits who were either attempting to flee the town or
hiding in hope that the new day would bring relief. A tragic
incident occurred in the Forest Hotel when Colonel Clarkson
mistakenly shot and killed Confederate Captain Tom
Huddleston, commander of Company I, Eighth Virginia Cavalry.
Huddleston's death deeply affected his men. A trooper of the
Confederate cavalry wrote, "I saw many of his old comrades
near his dead body in tears, and others kissed his pale,
tranquil face, which they will never see again."
At least three
Confederates were killed on the night of November 10 and ten
others wounded. Despite later Northern reports of a
"massacre," only ten Union recruits were killed, while at
least ten more were wounded. One of the Federal casualties
was Captain George B. Bailey, Whaley's second-in-command,
who was shot in the chin and apparently drowned while
attempting to swim across the Guyandotte River. Bailey had
briefly attended the United States Military Academy; when he
was expelled his position had been filled by his boyhood
friend, Ulysses Grant. Ninety-eight Union troops and
sympathizers were taken prisoner by the Confederate cavalry.
They were assisted by a number of Guyandotte's Confederate
supporters, who used the occasion to settle grudges against
their fellow townspeople who had sided with the North.
An incident
which typified the bitter divisiveness in Cabell County was
the murder of Achilles Fuller, a Union supporter, on
November 10. Earlier in the year Fuller had killed Henry
Shelton, a Confederate supporter whose sons served in the
Confederate cavalry. On the evening of the raid on
Guyandotte, Private George Shelton and a few of his comrades
from the Eighth Virginia Cavalry split off from the
Confederate column at Barboursville and rode to the Fuller
home, where Achilles Fuller was discovered and immediately
murdered.
Although it
remains difficult to assess the extent of Guyandotte's
citizens' involvement in the raid, there is little doubt
that many were exhilarated by the sudden reversal of power.
Contemporary accounts which accused several local citizens
of shooting at the fleeing Union recruits are too prevalent
and similar to be entirely without merit. The claim that
residents of Guyandotte had foreknowledge of the raid and
had furnished intelligence to the Confederate cavalry may
have been true; however, the attack was so sudden,
unexpected, and overwhelming that success was inevitable.
On the morning
of November 11, the Confederates tied their prisoners in
pairs with rope readily supplied by a Guyandotte merchant. A
quarter-inch rope was then used to bind each pair to the
next, until all were tied together. As they were herded out
of Guyandotte, the captured Union soldiers and citizens were
subjected to verbal abuse by the town's women, many of whom
were wearing their "secession aprons." The march commenced
at a run as the column proceeded south along the Guyandotte
River. The pace was so severe that Major Whaley requested he
and his men be shot rather than forced to endure such a
torturous march. Whaley made a daring escape at
Chapmanville, but the remaining prisoners were subjected to
further hardships until the column reached Newbern,
Virginia, where the captured soldiers and citizens were
force into rail cars which transported them on to several
prisons in Richmond. During the grueling march to Newbern,
several secessionist refugees from Guyandotte heckled and
threatened the Union prisoners. Some also testified against
their release, although other former Guyandotte residents
living in Richmond worked on their behalf and provided
assistance for their return to western Virginia.
As the
triumphant Confederates withdrew from Guyandotte with their
prisoners in tow, the steamer SS Boston appeared,
moving slowly up the Ohio River. Aboard were approximately
two hundred Union soldiers from the Fifth Virginia Infantry,
who had advanced from their camp in Ceredo after learning of
the attack. When shots were fired at the steamboat by the
rearguard of the Confederate column, a small two-pounder
aboard the SS
Boston responded, "sending a ball through a rebel's
brick house." The boat then veered to the Ohio side of the
river and landed near Proctorville. Here an unruly,
frightened mob of Ohio Home Guards had gathered to defend
the town. These men and boys, anxious and excited, boarded
the SS Boston, which took them across the river
toward Guyandotte. As the steamer neared the Virginia shore,
two men were spied along the riverbank waving white flags.
Although J. C. Wheeler, the adjutant of the Ninth Virginia,
stated in his report that these were "hypocritical secession
citizens," they were in fact Union supporters, who were
attempting to convince the citizens of Proctorville to halt
their random firing into Guyandotte. The SS Boston
landed about one mile above the town near the home of Robert
Stewart, a prominent secessionist. A rumor that fleeing
Union recruits had been fired on by inhabitants of the home
stirred the men into a frenzy and the dwelling was quickly
burned.
The Union men
then marched into Guyandotte, where they found a number of
dead and wounded comrades and heard reports citing
collaboration between some of the townspeople and the
Confederate cavalry. The rage of the gathered Union troops
and sympathizers now boiled over. Most accounts of the
incident accuse Colonel John Zeigler of issuing orders to
burn Guyandotte. Whether or not orders were given is
irrelevant, since according to one observer, "three
regiments would not have prevented them from burning the
town."
