BATTLE OF SCAREYTOWN.
A brigade of rebels under Governor Wise, crossed the Alleghanies to the head-waters of the Kanawha, with the intention of attacking the rear of McClellan’s forces, while General Garnett was prepared to meet him in front. General Cox had been dispatched to this section with a considerable force of Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky troops, and was encamped on the Kanawha about ten miles below its junction with Scarey Creek. Hearing that a portion of the rebel force had taken position at Scareytown, but four miles above his camp, on the other side of the river, and were entrenching themselves there, General Cox dispatched a force of about 1,000 men, consisting of the Twelfth Ohio, a portion of the Twenty-first Ohio, the Cleveland Artillery, and a detachment of cavalry, all under the command of Colonel Lowe, to dislodge the rebels if practicable. The column was ferried across the stream, and moved cautiously onward, the scouts scouring the country as they advanced. The enemy was found to be entrenched on the opposite side of Pocatallico Creek, here intersecting the Kanawha, protected by breastworks, and also sheltered by woods, about half way up a slope of high hills, having two pieces of artillery in position, while a portion of their infantry had possessed themselves of ten or twelve log huts, constituting the village of Scareytown, in which they had improvised loop-holes. The Federal troops were met by a discharge from the rebel battery as soon as they made their appearance; but the artillery of Captain Cotton soon got in position, and returned the fire of the enemy with good effect. The infantry were now ordered to advance, and rushed fearlessly across the stream, which was fordable, in the face of a heavy fire. The left wing, composed of portions of the Twelfth and Twenty-first Ohio, had reached the enemy’s entrenchments, but being unsupported by the right, and a fresh regiment of the rebels appearing on the ground, they were compelled to retreat, leaving many of their dead and wounded on the field.
The loss of the Federal forces by this engagement was nine killed, thirty-eight wounded, and three missing. Of the rebel loss we have no record.
A great misfortune of the day, however, was the capture of five of the principal officers of General Cox’s command, who were not attached to the expedition.
Colonels Woodruff and De Villers, Lieutenant-Colonel Neff, and Captains Austin and Hurd, prompted by an eager desire to witness the engagement in which they were not assigned a part, rode up the banks of the river to its junction with the creek, and hearing a loud shout, were led to believe that the Federal forces were victorious. They procured a skiff, crossed the creek, and inadvertently strayed within the enemy’s lines, where they were all made prisoners.