Mistress of the Mansion, Ellen Tompkins of West Virginia’s Gauley Bridge Caught Between Two Opposing Armies

“I expect to leave very soon and hardly hope ever to see this house again as even the majors say it ought be used as a hospital, then burned. It makes one suspicious to have a person very friendly in the house, talking, and then before they reach the gate to hear such remarks. I shall go to Richmond and no matter what happens stand my ground.” Ellen Tompkins letter to her sister on November 28, 1861.

“The cannon was on the range of our house and fired into the meadow in front of it. Mr. T. asked General Floyd not to fire on his house as we were in it. He refused to oblige him and he resigned at once, is now in Richmond. The Confederates were on a hill in front of the house. I did not like being so near the shells. We have had delightful weather.” Ellen Tompkins’ letter to her sister on December 5, 1861. 

Jacob Cox described both the location and situation:

“Nothing could be more romantically beautiful than the situation of the post at Gauley Bridge. The hamlet had, before our arrival there, consisted of a cluster of two or three dwellings, a country store, a little tavern, and a church, irregularly scattered along the base of the mountain and facing the road which turns from the Gauley valley into that of the Kanawha. The lower slope of the hillside behind the houses was cultivated, and a hedgerow separated the lower fields from the upper pasturage. Above this gentler slope the wooded steeps rose more precipitately, the sandstone rock jutting out into crags and walls, the sharp ridge above having scarcely soil enough to nourish the chestnut-trees, here, like Mrs. Browning’s woods of Vallombrosa, literally “clinging by their spurs to the precipices.” In the angle between the Gauley and New rivers rose Gauley Mount, the base a perpendicular wall of rocks of varying height, with high wooded slopes above. There was barely room for the road between the wall of rocks and the water on the New River side, but after going some distance up the valley, the highway gradually ascended the hillside, reaching some rolling uplands at a distance of a couple of miles. Here was Gauley Mount, the country-house of Colonel C. Q. Tompkins, formerly of the Army of the United States, but now the commandant of a Confederate regiment raised in the Kanawha valley.

“Across New River the heavy masses of Cotton Mountain rose rough and almost inaccessible from the very water’s edge. The western side of Cotton Mountain was less steep, and buttresses formed a bench about its base, so that in looking across the Kanawha a mile below the junction of the rivers, one saw some rounded foothills which had been cleared on the top and tilled, and a gap in the mountainous wall made room on that side for a small creek which descended to the Kanawha, and whose bed served for a rude country road leading to Fayette C. H. At the base of Cotton Mountain the Kanawha equals the united width of the two tributaries, and flows foaming over broken rocks with treacherous channels between, till it dashes over the horseshoe ledge below, known far and wide as the Kanawha Falls. On either bank near the falls a small mill had been built, that on the right bank a saw-mill and the one on the left for grinding grain.” 

war, they were more an undisciplined rabble than soldiers.

Ellen continued to describe her initial encounter with the newly arrived Federal army: 

“I told them I had none as I sent it away when I heard they were coming, if they wished milk or bread or meat, that they should have it. A party rushed into the kitchen. I asked the officer very politely to request his men to leave the kitchen, food should be brought to them in the porch. Some had gone to the vineyard house (no one was in it however). A party rushed into the stable yard with shovels, etc. Three went to Dickert’s house, the white man who has lived here for two years, broke open his trunk, took his watch, breast pin, 437 dollars in notes due in Cincinnati, 95 dollars in bank notes. I told the officer that Mr. T. had written to General Cox and that as a gentleman my greatest protection was in my entire defenselessness, and showed him the note left the day before by the officers. One was his captain fortunately. He called his men off and left. Mr. Dickert went after them, but they were going to run him through. I sent a letter for him, to stop the payment of the 437 dollars, the 95 he lost, of course. I told him if faithful I’d give him a watch.” 

August was a very active month for people in the area of Gauley Bridge, Virginia. The Confederate commander was able to come away from the battle of Scary Creek which was fought below Charleston with what was essentially a stalemate. He and his forces were now faced with a situation in which they were threatened with being surrounded by troops sent from the Sutton area. If these Federal troops were able to march south to Gauley Bridge, the small Confederate force would be cut off and would probably have been forced to surrender. General Wise, his Legion, and the newly recruited Confederate regiments from the Kanawha Valley began their retreat.

As in any retreat, the Confederates destroyed bridges in their rear to prevent the development of rapid pursuit and the bridge across Gauley River was not to be an exception. It was burned early on the night of July 27, 1861 and the blaze from the burning structure was spectacular. The glow was seen as far away as Woodville (currently Ansted) and the flames would have been quite visible from the Tompkins home.

A.B. Roler, a member of Wise’s Legion, recorded the destruction of the bridge in his diary:

“…When all of the companies were over the bridge with their baggage and commissary stores, the bridge was set on fire at about 11 p.m. It burned very fast, and the first arch that was fired fell in about one half hour. The whole length of the bridge was at least 150 yards, and ten minutes after the torch was first touched, the whole bridge was one sheet of flame, and for five or ten minutes afterwards presented one of the most beautiful sights I have ever saw. The night was somewhat cloudy and very damp from the recent rain, though it had stopped raining by this time. The smoke arose from above in heavy spiral columns which lingered a moment over the burning wreck, affording time to be lit up in the most gorgeous colors, and then passed off into the air. The curve of the wind was south east and was right against the side of the bridge which caused the smoke from the flooring of the structure to circle beneath the arches in beautiful curves, and to mingle with that of the roofing after it had passed across. The exclamation of all present was what a beautiful sight….” 

and Gauley last Saturday, destroying the bridges behind us. This I was obliged to do … owing to gross inefficiency of the quartermasters department of my brigade, I have come on slowly.” 

These visiting Kentucky troops broke into the overseer’s house and robbed his savings while others went to the stable yard with shovels. This is probably the source of the story that a quantity of silver was buried on the Tompkins’ farm that has persisted to the present. (The location of the buried treasure was alleged to be marked with a buried musket.)

Ellen described her rather strange situation in a letter to her sister:

“Major Leiper came up at dinner time to say that General Cox had received Mr. T.’s letter, recognized his right to send it, and would see me protected, that his horse would not cross the ford or he would have called himself. He called the next day with several of his staff officers and took dinner, and is an elegant, accomplished gentleman, withal very handsome. Strange to say General Wise always sat at table on my left hand (the seat of honor I believe) and General Cox, his enemy, took the same seat two days after. I smiled to think how the table was filled with men in so short a time anxious to cut each other’s throats.”

Cox had received a letter from Tompkins and had accepted responsibility for the safety of the Tompkins family. The letter was written at Gauley Mount on July 28, 1861 and was sent to Cox who was probably given the letter as he entered the town of Gauley Bridge:

“Sir:

“Circumstances over which I have no control, have compelled me to abandon my farm, and leave upon it a defenseless family of females and children.

“Should the chances of war direct your columns in this vicinity, it is presumed that these persons would receive treatment befitting their several stations, provided responsible persons were in immediate command. But, should this particular locality be visited by scouting parties or irregular detachments of your Forces, temptations to license and abuse of private rights might be committed without your knowledge or sanction.

“It is to guard against such a contingency, that I have taken the liberty to address you in this communication, and to call your attention to the propriety of giving such instructions as will doubtless present themselves to an Officer of your rank and reputation. If, however, you should think it out of your power to prevent such abuses of private immunities, I will be obliged if you will apprise Mrs. Tompkins of the fact.”

Tompkins’ letter was written the day after the bridge was burned and Cox had dinner there two days where Confederate Wise had eaten at the same table. Cox must have been on the farm on either July 30 or August 1. The Federal pursuit was not very far behind and the burned bridge was only a temporary obstacle to the continued Union advance.

The Federal officers who visited the farm were described by Ellen as “…very respectful and really kind, thank me for all that I do for them…” but Ellen’s position within their lines was precarious. Her family and property had to be guarded by troops from each side. When the area was occupied by the Confederates, General Wise’s son, O. Jennings Wise, the commander of the “Richmond Light Infantry Blues” provided guards to prevent property damage “fearing Union men would burn the house as they threatened it.” Now, the Union officers must attempt to guard the private property from their own troops.

Ellen described them best: “…but the soldiers are cut throats, villainous looking indeed. They are very angry, say it is a pretty kind of war, here is a secession Colonel and they are not allowed to pillage anything…”

A guard force of twenty soldiers was posted to keep the farm safe from looters. 

see all is right. The officers eat at the table and sleep on mattresses on benches in the porch, the men on the lawn or in the road. Ellen is never seen. They do not know I have a daughter. When our troops were at Gauley Bridge, where these are now, Captain O. Jennings Wise sent me a guard every night, fearing Union men would burn the house as they threatened it. So we have been highly honored by both parties. Captain Wise is General Wise’s son.”