The business
section of Guyandotte was completely gutted, purportedly to
prevent the Confederates from returning for supplies. The
Buffington Mill was burned, as was the Forest Hotel. Even
churches were not immune from the torch. The Guyandotte
Baptist Church was burned after two unsuccessful attempts
when Union soldiers tore off the shutters and stuffed them
with straw before setting them alight in the church belfry.
The Guyandotte Methodist Episcopal Church, South may also
have been burned.
Many houses
were set ablaze, with special attention given to the town's
most prominent secessionists. Women and children were forced
into the streets, and some of the residents reportedly had
to leap out of windows to escape the flames. Union reports
later declared that no homes belonging to Union supporters
were torched. One eyewitness, however, claimed that the
first home to be burned belonged to a Union man, as were the
majority of the residences consumed by fire. One example
typifies the random destruction inflicted upon Guyandotte.
Mrs. Charlotte Douthit, the wife of a prosperous Guyandotte
merchant, had witnessed the seizure of her husband and
eldest son by Confederate troops in the aftermath of the
raid. On the morning of November 11, Union troops appeared
at Mrs. Douthit's front door and warned her to remove any
valuables from the house, as they had orders to burn it.
Mrs. Douthit pleaded with the soldiers and told of her
distressing sacrifices, but the soldiers burned the Douthit
home and a brick storage building filled with wheat. A few
homes were saved by their owners, who doused the flames
following the departure of the Uion troops. Another home was
saved by the determination of the woman of the house, Mrs.
Mary Carroll. Mrs. Carroll barricaded her family in the home
and ignored the soldiers' admonitions to get out. Her iron
will prevailed as the troops grudgingly moved on.
Later in the
day Union Colonel William Bolles of the Second Virginia
Cavalry arrived in Guyandotte aboard a steamboat. Upon
seeing the wanton destruction, he immediately sought out
Colonel Zeigler and implored him to bring his troops under
control. When Zeigler declared that he could not subdue his
men, Bolles rode through the streets threatening the Union
troops, who were finally persuaded to stop the devastation.
Before departing from Guyandotte, Colonel Zeigler's troops
arrested sixteen local citizens for their role in the
battle. These men were immediately shipped off to Camp Chase
Prison in Columbus, Ohio.
The Confederate
raid on Guyandotte, exaggerated as a "massacre" by the
Northern press, shocked and angered Union supporters.
Shortly after the news reached the northern panhandle town
of Moundsville, the streets filled with "excited men and
women" who assaulted four secessionists and jailed three
while shouting, "Guyandotte must and shall be revenged." A
committee of Union men went to the homes of other
secessionists and ordered them to leave town. The raid also
led many Northerners to re-evaluate the nature of the war:
"One thing is becoming more and more evident each day, both
to patriots and traitors. And that is, that this rebellion
will be put down at whatever cost of blood and treasure. The
time for dallying and temporizing with traitors is gone . .
. rigid retribution is now to be the policy." Guyandotte's
fate was a chilling portent of the devastation that would be
increasingly levied not only on the soldiers fighting the
war but also on the civilian population supporting it,
particularly in the South.
There was
little sympathy in the North for the citizens of Guyandotte.
Although the participation of some of the townspeople in the
Confederate raid was undoubtedly a factor in its
destruction, Guyandotte's notoriety was also an essential
element. The Ironton Register commented:
"Guyandotte's machinations hath kept the border in constant
alarm; its people hath sown to the wind, and already reaped
the whirlwind." Another northern paper, the Wheeling
Daily Intelligencer, was even more blunt in its
unconcealed glee at the town's fate: "Guyandotte . . . has
always had the reputation of being the `ornaryest' place on
the Ohio River." After comparing the town to Vicksburg, the
paper added that Guyandotte "ought to have been burned two
or three years ago."
The raid
instilled a fear in Union supporters living in this border
region which remained throughout the war. This fear spurred
Union authorities to maintain troops in Guyandotte during
much of the next four years. Ironically, the county seat was
moved to Guyandotte in 1863 because it was deemed more
secure than Barboursville. Although Confederate cavalry
returned to Cabell County on several more occasions, their
success at Guyandotte was not repeated. Following the
Confederacy's defeat in 1865, soldiers from both sides
returned home to rebuild their lives.
Guyandotte also
rebuilt and before long the business section was thriving
once again. By 1872, more than fifty businesses were
operating in the community, including six legal firms, a
photograph gallery, a jewelry store, a woolen factory, a
book and stationary store, four hotels, and five saloons.
local newspaper estimated that one thousand people resided
in Guyandotte and described the citizens as "social,
hospitable, and generous."
The town's
growth, however, was adversely affected by the emergence of
the neighboring city of Huntington, formed in 1871 to serve
as the terminus for the Chesapeake & Ohio (C&O) Railroad.
Legend has it that the new city was built by C&O company
president Collis P. Huntington after he was arrested in
Guyandotte for riding his horse on the sidewalk. Regardless
of the reason, his decision had a fateful effect, as the
city named for him soon eclipsed and eventually incorporated
the historic town of Guyandotte.
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