CHAPTER XLVI.
Events of 1861.
Operations in West Virginia.
ON the 24th of May the Union army crossed the Potomac from Washington to Alexandria. At this time Fortress Monroe was held by twelve thousand men, under General B. F. Butler. At Bethel Church, in that vicinity, was stationed a detachment of Confederates. On the 10th of June, a body of Union troops was sent to dislodge them, but was repulsed with considerable loss.
Vicinity of Manassas Junction, 1861.
2. In the last of May, General T. A. Morris moved forward from Parkersburg to Grafton, West Virginia. On the 3d of June he defeated a force of Confederates at Phillippi. General George B. McClellan now took the command, and on the 11th of July gained a victory at Rich Mountain. On the 10th of August, General Floyd, with a detachment of Confederates at Carnifex Ferry, was attacked by General William S. Rosecrans and obliged to retreat. On the 14th of September the Confederates, under General Robert E. Lee, were beaten in an engagement at Cheat Mountain.
3. In the beginning of June, General Robert Patterson marched against Harper's Ferry. On the 11th of the month a division commanded by Colonel Lewis Wallace made a successful onset upon the Confederates at Romney. Patterson then crossed the Potomac and pressed back the Confederate forces to Winchester. Thus far there had been only petty engagements and skirmishes. The time had now come for the first great battle of the war.
First Battle of Bull Run.