It was beginning to be a strange war for all participants. Here was the wife of a Confederate Colonel, eating at the same table of a man who described how he had ordered his unit to fire at her husband in an effort to kill him. Ellen felt they were “very respectful and really kind…” in spite of the fact that they were enemies. Her daughter, Ellen, was constantly concealed from the Union soldiers as her mother feared for the safety of the fifteen year old girl if she were seen by the ordinary soldiers who were “cut throats … villainous looking”.

She continued the letter to her sister in Delaware:

“The greatest trial is I am cut off from all communication with Mr. T. The mails are stopped from here to Lewisburg. Except a message, I have heard nothing from him. I do not know where he will be ordered. Sometimes my heart almost gives out. Then I feel I must rally as all depends on me now. Whether these troops will go to attack Mr. T. or remain here, I have no idea. The children tell me ‘I am a prisoner of war but don’t know it.’ It is true I ought not to leave here , all is lost if I go, but I am so anxious about Mr. T. Yet we cannot afford to lose this place if by remaining two months all may yet be well. I suppose you know that the dear old state is to be divided. Governor Pierpont is for the Union and this fact is certain, the forces will go as far as the sword will cut. What about Washington? Is it to be taken? I dread the bloodshed following it. Do pray write to me. Tell me who is living, who is dead, and where Henry is? Caroline I heard , was doing well. I get papers from Cincinnati, sent by the officers to me. Indeed, I call them socially friends and am puzzled to draw the line of their political enmity. I look at them and think here General Cox makes it a personal matter to protect the wife and children of a man he may kill next week. I know and believe many of the officers would spare him now for my sake. It is a matter for thought.

“Now for business. How does the blessed estate get on? Do write me a real long letter. Remember how I am situated and how thirsty I am for news of every kind. Your letter must be directed to Mrs. Colonel C. Q. Tompkins, Care of Brigadier General Cox, Gauley Bridge, Fayette County, Virginia, It will come safely through Cincinnati. General Cox sent a letter to Mr. T. from me to relieve his anxiety, and lets me send to mill or store, but worded the pass so as to throw me on my honor. He sends this letter and says I may seal all I write. I admire him truly, for such men have a happy effect for peace.

Please send this letter to Ann Tilyard and tell her not to show it, burn it but to go to see Louisa and Achsah and tell them the news, also Jane. Goodbye with love to Mr. Cooch, Wilkens, Helen, and all the family. I wonder if we will ever meet again.”

Ellen Tompkins had nearly completed the letter to her sister, but as became her habit she included interesting postscripts:

“Write the day you get this for General Cox may leave and my letter might not arrive so safely. Ellen received a letter from Florence last week. She was so delighted.

“The people intercept my letters from Mr. T., I fear to gain some news. He could write nothing to instruct them, of course. They burn my fences, to let the stock out, make fires near the barn in hopes to burn it. I get angry sometimes. The officers put things to rights for me. Oh, what an awful curse war is. How I envy you with your husband and children at home…”

Ellen Tompkins had a real fear of the Union soldiers on her farm and she took serious risks whenever she caused the Union officers to confront the enlisted men on her behalf. She was aware of the risks she was taking by remaining on the farm and took extra precautions by keeping young Ellen hidden and out of sight. Like any normal person, Ellen Tompkins wanted to leave for a safer location, but in the absence of Colonel Tompkins, she felt that the family’s fortunes were her responsibility. She was sure that they would lose their farm and possessions to looters or arsonists if she abandoned the property and she apparently planned to remain there to “see if all may be well”. Most people felt that the war wouldn’t last very long and would be settled in favor of the South. If she could hold out for a few months, the farm in which they had invested most of their money could be safe. If they abandoned it, they would probably lose everything they had there. Ellen Tompkins had excellent financial reasons to remain on the farm when the Federal troops took possession of Gauley Mountain.

A second reason for remaining rather than move to Richmond (as the Confederates withdrew) or travel through Union-controlled territory to Baltimore (as offered by Federal officers) was the nearby presence of Colonel Tompkins. They apparently had a very close marriage and with all of her pressing problems, she confided in her letter to her sister that her “greatest trial” was being cut off from all communications with her husband. At the time the letter was written, Tompkins was probably at Bunger’s Mill near Lewisburg where Wise’s regiments had halted after their long retreat, but there was no way to send mail through the hostile lines.

It is quite likely that Ellen and Christopher Tompkins were more than simply husband and wife. It appears that they were romantically in love with one another since before their marriage. Christopher gave up his army career to return to Richmond to be with Ellen and she had accompanied him into the rough, sparsely populated area of Fayette County, Virginia, to make their home near Gauley Bridge. Occasional hints are present in her letters that indicate their romance was still strong.

After her trip to Richmond to collect winter clothing, she wrote her sister that she “spent some blissful days with Mr. T.” and she worried constantly about his welfare.

Following the dinner where the Federal officer described how he had “ordered one hundred muskets to be fired at Mr. T., described his horse exactly…”, Ellen warned her husband in a note: “Remember you must not ride that horse. It is too well known.” Later in another short letter to her husband, she wrote “I hope you have sold that horse.” These short warnings were the best that she could do to help protect her husband from harm as her letters had to be sent through the Union lines unsealed. She remained unsure of the actual location of Colonel Tompkins, but sent a letter through the lines to him at Lewisburg from Gauley Bridge on September 1, 1861:

“My Dear Husband,

“I have not had the pleasure of hearing from you since the third of August. Various reports have reached us of your presence in this region, but none reliable. My impression is that you are with General Lee, therefore I shall direct this to Lewisburg.

“We are treated with much kind consideration by the officers and a guard is kept here to prevent intrusion. I shall remain here until I know your wishes on the subject. We are all well. The children long to see you. I need not tell you how I wish to see you, for that you know full well.

“How does John get on? Give our love to him, and Mr. Grimme sends his respects. I am tired of this war, and yet see no hope of peace, all looks dark to me, however, I hear no news from the east except a few papers from Cincinnati, newspaper reports I do not credit. I wish I could suggest a way to send me a letter, but I am entirely at a loss.”

She completed the letter with “With much love your devoted wife” and continued with one of the usual postscripts:

“My judgement still approves of my remaining here, but the difficulty of hearing from you is a severe trial. My health is rather better, for I have no spells of nausea, therefore feel no uneasiness about me. Remember you must not ride that horse. It is too well known.”

Ellen’s letters to her husband were subject to Federal censors and were kept short and straightforward. Her brother, John, was a physician assigned to General Wise’s command and his presence in the Confederate force operating in the area gave her additional cause for concern, but her major complaint centered on her inability to communicate with her husband.

Elements from both armies were maneuvering into positions in the area from Hawk’s Nest to Sewell Mountain. Two major transportation routes intersected in that region, the James River and Kanawha Turnpike and Sunday Road (which connected northern areas) where the Federal forces under the command of General McClellan were operating. Wise had to ensure that his small Confederate army did not get caught on the turnpike between General Cox (at Gauley Bridge) and the Federal army under McClellan which could move from the north on Sunday Road and trap the Rebel force in a very inaccessible area where retreat or maneuver would be nearly impossible.

Cox, with a smaller military force at his disposal, kept several of his regiments out in front of his main element, constantly skirmishing with the Confederate pickets to keep Wise off balance. Cox was concerned that the combined Confederate army would be able to attack his force in Gauley Bridge and push the Federal forces out of the upper Kanawha Valley. While Cox was a volunteer general, his military instincts were quite good and he was able to keep the less qualified General Wise guessing about his actual strength and intentions.

During this period of maneuver and counter-maneuver, Tompkins and Ellen’s brother, John, arranged for a note to be sent to General Cox requesting that the Tompkins family be allowed to pass through the Union lines to rejoin her husband in safety. The letter was sent by Colonel C. F. Henningsen, an Englishman who had joined the Confederate army following several years as a “Soldier of Fortune”. Henningsen’s most recent experiences included the invasion of Nicaragua along with a group of Southerners lead by William Walker of Tennessee.

