I’ve been a student
of the American Civil War since I read John Fox, Jr.’s excellent
book, “Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come,” for the first
time while in study hall in Gauley Bridge High School around 1960. Not
long afterwards, I learned that the other kids in the area who had
cigar boxes filled with musket and minie balls collected them from
locations in the small West Virginia town where combat occurred in
1861 and 1862 as the area changed from Confederate to Union and back
to Confederate before settling permanently under Union control in late
1862. Even the old bridge piers in the middle of Gauley River
that survived two separate burnings were large reminders of Civil War
violence.
Fox’s wonderful
book also had a continuing impact on me because of its accurate portrayal
of Scotch-Irish mountain communities such as the Greenbrier County
mountaintop where my paternal grandparents lived and I tried to spend
every free summer moment. He wrote with great precision on the
social history of the mountain people who were among my ancestors before
he covered Civil War combat and its impact on individuals caught up
in the conflict as Fox related both military and social history in
a way that has enthralled readers in communities far removed from the
ridges and plateaus of Appalachia.
After being attracted
to military history studies, I studied warfare as a practitioner in
Special Forces and within the Intelligence Community for over forty
years and combined practical experience with academic studies at the
University of Southern California and the U.S. Army War College at
Carlise, Pennsylvania. But two major interests continued for
focus my reading and writing over the years as my fascination with
both the Civil War and the Scotch-Irish people intensified… and
somewhere along the way I discovered Smitley.
Smitley was a recurring
character appearing in several general Civil War titles with his three “initials” rather
than the pair generally seen in the United States. In addition
to the extra initial, C.W.D. Smitley was reported to have served as
a Union scout, or actually a spy, while wearing a Confederate uniform. In
some books lacking both footnotes and bibliography, Smitley was also
credited with exposing Belle Boyd, a famous Confederate spy in the
Shenandoah Valley, apparently after “romancing” the young
lady from Martinsburg, West Virginia. Having served with many “old
soldiers” prone to war stories and embellishment, I quickly placed
Mr. Smitley into that category. Later, I located additional references
to Union volunteers operating as “scouts” while wearing
Confederate uniforms that would condemn them to death as spies if they
were captured.
Years later and while
assigned into a new nation experiencing its own civil war, a friend
sent me a very interesting Harpers Monthly Magazine article about a
scout who worked while wearing a Confederate uniform. The title
of the article was the name of the scout: “Rowand.” During
an interview with the Harpers reporter, Rowand named several scouts
who were selected to become the nucleus of Sheridan’s experienced
scouts. Interestingly, Smitley’s name was not among them,
even though Smitley served in the same region, Virginia’s Shenandoah
Valley. Early in the article, Rowand mentioned his friend, Ike
Harris, who had the nickname “Spike,” but neither Smitley
nor Harris were mentioned as a potential candidates selected for Sheridan
new scouting unit. After several decades of collecting tidbits
of information related to these young men, I expected to see them mentioned
as potential candidates for Sheridan’s scouting unit and continued
to doubt that the stories about them were accurate.
Years later, I found
a letter written by Smitley as he attempted to gain a soldier’s
pension and this letter to General Franz Sigel, his commander during
May, 1864, cleared up this mystery. Smitley described how he
was captured while scouting near Wardensville, West Virginia, as he
worked for Sigel during his New Market campaign. He wrote that his
fellow scout, Ike Harris, bravely attempted to rescue him. Unfortunately,
Harris was wounded, but pressed his attack until he was killed by a
shotgun blast. Neither Smitley nor brave Ike Harris were available
for consideration for selection into Sheridan’s new scout unit
as it was being formed.
And later yet, I discovered
a photograph of Ike Harris in his Union Army uniform complete with
sergeant’s stripes that were out of place on the young soldier
with an even more youthful face. Young Ike Harris reminded me
so much of a teenage grandson that I saddened as I viewed the old photo
that demonstrated that young daredevils volunteered for the “extra
hazardous duty” described by Rowand in the Harpers article just
as young soldiers volunteered for similar duty in Special Forces during
the Vietnam War.
