The Battle Near Hainesville

On the advent of Gen. Patterson with his 15,000 or 20,000 federal troops into the County of Berkeley, on the 2^nd of July last, his advance column of about 6,000 men were encountered near Hainesville by a portion of the 5^th Va. regiment, commanded by Col. Harper. This regiment belonged to the brigade of Gen. Jackson, the numbers of which did not exceed 2,000 men, which was the whole military force in the county at the time, although Gen. Patterson in his note to Gen. Scott represented our forces engaged with him at about 10,000 men. The regiment referred to, and the only one in the fight, mustered on the morning of the battle 380 men. Capt. Pendleton, of the artillery, with but one gun, participated in the engagement, and during the day a small company of Col. Stewart’s cavalry captured and took prisoner nearly an entire company of federal infantry, numbering 45 men. The other regiments of Gen. Jackson’s brigade occupied positions between Martinsburg and Hainesville, these places being 5 miles distant. It is difficult to give particulars as to the fight at this late day, but these leading facts are stated in vindication of the truth of history. It is well known that the Confederate loss was but 2 men. One only is certainly known to have been killed. Another was supposed to have been killed, but circumstances lead to the belief that he was wounded and made a prisoner, and taken to Hagerstown. It is known that there was but one man in that place, as a prisoner, after the battle, and beside the man killed there was but one other missing from the Confederate ranks, and but seven were wounded. As to the federal loss it is impossible to state it accurately, as it was concealed from the public, and by the officers from their own men as much as possible. That their loss in killed, wounded and prisoners ranged from 300 to 400 there can be little or no doubt. One of their officers admitted confidentially to a gentleman in this place that their killed was about 250. This he said, it was useless to deny, but wished the statement not repeated as coming from him, as it would render his life unsafe.

On the 3^rd of July Gen. Patterson entered Martinsburg unopposed, Gen. Jackson having deemed it prudent to retire beyond the place, in view of Patterson’s superior numbers.

Doings of Patterson’s Army

Berkeley County was invaded by the Hessian & Yankee force under Gen. Patterson on the 2^nd of July. On that day the battle near Hainesville was fought. From the best information we have been able to obtain the federal loss in killed, wounded and prisoners was from 300 to 400, to the loss of one killed, one prisoner & 7 wounded on the side of the Confederates. The army of Patterson reached Martinsburg on the 3^rd of July, and had a mock celebration of the 4^th.

From the river at Williamsport, Md., to Martinsburg, Va., a distance of 13 miles, several houses & barns of secessionists were burned by marauders. Various houses & farms were robbed & plundered on their track. The fine dwelling of James L. Cunningham was burned to the ground. From one gentleman, Wm. Leigh, they stole as many as 15 horses. Another, Samuel Slyer, was robbed of all his horses, stock & poultry. Some families had furniture, bedding, & even smoothing irons, stolen by the mercenaries.

Near the suburbs of Martinsburg, the house of Capt. Nadenbousch was sacked & property of his destroyed to the amount of $10,000 or $12,000.

These are some of the outrages of the army led by a man who professed to sympathize with the people of the South, but who could sacrifice principle & conviction to oppression. While in Martinsburg some of his ruffians frightened a respectable girl to death, & none are known to have been punished for any outrage, although they were notified that this would be done for violations of the regulations of the army for the protection of persons & property, and in one instance at least is Gen. Patterson known to have been culpable himself in "taking care" of a certain article of private property. But he did give some protection to our citizens with his own & Tory ruffians from our midst, who returned here with his army. For this let him have all the credit to which he is entitled, although we attribute it as much a desire on his part to maintain his supposed character as a gentleman as to any other better motive.

During Gen. Patterson’s stay in Martinsburg quite a number of southern men were arrested by his minions. Several were required to take the oath of allegiance, but none were sent off to prison except 3 captured soldiers. As an offset to these the Confederate scouts killed 7 captured more than 5 times that number.

The officers & soldiers of gen. Patterson sought to make the people here believe that he had with him an army of 35,000 or 40,000 men, although it never exceeded half that number. On the 16^th of July they left Martinsburg, taking up the line of march, they said, for Winchester. When they reached Mill Creek, however, 12 miles from Winchester, the General changed his mind, and from thence proceeded to Smithfield, thence to Charlestown, thence to Harper’s ferry, where he took his final departure from the Old Dominion.