The note was hand carried to General Cox’s headquarters in person by Ellen’s brother, Dr. Wilkins. The message from Henningsen was not been located, but Cox’s reply explained a great deal about Ellen’s situation, Cox’s protection, and advised that she would not be allowed to cross into Confederate-controlled territory. It was written at Cox’s headquarters in Gauley Bridge on September 6, 1861:

“To Colonel C. F. Henningsen

“Sir:

“Your note dated 4th was brought in today with a flag of truce by Dr. Wilkins. I have endeavored to save Mrs. Tompkins from any of the inconveniences or dangers which might result from hostilities in her neighborhood, and have spared no pains to keep her family and property from molestation. She has been allowed every latitude I could reasonably grant and subjected to only such restrictions as seemed necessary.

“The very fact that she has been allowed to remain so long with her family within our lines, makes it improper for me now to grant the request that she should pass over to your forces. I will however see to it that she is not left in any personal danger in any event, or will even allow her a safe conduct to go to her friends in Baltimore, by way of Ohio. More than this I must be excused from granting at present, however I may regret the duty of refusing any request her husband or friends might make. Of course I include her family in the assurances above given.”

There were several reasons that Cox was uncomfortable in releasing Ellen to travel into the Confederate lines at this particular point in the mountain war. Ellen was probably aware of the general weakness of the Federal forces in the Gauley Bridge area at the time. If she were able to tell Confederate General Wise of the Union positions in the area of her farm, the Rebels would shortly realize that they had a definite advantage and would probably be able to force the relatively weak Federal garrison out of the upper Kanawha Valley.

Cox, however, was a gentleman who promised to protect Ellen or permit her to slowly travel through Ohio to Baltimore — a prolonged trip which would protect the military positions his soldiers were holding. He told Henningsen that he regretted his duty of refusing to allow Ellen and her family to join Tompkins, but this might be slightly incorrect. Actually, Cox was able to derive some benefit by holding the Tompkins farm and family within the Federal camp. While Ellen and the children were there, it was very unlikely that General Wise’s forces, with Christopher Tompkins as a senior officer, would place the family in danger by attacking. Cox, the gentleman, may have realized the tactical advantage he was gaining by holding Ellen and the family within the Union camp, but he obviously would have released them for the trip to safety in Baltimore, if that had been requested. 

During this period, large military forces from Virginia began to maneuver into the area. Confederate General John B. Floyd, like Wise, a former governor of Virginia, moved his troops into the region after arriving at Sewell Mountain. There had been considerable animosity between Wise and Floyd in the past and since Floyd’s commission as a general predated that of Wise, Floyd now assumed in command. An intense rivalry to the point of hatred developed between these two Confederate commanders.

Following Federal victories in the northwestern part of the soon to be new state, General McClellan was able to “self-promote” himself into command of the Army of the Potomac. General Rosecrans took command in western Virginia and began to move troops south toward the Kanawha Valley.

Christopher Tompkins remained in the area with his regiment, recently reorganized and re-designated the 22nd Virginia Volunteer Infantry Regiment, formerly the First Kanawha Regiment. This regiment was unique in Confederate service as it was formed exclusively from volunteer companies recruited from western Virginia counties.

Tompkins was able to get a letter passed through the lines to Ellen which was hand carried to Gauley Mount by the commander of the 26th Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiment, Colonel Fyffe. Ellen replied to her husband from the farm on September 10, 1861:

“My Dear Husband,

“I had the pleasure of receiving your letter from the hands of Colonel Fyffe, and was much gratified to hear that you and John were well.

“The children send much love and have enjoyed good health and, not withstanding the exciting times, continue their studies quite industriously. They seem much interested in their music and play Dixie and various airs. General Cox and his officers treat us very kindly and made us as comfortable under the circumstances as possible. The General thinks however that it will be most judicious for us to remain here for the present, and I agree with him, feeling quite safe under his protection. As for my going to Baltimore it is entirely out of the question. If nothing occurs to drive me away, I would like to remain here as late as possible, although it forces me to forgo the pleasure of seeing you and John, especially as Mr. Grimme and Mr. Dickert think they could not remain here with advantage without the family.

The stock is all in good condition, and the crops were quite abundant, but not equal to the demands made upon them. Of course I will write whenever there is an opportunity. In the meantime I hope you will feel no unnecessary anxiety about us as I feel sure in case of sickness General Cox would allow me to let you know. My own health is rather better. The servants give me no trouble. All desire their respects to you and John.

Yours devotedly,

Ellen Tompkins

P.S. I hope you have sold that horse. Sarah wrote me all were well and our property in Baltimore right.”

Tompkins apparently missed being able to communicate with Ellen to the degree that she missed his letters. He asked her to write and she assured him she would do so whenever there was an opportunity. She also took the opportunity to warn him again about his well known horse which had caused him to become a special target for Union soldiers.

Ellen’s letters to Colonel Tompkins were delivered through the Union lines and were delivered in an unsealed condition. Since these were coming from inside Union territory and could contain military information, they were probably read before being delivered to the Confederates. Ellen was obviously aware of this practice and didn’t write the open, frank letters such as were sent to her sister. Since the letters to her husband would be read by Union officers and perhaps General Cox, himself, Ellen took the opportunity to let them know that had been well treated and expected the same sort of care in the future. 

Regiment was attacked by a very superior force under General Floyd. Ellen was correct in reporting that the Federal troops were caught by surprise while eating breakfast and suffered a bloody defeat. The entire regiment was scattered, killed, or captured. Initially, the Union officers feared the losses were far greater than it turned out, but Major John Casement was able to rally nearly 400 Union survivors from the surrounding countryside and march them over the mountains to Charleston where they rejoined the Union army. Until they were able to return to Union control, Cox’s headquarters were nearly in a panic with only the 7th Ohio’s commander, Colonel Tyler, his Lieutanant_Colonel, and 200 Union survivors of the Confederate attack had arrived at Gauley Bridge. It had taken on the appearance of a terrible defeat until Casement’s group appeared in Charleston. 

General Floyd, obviously pleased with the results of his initial battle of the war, sent a report on the action to General Robert E. Lee:

“I determined to attack them, which I did yesterday about sunrise. They were posted about three miles from my camp in a commanding position, but our men made the attack with spirit and soon carried it. The enemy were completely routed… The enemy’s killed and wounded number upward of 30 men. Amongst the killed is a captain. The prisoners number over 60 … we captured some of their wagons and hospital supplies. the result of this fight will enable me to hold this quarter of the country, I think certainly, and cut off effectively all communication between General Cox and the forces toward the north.” 

Ellen was unaware at the time that she was writing this letter that her husband’s regiment was attached to Floyd’s Brigade and had participated in the rout of the Seventh Ohio. Later she was to learn of his humanitarian actions at the time of the battle which saved many Union soldier’s lives and this display of gallantry was to be of benefit to Ellen and the children.

The September 10 letter to Sarah continued with a description of the skirmishing that went on along the eastern boundary of the farm, in the area of nearby Chimney Corner:

“September 3rd we heard the cannon roaring two miles above us, actually on the farm which extends three miles on the turnpike. The 11th Ohio and two other regiments were concealed in the bushes each side of the road expecting our troops to come down and attack Gauley Camp. Our troops, it seems, followed the same plan. When either showed themselves, were honored with a volley. The road ran in this way. Both were surprised at the reception they met. The idea of six thousand men playing bow peep at each other. The federals blame a boy who went to mill a hundred times a day, said they heard cow bells all night which was the rebels’ signal, complain of the ingratitude of the people to an army sent here to protect them. I am truly grateful for one! The country people run in, close doors and windows, will answer no questions. Neither party did much, some were wounded, none killed. But the best thing was a cannon taken from General Wise was true to the southern cause. It hung fire and blew off the arm of the cannoneer and another man’s thumb. Better them than our forces should suffer.”

The fighting described by Ellen Tompkins was a continuation of skirmishes between several companies sent by General Cox to act as a screen for his force at the Tompkins farm and at Gauley Bridge. These troops moved along the turnpike as far as Locust Lane on the western slopes of Big Sewell Mountain before pulling back to Mountain Cove on August 13. A 120 man patrol left the following day and marched as far as the foot of Sewell mountain before encountering Confederate cavalry and having two men wounded in a brief skirmish. They again fell back to Mountain Cove, but the Confederate forces were now advancing. The Union troops continued to withdraw and halted to set up a line of breastworks on the “Gauley side” of Big Creek. A six man patrol sent up the road toward the Confederates had one man killed and two wounded before being forced back to their positions.

Wise’s forces advanced and positioned themselves on the eastern slope of the mountainsides at Chimney Corner (known as the “Devils Elbow” to the Union soldiers) while the Federal defenders remained in their trenches across the valley to the west. Wise’s artillery fired all day at the Federal troops with “shell and canister”, but did no damage to either the field fortifications or the men in them.

