Page:Confederate Military History - 1899 - Volume 2.djvu/260

52 moved to begin military operations without delay, he petitioned the secretary of war to send the entire command of General Loring to reinforce him at Winchester for the purpose of making an immediate attempt to capture the Federal forces at Romney, commanded by General Kelley. He stated to the secretary of war that it was of great importance to occupy northwestern Virginia at once, and that while the enemy was not expecting attack, during the severity of winter, was the Confederate opportunity of achieving success.

Jackson's plan, as outlined in his letter of 1861, covered a campaign which included a general battle with McClellan, who was to be defeated, and the reoccupation of the northwest counties and the Kanawha valley. The proposed campaign was undoubtedly hazardous, but the ardent spirit of Jackson saw that the chances of a great success were on the Confederate side.

The eagerness of Jackson to be striking a blow against the enemy somewhere would not suffer him to wait for a decision which seems to have been delayed in a too cautious consideration of obstacles. Believing that even his small command could be made effective, before the arrival of the army of the Northwest, and as a good exercise in the chilly December, he moved upon Dam No. 5, on the Chesapeake & Ohio canal, which was being used by the Federals in forwarding troops and supplies. The expedition involved more hardship than danger. Though Banks, with a large force, was near the opposite bank of the Potomac, Jackson deceived that Federal officer easily by making a diversion with Virginia militia toward Williamsport.

Early in December, Taliaferro's brigade of the army of the Northwest the First Georgia, Third Arkansas, Twenty- third and Thirty-seventh Virginia regiments, arrived, and a few weeks later more of the same army reported, under General Loring, consisting of Col. William Gilham's brigade—the Twenty-first, Forty-second