Livestock theft on both sides: A WV Sesquicentennial Moment
By Beth Vorhees and the Division of Culture & History
September 25, 2012 ·
Union forces were scrambling to retain valuable livestock during the fall of 1862.
A
letter to the editor published in the Wheeling Intelligencer on October
2, 1862, and signed by “W” says “the usual quietness” of Glenville was
somewhat disturbed on September 28th, 1862, when about 100 well-armed rebel
cavalry stole Union horses and cattle.
Two
Union regiments sent after the rebels found them on Bone Creek near the county
line between Gilmer and Doddridge counties “just preparing to eat supper.”
The
letter says, “Our boys were so fast upon them that none but the pickets had
time to fire a gun. Lieutenant Hart says that he never witnessed such
‘skedaddling’ as was done at this ‘battle.’”
The
writer also noted that Confederate troops had stolen
Union horses near Philippi the week before.
“It
appears to be a part of the programme of the bushwhackers in this section of
country to steal all the horses they can possibly get hold of for the purpose
of sending them off to Secessia,” which is a term used to describe the
Confederacy.