The Union artillery batteries began a defensive counter-battery fire against the Confederate guns which were deployed against them and during their firing, there was a premature discharge which Ellen Tompkins referred to in her letter. Union eye witnesses tell the story best, however:

“During the morning a piece of artillery sent out to Col. Frizell arrived, and after firing a few shots, a premature discharge of the gun sent the swab whizzing over among the enemy, which, as we afterwards ascertained, frightened them badly, as they thought we were throwing chain shot! This discharge took off the arm of the “rammer” and the thumb of the “thumber”, after which Col. Frizell ordered the gun to the rear, as he found it to be more dangerous to his men than the rebels.”

Wise’s regiments remained in the immediate area for a few additional days and again withdrew to the east. The 11th Ohio was replaced opposite the enemy by the 26th Ohio (commanded by Colonel Fyffe, the officer who had delivered Tompkins’ letter to Ellen). The 11th Ohio returned to their camp at Gauley Bridge on September 8 following an active month of skirmishing with the Confederates under General Wise that occurred from Gauley Mountain to Sewell Mountain and back, again. 

following the Union defeat at Cross Lanes. If this were to occur, the Union forces in the Kanawha Valley would be trapped between Wise and Floyd in a very narrow valley with few avenues for escape. It was a valid fear for the Union commander at Gauley Bridge to consider.

Cox was sufficiently concerned about the Confederate maneuvering near his lines to sent the following dispatch to his commander, General Rosecrans, on August 29: 

“There are reports that Wise’s force has gone south of the river and is strong enough to take Loop, Paint, and other creek roads, with designs on our trains so often rumored. There are reports of an intent to bring artillery over Cotton Hill.”

Cox’s small Union army was facing a crisis and the officers guarding Ellen were sufficiently talkative to keep her accurately informed as to the current military situation. Her letter continued:

“Their pickets are fired into and their forces scattered, as the foe appears where least expected. General Rosencranz sent them word he would reach them yesterday with reinforcements by the Somerville road. They are in a bad way today. The rebels have got between them and Rosencranz and cut off communication with Gauley. Their wagons are fired on (I saw the wounded horses) a mile above this house on the farm but across the river at the narrow falls. Our troops have pickets within two miles above us, the camp two miles and a half off”.

General Cox was rapidly finding himself in a difficult situation. His relatively small force of Ohio and Kentucky volunteer regiments was nearly surrounded at Gauley Bridge (and vicinity) and promised reinforcements from General Rosecrans’ northern-based troops were unable to get through quickly to provide help. General Floyd’s regiments had slipped between the two Federal groups and demonstrated both a willingness to fight and tenacity when they attacked the unfortunate Ohio regiment located at Cross Lanes. Cox was pleasantly surprised by the lack of serious attention he was receiving from the numerically superior Confederates, but did not find out until after the war why his small command was spared. After reviewing some captured Confederate correspondence written during this dangerous period, he concluded:

“Wise had a capacity for keeping a command in hot water. If he had been half as troublesome to me as he was to Floyd, I should indeed have had a hot time of it.”

The letter to Sarah went on to explain the situation at the farm:

“Now I must tell you how we are situated. Four days ago they put a camp of nearly two thousand men on the field next to my kitchen, with nearly one hundred tents. When I saw the measure the field, I sent Joe to tell the superior officer to come to me. I asked him by whose authority he was acting. He showed me General Cox’s order. I told him I did not acknowledge the right to intrude on me according to General Rosencranz Order no. 3, which I had cut out of the American”.

Rosecrans announced on August 20, 1861 from his headquarters at Clarksburg that among other things:

“… you must remember that the laws are suspended in Eastern Virginia, which has transferred itself to the Southern Confederacy. The old constitution and laws of Virginia are only in force in Western Virginia. These laws you must maintain.… Unarmed and peaceful citizens shall be protected, the rights of private property respected …”

This must have been the approximate content of the General Order Ellen had so cleverly cut from a newspaper for use in protecting her home from the Union troops. Unfortunately for Ellen, military necessity at a time when the Confederates were a severe threat overwhelmed the intent of Rosecrans’ order. Cox was in a tight spot and the Tompkins’ farm was the best open area where a military post could be constructed for miles in any direction. Cox had no choice other than use the open fields adjacent to Ellen’s house, but Ellen felt otherwise:

“He said it was military necessity. I told him to say convenience. I fought long to save us the annoyance, but their motto is “might is right.” I told him they had taken my corn crop, hay, wheat, etc. and if I could protect nothing I had no resort but to cut the throats of my horses, etc. I then sent a message by an officer I knew was my friend to General Cox to say that I would give up the use of one stable, the vineyard house for a hospital, the overseer’s house for the commissary, but there must be a division. I must have my part undisturbed. The Colonel called on me to say General Cox agreed and that he would station sentinels anywhere I said. So they walk night and day in front of the kitchen and really considering, I am not much intruded on. But Colonel Fyffe is a gentleman and so is his Lieutenant Colonel. They killed five sheep the first day. So I keep the flock in the front yard, my carriage horses in the turkey house. Sometimes I have to laugh at my contrivances to secure our things. Mr. Dickert, the overseer, could not stay here if I left. They curse him, and threaten him, every day he is true to our interest. He cut off the grapes by the bushel (just turning) as the soldiers were tearing down vines and all. It looked like such a shame”.

A great deal of both time and expense had gone into the Tompkins’ farm to get it to its’ current point. With the constant foraging of the undisciplined Union troops looking for food to supplement their army rations, Ellen could see the farm’s rapid erosion in spite of her best efforts to keep it intact.

She continued this very long letter to Sarah and attempted to explain her predicament:

“The Generals of our army have sent in three flags of truce to General Cox for him to allow me and the family to pass out of his lines, four miles, and join our forces, but he positively refused, says I may go to Baltimore but not to Lewisburg. I told him I refused entirely to go to Baltimore (he sent Colonel Fyffe to me) that I could not hear from Mr. Tompkins nor could I take the servants. Yesterday General Cox called with three of his officers to apologize for not coming to report to me, as he was much engaged. He certainly is an elegant man, but I think he made a mistake to refuse to let us go. I told him I felt badly as I feared I was in the way of our forces making a military movement. For it stands to reason our troops can’t attack Gauley with me exposed between two fires. Of course under these circumstances my presence protects the camp more than Rosencranz’ reinforcements. General Cox told me to prevent such a condition of things, in his answer to our Generals, he had told them he would be certain to move me in time out of all danger. They have four cannon and entrenchments on the hill by the kitchen. Mr. T. told General Wise I was to be depended on in any danger, was thoroughly game. I think I am severely tested”.

Cox could hardly permit Ellen to move into the Confederate camp after having seen all of his military preparations to meet the impending Confederate attack. He would have agreed to her travelling to Baltimore, however, as he had explained in a previous letter to Confederate Colonel Henningsen. She had both family and property there. Maryland, while essentially a southern state, had not seceded from the Union and while many of her citizens were Confederate sympathizers, the Federal government was in control. By the time Ellen would have arrived after a journey through part of Ohio, into Pennsylvania, and into Maryland any military information she could have possibly relayed to the Confederate army facing Cox would have been greatly outdated.

She was probably correct when she wrote that “my presence protects the camp…”from any Rebel attack. Cox was too much a gentleman to keep her and her family intentionally at risk in order to gain a military advantage, but as long as Ellen Tompkins was living on the farm the Federal troops were not likely to be attacked by the Confederate army.

The letter went on to explain her brother’s visit under a flag of truce:

“John came with a flag of truce, and as he heard the house was burnt to the ground ventured to see. They fired at him and the ball just grazed him. Again he came with five cavalry and they did not see the flag and they were covered with Enfield rifles. His uniform being like the federals saved him and the flag was seen. He begged so hard to see one of the boys Colonel Fyffe told Captain Simmons to put one on his horse and take him up, but one of the General’s aides would not allow it, even at my portico forbid it. I told General Cox he must allow me to go up in the carriage with one of his officers to see John, or let him be brought here blindfolded. The officers were amused to hear me talk to him as they treat him with such deference, not even sitting down without he invites them. He laughed a good deal himself. He said he could not break his rule, but I told him I was an exception to every general rule and to consult policy less, his heart more. He said he would consider it favorably but yesterday sent his Adjutant to say he must ask to delay it for a few days. I sent him word I could not take a refusal and if delayed John might be moved. The Adjutant said the General would be up himself to see me in a day or two. But our troops have made a move, fallen back to Hawk’s Nest, and these have sent some companies up to hide in the bushes”.