Finally, Belle Boyd provided
evidence that Smitley wasn’t just telling war stories about his
relationship that exposed her espionage activities:
“If
I am to recount my moments of glory, then too shall I recount my
moments of sadness, fear and disappointment. Such was the case with
my first affair
of the heart. A young woman in love does not often heed the warnings
of others -- I being no different. Entrusting a note for General Jackson,
to my beau whom I thought to be a paroled Confederate soldier, I was
heartbroken to find he was actually C.W.D. Smitley, Chief of Scouts
for the 5th West Virginia Cavalry.”
The article about Rowand
led to a similar Harpers Monthly Magazine article about Henry H. Young,
a young officer from the Second Rhode Island Infantry Regiment, who
became the commander of Sheridan’s scouts and vanished under
mysterious circumstances, allegedly during a river crossing into Mexico
nearly two years after Appomattox. Sheridan described Young’s
loss in his “Autobiography,” but he had different explanations
in two letters he wrote to the recently discharged Rowand and the Adjutant
General of Rhode Island. Being very familiar with “cover
stories,” I quickly realized that something out of the ordinary
was involved with Young’s disappearance, Sheridan’s multiple
and differing explanations, and Young being mustered out of service
retroactively back to July, 1865.
The discovery of a single
page from an old audit report related to Sheridan’s use of his
Secret Service Fund revealed much about Young, many of his scouts,
and their final trip into hostile territory as Sheridan accounted for
$2100 questioned by the auditors:
“Amount
paid Lt. Col. Young, Chief of Scouts, about November 1st, 1866 for
hire of schooner to the Rio Grande and payment of scouts in the service
of the United States.”
The
certification continued:
“I
certify that the foregoing amount is correct and just, that the services
were rendered as stated and were necessary for the public service
and that the amount was paid to Lt. Col. Young on or about November
1st 1866 for said services and that all receipts and memoranda of
the payment of the same were destroyed by the Chicago fire of 1871.”
Sheridan signed the audit
report on December 8, 1877 in Chicago that revealed that Young hadn’t
been mustered out of the army in July, 1865. Young had signed
for official funds as an army officer around November, 1866. Additionally,
Rowand’s inquiry letter from Pittsburgh to Sheridan requesting
information on Young’s fate was dated early November, 1866. Obviously,
whatever happened to Young occurred soon after Sheridan provided him
with Secret Service funds.
Between the appearance
of Smitley in my readings and the formal audits that paramilitary operators
dread, there were reports about scout relationships with Thomas Laws,
the slave who “cold pitched” Quaker schoolmistress Rebecca
Wright to work as an agent for Sheridan inside the Confederate stronghold
of Winchester, Virginia. Thomas Laws was located and handled
by one of Sheridan’s scouts, much like a modern case officer
manages an intelligence asset. Later, one of Arch’s letters
showed that his scouting partner, Jim Campbell who was nicknamed “Scant”,
was responsible for locating Thomas Laws.
Included in all of the
reading and study was an 1899 book written by a former Confederate
soldier that was also helpful. John Opie wrote some revealing
information regarding Union scouts:
“The
Jessie Scout was a Federal soldier, dressed and armed a la Rebel. He
was named after Mrs. Jessie Fremont, wife of the General of that name,
who first suggested that mode of obtaining information.
“When a Rebel was captured, his furlough or pass was taken from
him, and also his outer garments. A soldier was then found, who
resembled him in size, age, and general appearance. The Rebel’s
uniform, from hat to boots, was put upon this man, who assumed the
name of the prisoner, and the Federal left the camp, a soldier of the
Confederacy…. These Jessie Scouts generally preceded the advance
of the army, and they frequently picked up a great many prisoners,
without creating any alarm. I made the acquaintance of many of
them, and found them bold, dashing, reckless, good fellows. I
met Major Young, Sheridan’s chief of scouts, and found him eminently
fitted for outpost duty and border warfare.”