On his arrival to Philadelphia, after his discharge from the army, Gen. Patterson gave his reasons in a public speech why he did not go to Winchester & attack Gen. Johnson [sic]. When he arrived in Martinsburg, he said, he had but 11,000 men; when he left, 17,000; & arriving at Bunker Hill, (Mill Creek) he ascermained [sic] that Gen. Johnson [sic] had 40,000 men & 60 cannon; that the roads were dug up & barricaded with fallen trees, & he found it impracticable as well as imprudent to proceed. Gen. Patterson was right in one respect at least. Had he gone to Winchester his army would have shared a worse fate that the "Grand Army" did at Mannassas [sic] on the 21^st of July.

Ed. Note- Byron Farwell correctly identifies Falling Waters as a skirmish. To appreciate its importance the following chronology should help to put this time period (April- July, 1861) and the events within it in perspective:

• On 21 April Jackson marched the VMI cadets from Lexington to Richmond where they were to be mustered into the army.
• On 22 April Jackson and the cadets arrived in Richmond. Robert E. Lee arrived the same day, after resigning his Union commission.
• On 25 April Thomas J. Jackson, then a professor at VMI, was commissioned a major of engineers in the Virginia militia.
• On 27 April Jackson was made a colonel and given orders by Maj. Gen. R.E. Lee to take command of the military post at Harper’s ferry with 2 tasks: 1) organize & train volunteers into the Va. militia; 2) all arms, machinery & raw materials in the Harper’s Ferry arsenal were to be shipped to Richmond immediately.
• Harper’s ferry at the time was one of the most important posts in the Confederacy: It bordered on Maryland, a border state then uncommitted to the Union; the B & O railroad, principal line connecting Washington with the west ran through town; the important C & O canal was across the river in Maryland; an important branch railroad went to Winchester; & telegraph lines followed the railroads.
• On May 15, Jackson was relieved of command & replaced by Brig. Gen. Joseph E. Johnston. The reasons for this change were many; probably the most important was that it had grown too large for one with the rank of colonel to command. Other reasons had to do with Jackson ignoring orders to stay off Maryland Heights, which he insisted was vital to defending Harper’s Ferry.
• On 4 June Johnston placed Jackson in command of a newly formed brigade. Johnston saw, as had Jackson, that Harper’s Ferry was impossible to defend unless he controlled the surrounding heights. In spite of Lee’s urging Johnston to do everything possible to hold the town, on 31 may Johnston wrote lee that he could not defend the place.
• On 16 June Johnston’s entire force of 12,000 men was on the road toward Charles Town. On the same day Federal troops under command of Maj. Gen. Robert Patterson moved to near Williamsport, Md., from where they prepared to enter Virginia.
• On 19 June Jackson received orders to destroy all B & O railroad property he could not take with him. He proceeded to Martinsburg where he burned & destroyed 42 locomotives & 305 cars. A substantial number of locomotives, cars & equipment were shipped overland to Strasburg. Jackson was depressed at being the instrument of such destruction. The people of Martinsburg, a majority of who were Unionists, were unhappy at losing an important source of their livelihood.
• On 2 July Patterson crossed the Potomac into Virginia. His orders were, if possible, to take Winchester, otherwise cross the Blue Ridge & take Leesburg. He did neither. Jeb Stuart’s scouts spotted the federals crossing the Potomac early in the morning of 2 July. Jackson, still in Martinsburg, was told that Patterson’s troops were only four & one-half miles north. With fewer than 500 men, including Pendleton’s battery with only one cannon, Jackson marched north & engaged the Union troops. In the overall scheme of things Falling Waters was a small skirmish, but apparently it was enough to cause Patterson to believe he was outnumbered two or three to one and in no position to press on to either Winchester or Leesburg. His troops took Martinsburg, Charles Town & Harper’s Ferry but never threatened the upper valley.

This was important. It enabled Lee to order Johnston & Jackson to move quickly to Manassas, to reinforce Beauregard. Had Patterson attacked the valley it is probable that, Johnston and/or Jackson would have had to defend it. Jackson never would have picked up his nickname, "Stonewall". First Manassas on 21 July might well have ended in a Union victory, which could have changed the entire war.

It is surprising that this newspaper article made no mention of Belle Boyd having killed a union soldier in Martinsburg on 4 July. It certainly made a big splash in newspapers North & South.

Taken from The Berkeley Journal; Issue 19, 1994

Published by the Berkeley County Historical Society