Ellen’s brother, Doctor John Wilkins, had been captured while trying to determine the condition of the family after rumors were heard in the Confederate camp that the house had been burned. She did not hesitate to use her charm and power of persuasion on General Cox in order to be permitted to see him. John Wilkins rode in under a flag of truce and was later released to return to his regiment as is seen by comparing dates of entries in Isaac Smith’s diary with the dates of Ellen’s letters. She reported the capture in a letter written on September 10 and Smith’s diary entry on September 18 referred to Dr. Wilkins offering to treat Smith’s escaped slave, Mike, during the march on the previous Thursday. This probably occurred on September 12 or 13 as the Confederates pulled out of the area.

General John B. Floyd arrived in the Gauley Mountain region with his infantry brigade on August 6 and the political infighting between Wise and Floyd began to disrupt the Confederate effort against the Federals holding the Kanawha Valley. At the time Ellen wrote this letter, the two commands had split. Wise and his legion remained in the Hawk’s Nest area to keep pressure on Cox’s troops in and near Gauley Bridge while Floyd’s Brigade marched up Sunday road, crossed the Gauley River at Carnifex Ferry, and routed the 7th Ohio at Cross Lanes. Rather than advance on Charleston as Cox feared, Floyd’s troops withdrew to Carnifex Ferry and erected field fortifications.

Wise’s regiments and the local Confederate militia units under General Chapman and Colonel Beckley operated at will in the area and fired on Union wagon trains moving from Gauley Bridge to the camp at Tompkins’ farm. Ellen witnessed the increasing tension as the Federal regiments prepared to be attacked by the numerically superior Confederates:

“September 11: The news is General Rosencranz is cut off from Gauley camp, at least no dispatches can reach him, our troops between. The wagons are shot into, the federals do their hauling at night. Orders have just come to this camp here, to be ready to move at a moment’s warning. The batteries above us on the hill are manned, 4 cannon, and three thousand troops on this farm. How would you like to be in our place? I keep the trunks packed as a shell may set fire to the house at any moment. It requires much thought to act rightly. I dare not speak without thought. I know John won’t be allowed to come now. The officers express much sympathy for our situation, say they would not have their wives or families in our place. General Cox won’t let us go, so I make the best of it. All agree the house would go, if I left, in twenty hours. General Cox says with us here, it is comparatively easy to protect us. There is even amongst the soldiers a feeling for us. I am a great coward naturally, I know, but never have I known a sensation of fear since Mr. T. left. To part with Mr. T. and to have him exposed to their bullets has given me a feeling of desperation. It is true at times all hope forsakes me of seeing him, but I lock myself up until I have cried my heart out fairly, and never give way before the children. Indeed, I dare not, for it would but make matter worse and they are bad enough. I shall have to send this letter today or may not get it off. I regret I cannot relieve your

anxiety about us, but I will write again if they let me. Don’t allude to a word I have written in your answer. Love to all.

“Ellen”

She was much like the Union soldiers in the area and was expecting an attack at any time and had her more important possessions packed in preparation for an immediate family evacuation she knew would be ordered when the first shells hit the farm. Even with the fear and uncertainty, Ellen still worried about the safety of her husband who was “exposed to their bullets.”

Ellen continued the letter with one of her most unusual postscripts:

“Please send this to Wilkins Glenn but do not direct to him, under cover to someone else, as times are such in Baltimore. What is Anne Tilyard’s direction? Excuse all mistakes. I have

no time to read or correct. Send the slips of paper To be burnt by W.G. Mr. Grimme has such a knowledge of the world he is a great advantage, but he and Mr. Dickert refuse to stay if I leave. Mr. Grimme is never willing to see the officers even. Colonel Fyffe brought me a letter from Mr. T., not sealed, telling me he wished me to abandon the property, and could not let me be exposed to such terrible trials. General Cox says “No.” Colonel Fyffe sent an answer for me to him, open of course.”

The postscripts on Ellen Tompkins’ letters generally included instructions to pass her letters to someone with instructions that each be burned. Wilkins Glenn is frequently mentioned as a second recipient and in this case, Sarah is instructed to send the letters to someone other than Glenn who should be instructed to deliver the letters to him in a less than obvious way, “as times are such in Baltimore.” The special instructions that were also provided (and complied with as there is no record of what was written) “Send the slips of paper To be burnt (her emphasis) by W. G.” is a particularly intriguing phrase. Ellen was later accused of espionage by some Ohio newspapers and while active spying on her “Federal hosts” would probably not have been possible (and was discounted by Cox after the war) Ellen probably would not have hesitated to send notes regarding Union military dispositions to the Confederate military by way of her sister in Baltimore. It is more than simply interesting that Ellen could have used an identical system of message delivery that was utilized by the Confederate espionage service, except that her letters went the opposite direction.

The operations of the Confederate Secret Service Bureau remain shrouded in mystery since most of the records of their agent’s activities have not been revealed because the acts of espionage

committed were punishable by hanging at the time and few knew what would happen to them after the war, if their actions became known. With the exception of a few celebrated cases, the files of the Confederate espionage service remain a mystery. There are a few documented cases that shed light on their methods of operation. One espionage operation has become known and involves a leg of a very efficient courier system which operated along the eastern shore, directly across from Confederate territory.

The farm of Thomas A. Jones was located directly across the Potomac River from a Confederate debarkation point that was used to start both people and correspondence into the infiltration network that branched out into the North. Jones had been arrested by the Federal authorities early in the war for ferrying travelers across into Virginia who were evading Union warrants or possible incarceration as Southern sympathizers. While he was in prison, his wife died and he became a willing recruit for the Confederate Secret Service Bureau. His farm was only one mile away from the Virginia shore and he quickly determined the watch schedules of the Union pickets sent to guard the river. A black cloth hung in a neighbor’s attic window warned any boat departing from the Virginia side that there were Federal guards in the vicinity and with this simple, but effective warning system in effect, travelers and information crossed the river safely. Packets of northbound letters would be deposited in the fork of a dead tree and when the area was clear of any Federal pickets, Jones would simply walk to the tree, pick up the information, and place it in the Federal mail system to be delivered to Confederate agents and sympathizers throughout the northern states.

It does not stretch the imagination to picture Ellen Tompkins using the exact same mechanism, only in reverse,in order to get her letters to Confederate authorities in Richmond who could make use of the information contained in the “…slips of paper to be burnt…” which went to Wilkins Glenn. This could simply be a coincidence, but the discovery of the identity of Wilkins Glenn tightens the available circumstantial evidence to something which can be believed.

William Wilkins Glenn was a resident of Baltimore and co_owner of a newspaper, the Daily Exchange. He was obviously a Confederate sympathizer and a vocal supporter as he was imprisoned by the Union authorities for his political activities. He and Ellen shared the same middle name, Wilkins, and it is safe to assume that they were cousins. He was probably very familiar with the Confederate courier system operating out of Maryland which was so efficient that New York newspapers could be delivered to Richmond within 24 hours of their publication.

He had the capability of simply placing Ellen’s letters into the Federal mail system to have them delivered to Farmer Jones, or some similar, but too much mail in a rural area could create suspicion, so Glenn probably sent the information provided by Ellen through the courier system. It was probably placed in the fork of the dead tree, a dead letter drop, with a bundle of mail for the Confederate capital and the “loading signal,” the black cloth in the attic window, was set up to indicate that the dead drop needed to be serviced. Rebel boatmen rowed across the narrow stretch of river, retrieved the bundle, and Ellen’s information could soon have been in the hands of the Confederate army.

Whether Ellen was trained carefully on the actual mechanism to be used to send out information will never be known, but there can be little doubt that she actively delivered information that she discovered to the Confederate authorities in Richmond. This could account for much of the anxiety on the part of Colonel Tompkins to get her out of the farm safely when she was being accused of being involved with spying. He was probably aware of the plan to casually transmit information to the South. He had told General Wise that Ellen “was to be depended on in any danger, was thoroughly game.” If the circumstantial evidence is correct, Ellen’s motivation was probably explained with her comment regarding the Union cannoneer who lost his arm in the premature discharge : “…Better them than our forces should suffer.”

The next obvious questions must go without answers for a while longer:

A. Was Ellen a deliberate “stay_behind” agent?

B. Had she been carefully briefed as to the method to use to get her letters into the Confederate courier system or was all of this simply a coincidence?

C. Was William Wilkins Glenn a major player in the Confederate Secret Service Bureau and how did Ellen know to send her letters to him if she was not involved?

D. Since all of this occurred quite early in the war, how would the Confederates have known to prepare Ellen for any future role? She had moved into western Virginia in 1855 with her husband — well before the development of serious movements toward secession.