My greatest writing dilemma
involved the selection of a very important character for the novel:
the scout managing the Rebecca Wright operation. Brave James
A. Campbell of the Second New York Cavalry would have fit this role
well, but his Military Service Record indicated that he was detailed
from his regiment as a scout at “Army Headquarters” from
September, 1864 through May, 1865. These were accurate records
that belonged to the correct soldier, with that commonly occurring
name, as this file also contained the notation of the Medal of Honor
Campbell was awarded for heroism in rescuing Henry Young during a vicious
fight at Woodstock, Virginia. Since Campbell was from the
Army of the Potomac and new to the Shenandoah Valley as the Rebecca
Wright operation commenced in early September, 1864, I chose Arch Rowand
as the scout through whose eyes we would see much of the story. Arch
had been present in Winchester on multiple occasions, would have known
the terrain well, and while he was from Pennsylvania, he lived in South
Carolina as a child and retained a southern accent that served him
well during his scouting trips into Confederate territory. Jim
Campbell was from New York City and worked as a seaman before entering
the Union army as a cavalryman. While Campbell was clearly as
brave as his courageous friend, Arch, he was an unlikely choice to
manage the scout operation involving Thomas Laws and Rebecca Wright – even
though Arch credited Campbell in locating Thomas Laws in the Medal
of Honor recommendation he prepared for his New York partner.
Thomas Laws was definitely
involved in the events described in the novel. He lived in the “contested
area” between the two armies, belonged to a prominent Winchester
attorney, Richard E. Byrd, and was married to “Matilda.” His
ability to locate Rebecca Wright through Matilda’s friend, Marie,
a childhood friend who was raised in the same “yard” is
based on actual historical documentation.
Nearly all of the characters
in the following novel are real and they were involved in the activities
described. Noyes Rand served under Colonel George Patton, the
western Virginia officer who lost his life following the final battle
for Winchester, Virginia. Rand also opened a freight forwarding
company in El Paso, Texas, as described. One of his accounts
of his Civil War experiences was hand written on his company’s
letterhead stationary.
A great deal of mystery
regarding the “Jessie Scouts” still remains, however. A
recently discovered letter written by Michael Sheridan, General Sheridan’s
aide and the man responsible for handling the Secret Service Fund that
was carefully audited following the Chicago fire, provided additional
details about Henry Young’s final mission for Sheridan. In
a letter written on December 11, 1908, Michael Sheridan explained:
“Major H. H. Young,
who commanded these scouts, went to Mexico in 1866 to aid Juarez in
driving the Imperialist forces from that country. Some twelve
or fifteen of the scouts accompanied him and all were killed there
by a detachment Juarez’ army through a mistake, they having
been taken for Imperialists. Campbell, one of the best, was buried
at Arlington about three years ago. I do not know where his family
are if any of them could give any information as to his Civil
War career. I am sorry that I cannot help you more. I remember
little about their deeds for the very nature of their service compelled
Gen’l Sheridan to keep everything between him and Major Young
most secret and yet these scouts were not sleuths but enlisted men
who performed their dangerous duties through patriotic motives and
not for gain.”
Michael Sheridan knew
far more than he admitted to the Harper’s reporter. He
handled his brother’s secret service fund and chose to take what
he knew to the grave rather than reveal the secret mission into Mexico
undertaken by the brave Young and his Jessie Scouts.
Sheridan’s auditors
mentioned the expenditure of $2100 to hire a schooner to the “Rio
Grande” and pay the scouts that Michael Sheridan believed were
killed accidentally by the Liberal Mexican army Sheridan was aiding
covertly – probably in defiance of Congress.
Another
historical novel may be needed.
David
L. Phillips
Leesburg,
Virginia