It is unlikely that any preliminary thought had been given to the development of Ellen Tompkins as a potential stay-behind agent who would remain within the Union camp and report as she was able on their activities. It is far more plausible to believe that a hasty plan was conceived at the Tompkin’s dinner table when General Wise had a final meal at the house the day before the Union soldiers visited the farm for the first time. A hastily conceived plan may have been explained to her on a system which could possibly be used to communicate safely, if she was able to observe and record any significant military activity. She learned to work like a professional in a very short time.

All of the aspects of a professional espionage network were present in the system used by Ellen. It is far too complete to have been simply a coincidence or the hasty assembly of ideas on

the part of a housewife. She used her special status well and quickly “recruited” many of her Union officer contacts. She gave letters directly to General Cox for mailing through the Federal postal system to her sister in another Union state knowing that the letters would not be opened. These crossed no hostile lines and at the time no “gentleman” would ever consider reading the private thoughts of a lady. She had her sister forward the letters — with the special slips of paper which had to be destroyed — to another person who would then deliver the letters to Wilkins Glenn. She now had a “cutout” which would reduce the chances of her discovery, if the letters should be intercepted by Federal authorities. Wilkins Glenn had every opportunity to slip the notes into the Confederate courier system, perhaps not identical to the “line” worked by Mr. Jones but something similar. Letters would move down Maryland’s eastern shore and be ferried across the river to Virginia for a quick trip to Richmond. It is very unlikely that Ellen Tompkins developed this special delivery system alone.

She continued to ask that her letters be sent to third parties, ordered that each be burned, and occasionally asked if her letters had been received and identified them by the name of the person scheduled to be the receiving party. This was an interesting system for accounting for forwarded letters and a simultaneous reminder that she had wanted them forwarded.

There is some evidence that the courier system worked back to Ellen with some information. She was later to tell her sister to forward a letter to “Cousin Henrietta Glenn as I know they are

attached to Mr. T.” Again there are questions: How did she know that Henrietta Glenn had someone, perhaps a relative,travelling with Colonel Tompkins’ regiment and if her sister, Sarah, was instructed to send the letter to Colonel Tompkins’ camp, how did Ellen know that her sister was able to get the letter sent through or around the Union lines from her location in Delaware? The Confederate courier system was probably involved and may have been more extensive than anyone would have imagined. There is no other obvious method for accounting for the two-way flow of information that appears to have been occurring. If all of this conjecture is true, Tompkins’ statement he made to General Wise at the time of their final dinner was correct. Ellen “was to be depended on in any danger, was thoroughly game.”

The next letter to be sent to Sarah contained news of the battle fought at Carnifex Ferry between General Rosecrans’ troops and the Confederates under General Floyd. Union forces were held off until after darkness halted the fighting and the Confederates withdrew.

Rosecrans had a superior force and was able to get a cavalry force through to Gauley Bridge to order General Cox to send his regiments east on the turnpike in an attempt to cut off and trap Wise and Floyd between the two advancing Union forces.

Ellen explained the fighting to her sister quite accurately in a letter dated September 13 that only contained “news” instead of the slips of information to be forwarded:

“I find it impossible to find a trusty person to send this by, therefore send you the news. General Rosencranz with four thousand men attacked our forces Sunday afternoon and fought until seven, then fell back a quarter of a mile, intending when his troops came up to fight his way through to Gauley (this was at Cross Lane’s) but our troops did not allow him to find them but yet managed to cut off his communication until yesterday when a company of his cavalry came in and ordered General Cox to advance up this road with the 11th Ohio, 26th Regiment (the one camped here) 2nd Kentucky and one more and meet General Rosencranz who hopes to hem our troops in as he advances on the Somerville road which enters this turnpike. They were passing here all night with their wagons with provisions, ammunition, cannon, then seven ambulances with surgeons followed, looking like hearses with their black covers. I cannot find out where our troops are. Mr. T. sent me a letter by a flag truce, but as my letters and his are examined by the Generals our correspondence is very formal, not dated. I am filled with anxiety of course. The batteries on our hill are manned. They say one good victory here, then on to Richmond. They will never get there. General Cox sent his Adjutant General up to me, with his compliments, to say he hoped in a few days to give me a pass to Richmond, and also sent a letter from Florence Fuller. Do you know, the soldiers believe General Cox is my brother-in-law; he is so attentive to protect me. I must confess my situation has elicited much kindness from the officers, but I trust few and ask favors from none but General Cox and three others. Go to the highest in command is the safest for me. The mistake was in ordering General Wise to abandon this valley. They could not have advanced to save their lives, but now Governor Letcher is deposed, according to them, Governor Pierpont wants all Virginia. Can he get it? I won’t pay my taxes to him. They hope to get to Dogwood Gap, 14 miles from here, and surprise our troops. Could I but have warned them, but no doubt they are up to them. I can’t tell if I will accept the pass as General Cox kept me here to oblige his views, I may stay to favor my own. He has not got the victory yet. To add to my troubles Willie has been very sick, caught cold. All the rest are well and get the name of being such bright, gentlemanly children. Joe passes current as he never names politicks.

“The soldiers are much excited about not being paid for four months, fed on pork and beans and stale crackers, sleeping on the ground and targets at all times. They earn eleven dollars a month. They say the politicians get it. The troops have exhausted three wells and now use the ice dam and spring. A sentinel has to protect my well to secure us water. Write again as I may remain, for I can’t tell what Mr. Tompkins wishes me to do now, and will remain if he desires it. But I really cannot in a letter tell you our trials. Two of our servants just escaped a few moments ago being shot. They were getting fire wood and not recognized as their backs were that way. The order is to shoot all not in uniform. A sentinel stopped the soldiers just in time. I keep the children in sight all the time, as they would be shot by accident. The servants are tempted to sell everything they can get to the soldiers. How I envy anyone who can rest without a feeling of apprehension. These officers tell me if they could but get Mr. Tompkins, he wields so much influence here, musters the militia, etc. and that Judge Summers and all Union men speak of him so highly. If taken prisoner, he would be sent to Colombus as they won’t exchange prisoners. But they have not got him yet, and I feel sure they won’t. The country people are all devoted to him, tell these officers, ‘Pray never shoot Col. T.’ All tell me of his popularity.

“Send this to Wilkins Glenn. He must burn it. Your second letter has arrived, mine must be burned.”

Ellen was unable to locate someone she could totally trust, so she told Sarah “…therefore send you the news.” What would she have mailed her sister if she had found a trustworthy person? Probably a great deal more information than just the news would have been shared. It is interesting that there were no slips of paper in addition to the letter to be passed on the Wilkins Glenn.

The Union commander in the valley, General Cox, genuinely appreciated the predicament of Ellen and the children and did many things to assist them. As a man of honor, he had accepted the responsibility of protecting the family when asked by Colonel Tompkins. He went as far as receiving Ellen’s mail at his headquarters in Gauley Bridge, delivered the letters unopened to

her at Gauley Mount, and ensured that there were sufficient armed guards on hand to provide adequate protection at all times. It is little wonder that the common soldiers of the Federalregiments on the farm thought that the general was Ellen’s brother-in-law. Strangers normally would never receive such protection.

Cox later explained the relationship:

“When Wise had retreated from the valley, Colonel Tompkins had been unable to remove his family, and had left a letter commending them to our courteous treatment. Mrs. Tompkins was a lady of refinement and her position was far from being a comfortable one. She, however, put a cheerful face upon her situation, showed great tact in avoiding controversy with the soldiers and in conciliating the good will of the officers, and remained with her children and servants in her picturesque home on the mountain. So long as there was no fighting in the near vicinity, it was comparatively easy to save her from annoyance; but when later in the autumn Floyd occupied Cotton Mountain and General Rosecrans was with us with larger forces, such a household became an object of suspicion and ill will…”

Ellen’s situation became increasingly precarious as the month of September continued. The military situation was far from stable as the Confederate forces withdrew after the stalemate at Carnifex Ferry. Union troops were maneuvering to attempt to trap Floyd and Wise’s commands between Cox and General Rosecrans’ larger Union army which was continuing to pursue southward along Sunday road toward the James River and Kanawha Turnpike. Cox’s smaller Federal force moved east from Gauley Bridge and Gauley Mount along the turnpike in an attempt to hold the Confederates until Rosecrans could attack their rear.

The political situation was also becoming undesirable for Ellen Tompkins and people in the region with convictions similar to hers. Attitudes toward southern sympathizers were beginning to harden as the war began to lengthen — along with the casualty lists. A new Federal administrative unit, the Mountain Department, was created by the government, primarily to provide a command for the blundering John C. Fremont.

Fremont had come a long way from the heroic “Trailblazer” who found new routes through the continental interior to the west coast and had been the new Republican party’s first Presidential candidate in 1856. He had failed in a western command in the early stages of the war and was being given a final opportunity to redeem himself as a military leader. He began to take and advocate a hard line against secessionists and ordered arrests as well as property confiscation.

Ellen’s Union protectors were able to shield her from the effects of Fremont’s proclamation, but the threat of property seizure hung over her head constantly.

She explained her latest problems to Sarah in a letter written on September 16, 1861:

“I have not met a man I could send this by without the risk of being opened. I think they have a great respect for our talent to outwit them. They have guards all round the house at night. I go into the front and back porches the last thing at night. As I walked out last night, each side of the front door was a sentinel. I did not speak nor did they. I walked around as usual, for if I let them see me afraid I should be imposed on directly. I was obliged just now to send for the officer in command and told him I would allow no one to impose on me beyond a certain point. I should report it to General Cox as a nuisance. He made me apologies at once. I told him once before an officer went beyond his orders, but I reported it to General Cox and he was not allowed to come here again, as he was told that he was objectionable to me. One of their guards climbed into the bedroom of Mr. Dickert. He seized an axe and he got out of the window. Yesterday four officers came to see me on business. I am tired of such a responsible situation, for Mr. Grimme never sees them I have to depend upon myself. I have to act with policy yet be independent, they are so imposing. All acknowledge the soldiers are friendly to me as I never omit doing them a kindness, especially for their sick and a number are sick. This camp is being moved away to my great relief. General Cox and three thousand men went up four days ago and found the camp of Rebels nine miles from here deserted, as they had started a few hours before on a retreat to Lewisburg. They had three thousand men of General Rosencranz employed in putting up barricades to fight behind, then by a side road called the Sunday road had advanced a regiment to cut off the retreat, but our troops got round another side road and escaped the trap they set for them. The Federals now are camping about thirty miles from here and the reports vary about their plans. Some say they are to go to Richmond, others to East Tennessee, if successful, but I believe the main body of General Rosencranz is in a fix and they are trying to relieve him.

“The camp at Gauley is still manned, but I could promise one thousand men could take it. The Federals are not boastful at present. At Cross roads they lost one hundred men besides Colonel Lowe. They report that General Lee was defeated at Cheat Mountain with great loss on both sides. What do you think of the proclamation of General Fremont? Is it not outrageous? Orders have arrived here to take all secessionists and to confiscate all property. The soldiers are not pleased with General Fremont’s act, as they say they have friends both sides and would not like their friends shot. Write again, but always put my name on the outside, care of General Cox, Gauley Bridge, Fayette County. The letters are sent me. A new officer has just come in and I will send this by him as I believe he can be trusted as well as any for all my best friends are above. Please put me a few of the new stamps in your next letter. My letters must be burnt. As I hear there is such times in Baltimore, I shall certainly remain here as cannot pass through two armies on the road to Lewisburg. Write at once. I can’t read this over as I have no time.”

The Union officers were certainly becoming aware of Ellen’s ability to stay one step ahead of them. They also began to suspect that she was able to get messages to the Confederates about Federal strength and preparations in the area. Most of this could have based on camp rumor, but Ellen was located in an excellent position and was a keen observer of everything that occurred in her vicinity. Her remark to Sarah in a previous letter must always be remembered when trying to decide if the flimsy evidence shows she was spying benignly on her hosts: “Better them than our forces…” This will help in making the decision regarding whether she arranged for information to be passed directly to Wise’s forces. There was an additional comment made in a letter which was suggestive: “…Could I but have warned them…” was sent to Sarah as Cox’s troops marched past the farm in an attempt to trap the retreating Rebels.

The Union soldiers certainly believed that messages and signals were used to aid the rebels. Cox later wrote:

“The men fancied they saw signals conveyed from the house to the enemy, and believed that secret messages were sent, giving information of our numbers and movements.”

Cox’s small Federal garrison had been in a difficult situation. They had been out numbered, cutoff from immediate reinforcement, and the Union soldiers knew that they were in a poor tactical situation. Confederate strength in the immediate area was reported to be in the vicinity of 10,000 or 12,000 men and additional reports reaching Cox warned “of a general stir among the secessionists in Fayette, Mercer, and Raleigh counties, and of the militia being ordered out under General Chapman to support the Confederate movement by operating on my line of communications, whilst Floyd and Wise should attack in front.”

Given the general perception of peril among the Union garrison, Ellen Tompkins was fortunate to have been allowed to remain on the farm. Cox informed Ellen in a letter on a later date that while she had won the respect of his officers, the troops were in a constant state of irritation and Cox was afraid that her property, if not her person, might be endangered. Cox took many special precautions for the safety of the family that Ellen didn’t know about.

As previously mentioned, the privates in the Union army were an unruly group. Rosecrans had appointed a future President, Rutherford B. Hayes, as his Judge Advocate (a military prosecuting attorney) and he was kept busy with courts martial of the undisciplined soldiers. Hayes recorded in his diary some unpleasant details about some of his cases from only a single regiment in Cox’s small army, the Ninth Ohio Infantry Regiment, a totally German unit “… one man shot resisting a corporal, two men in irons for a rape …” Many of the enlisted men in the Union army were not necessarily nice people to be around. They were relatively uneducated, generally hard drinking, and had to be managed with rigid discipline from their officers. Ellen Tompkins was taking a great risk by remaining on the farm in what was rapidly becoming an important Union military post. She and her family were quite fortunate to have had as friends General Cox and a few of his senior officers. If their protection had not been there, the outlook for the family may have been grim.

Ellen sent another letter to Sarah a few days later which was written on September 22:

“Dear Sarah,

“I wrote to you ten days ago, but I expect it was not sent as a great scamp took it. I asked you to send it to Cousin Henrietta Glenn as I know they are attached to Mr. T. I have tonight over a hundred wagons camped here, but they go tomorrow. The guard has to be very active, I tell you, to keep the teamsters right. The two officers here I know I can fully depend on. Would I not suffer if they had their way. A secession Colonel is fair game. Mr. Tompkins’ character and position secure me much consideration. Even the roughest teamsters will call to tell me Mr. T. is well. Say they have wives and feel for my situation. The country people send me messages if they hear of Mr. T. or John who is very popular.”

Union supply trains apparently stopped overnight at the farm as the wagons ferried supplies from the nearest point of steamboat navigation at the mouth of Loup Creek eastward to the area where active combat operations were being prepared. The teamsters were generally a rough, hard drinking, disorderly group who would have carried away any loose object they could get their hands on. “A secession Colonel is fair game” simply meant that Ellen understood that any of her property could be carried off without any threat of punishment if apprehended during the theft.

As Colonel Tompkins had resided in the area since 1855, was a prominent citizen, and a Lieutenant-Colonel in the area’s militia, he was liked and well respected by all of the county’s residents. It is not surprising that the country people would try to get word to Ellen when they heard anything about Tompkins. This, incidentally, could have been an opportunity for Ellen to send verbal messages through the lines. The local people would know all of the safe routes through Union pickets and would have willingly carried word about Ellen and the family to Tompkins — possibly with other information, as well.

Ellen’s long letter continued:

“The whole camp is ordered to be moved and now these regiments are to advance, take Lewisburg and the railroad and go to East Tennessee. But providence interfered for us. General Rosencranz sent a dispatch to General Cox to advance on our troops up this road and he would send three thousand men by a road to get them between, attack front and rear at once. Well! Twelve cavalry started with this dispatch and a German picket (of their own) fired into them not being able to understand English. They shot ten, the other two remained in the woods twenty-four hours and that gave our troops time to retreat beyond the place where their plans were laid. Were not they mad? I outwit them in finding out the news, guard us as they may. I make friends in curious ways. No one was allowed to speak to us except before a commissioned officer, but I still heard the news. When I found out that our troops had escaped the trap, you can imagine my joy. Still my anxiety is terrible as there is to be a battle at Lewisburg or the end of the railroad. They are so confident of success that I have trouble to be silent. The 26th Regiment camped here nearly three weeks and took off with them the most valuable man I have. General Cox says he shall be returned, but the soldiers have him hid in the woods now. He will be so demoralized that he will be of no value.”

Even though Ellen and the children cannot speak with the Union troops unless there in a Union officer present, she took pleasure in being able to continue to gather militarily significant information which was mailed to her sister. She carefully worded the information so that it will appear as “news” or idle gossip between two women, but there is significant information in the letters which are sent to Sarah.

Ellen apparently had a great ability to draw people into conversations where they would eventually let a few facts slip. It is probable that most of her information came from the commissioned officers detailed to prevent any conversation with the enlisted guards. They were naturally talkative about their ‘exploits” and probably talked freely around Ellen when they visited her home or were invited to dinner. Most men are eager to impress a pretty, cultured woman and will generally “slip” during a conversation.

She was concerned at the loss of a valuable piece of property, a male slave who was being hidden in the woods by the soldiers. She was not any different from any other person of her class at the time. She had grown up with slaves held as property and obviously saw nothing wrong with the institution. The Federal soldiers felt differently.

The letter continued with some details of the bloody rout of the Union regiment surprised earlier at Cross Lanes:

“Mr. T. was at the battle of Cross Lanes with General Floyd’s brigade. Lieutenant Colonel Ben Ficklen led the charge. The Seventh Ohio was surrounded and had to run. They say the charge was so handsome they forgot the danger in sight. But two companies ran to get to a mountain pass and the soldiers (the remainder of the 7th guard us now) told the boys, Joe and Chris, that there was, to their surprise, Colonel Tompkins’ regiment drawn up and had he fired, the slaughter would have been murderous, but he ordered the men not to fire and called out, “Throw down your arms, boys, and you shall not be touched.” Was it not noble and like him? The officers told me he won the respect of the men by that order. You may imagine the trial to

have these men at every meal and then to know they are trying to take Mr. T.”

Several of the men from the Seventh Ohio who were captured by Colonel Tompkins’ regiment at the battle of Cross Lanes escaped or were recovered by Union troops after the battle fought at Carnifex Ferry. The word of Tompkins’ chivalrous act would have quickly spread in the Federal camp and this single act of compassion did much to win friends for Ellen in the Union army. Many may have felt that they owed a debt of honor and were repaying it by protecting Ellen and his children.

The episode related by Ellen in the letter regarding the German picket (a group of soldiers on guard in an advanced position) and the shooting of their own cavalry couriers resulted in a delay of an order from Rosecrans to his field units that, if delivered, could have resulted in a battle in which the Confederates would have been outnumbered and probably defeated. Ellen was elated over this stroke of luck as the Union error resulted in her husband being safe for a longer period.

Accidental woundings and deaths were common occurrences in these early stages of the war. The men were not familiar with “challenge and password” systems and the most dangerous duty in either army facing junior officers was making the rounds of his advanced pickets. These officers were frequently shot by accident by their own soldiers and since the picket posts were normally close to the enemy’s forward positions, the young officers were also in danger of being killed by the opposing forces.

Ellen continued:

“How I envy you a quiet home and your family at home with you. My trials are terrible. Willie is much better, but looks delicate. The rest are well and I am no worse. Write anything you like in your letters. Both of yours arrived safely, also one from Helen to Ellen. She will write soon. `

“Major Leiper dined here yesterday and told me his wife in New York had sent him a column of the Exchange with an extract of a letter from me. I expressed surprise, but took it very coolly. He said there was a Southern spirit through it. What else could he expect? Do pray send me a copy, for I wrote in haste, as I always do, and feel ashamed not to copy often. They all know General Cox will protect me and amongst his staff and high officers I real can depend on being treated kindly. That is the only redeeming feature in the situation we are placed in. I wrote you three flags of truce had been sent in about letting us pass through their lines. General Cox refused, but said I could go to Baltimore. I refused as I should be cut off from Mr. T. As it was General Cox I submitted. He is a refined, elegant gentleman and very handsome. Colonel Tyler commands at Gauley, but still direct as before, without General Cox’s name as he is away. Please send me a few of the new stamps. There are none here and my letters have to be franked. Let me know if you received the third letter, that one I wished sent to Cousin Henrietta Glenn, not this. Burn this.”

Ellen Tompkins’ situation worsened toward the end of September and in early October. General Rosecrans, General Cox’s superior, had moved his headquarters into the Gauley Bridge area. With him came some more hardened, less gentlemanly officers who were not in sympathy with Ellen’s plight. Among these was Rutherford B. Hayes, a former lawyer who appeared to see things in terms of “right and wrong”. He didn’t feel that it was proper for U.S. troops to be standing guard over a rebel Colonel’s property. He wrote in his diary:

“Why devastate the homes and farms of poor deluded privates in the rebel army and protect this property? Treat the lady well, as all women ought always to be treated, but put through the man for his great crime”.

The burning of rebel property was a common occurrence during the war. A typical patrol in the western Virginia area was described in a soldier’s diary:

“Scouting party of eighteen men. Went out about ten miles where we burned a schoolhouse and a still house and captured fifty chickens and a number of turkies.”

The destruction of rebel property was to provoke anger and hatred that lasted through the war and beyond. The southern sympathizers in the area were outraged at these raids, but were too weak militarily to defend themselves and their property. In response to these depredations carried out by their Unionist neighbors or the Federal troops, they sought revenge for the arbitrary arrests and arson by resorting to “bushwhacking” or ambushing and murdering sentries, neighbors, or officials blamed for the destruction. These acts of revenge generally provoked Union reprisals and an extremely vicious cycle of violence became common. Bushwhacking became a common tactic of the guerrilla warfare that began to be used against the ‘arsonist” Union troops. The reprisals generally consisted of more killings and arson and the cycle of hatred continued throughout the war in western Virginia and remained after the war to spawn some long running feuds.

Burning or pillaging the property of the rich rebel Colonel, or worse, must have been a common thought among the Union privates. They were moving through a largely Southern sympathizing region like a swarm of locusts when they encountered rebel property. Remember that Ellen had described them as “…very angry, say it is a pretty kind of a war, here is a secession Colonel and they are not allowed to pillage anything, not even a chicken…” Ellen was indeed fortunate that General Cox and his senior staff officers had taken extra precautions to protect the family from the ravages that hovered constantly nearby.

The first two pages of a letter written by Ellen in late September of early October, 1861, are missing, but the pages that are left reflect some of the change of attitude toward Ellen and the farm with the arrival of Rosecrans’ veteran troops following the battle at Carnifex Ferry. She related a meeting she had with one of Rosecrans’ brigade quartermasters who was attempting to procure supplies from the farm:

“I had a stormy interview with a quartermaster, He said he wished to buy hay and corn. I told him I regretted I could not oblige him, but my new corn crop (about four or five hundred bushels) was eaten green by the soldiers; I had given all the hay away I could spare. He said, ‘Well, I will replace it.’ I said I could not run that risk as a long winter was ahead and as horses could not eat money, I should have no resort but to cut their throats. He said, ‘Well, Madam, I shall take it.’ ‘Why, Sir,’ said I, ‘did you call to ask me about it if such was your determination? By whose authority do you act?’ ‘My own,’ said he, ‘as brigade quartermaster, for I did not ask General Cox as I feared he would refuse.’ I said, ‘I don’t acknowledge your

authority, Sir, you shall not have my corn or hay.’ He said, ‘You should remember you are treated differently from everyone in your peculiar situation.’ I said, ‘General Cox attends to that.’ He said, ‘Every officer agrees that you are a real lady and that is another reason.’ ‘By them I am treated as one,’ I said. He lost his temper, repeated his threats in a most disagreeable manner. Then my indignation got beyond my control. I told him he should not touch my corn or hay and I knew my rights and he should see I’d maintain them. He left at once. The officer with him did not open his lips. I called the officer of the guard in, told him I’d look to him to carry out General Cox’s orders to protect me and my property. He said he would certainly do it. The officer in charge of the camp here said he would turn out every man to protect me, I had been kind to them. I told Major Leiper the next day not to send him here again, I would have no business transactions with him, we were strangers forever. He regretted it had occurred, but said I had done all I could, and he would report it. The quartermaster is very unpopular. I believe they were glad I put him down. I don’t wish you to name it, but thought I’d tell you to let you see I won’t be imposed on. In fact I made myself popular by the act. I heard several say that he needed it sadly, but they had no right to put him down.”

The provisioning of a large military force in those mountains was an extremely difficult job. The condition of the roads was poor and the record rains that autumn had made them nearly impassable. Supplies had to be hauled in wagons from the head of river navigation to the forward areas and the trip was so long that nearly half of the transport capacity had to be reserved for food for the horses and mules pulling the loads. The wagons had to carry sufficient feed for the return trip. The quartermaster had seen this serious problem and found a solution.

It was obviously easier to haul money than animal fodder and he attempted to purchase the scarce supplies on the Tompkins’ farm. Ellen also had problems with animal feed and realized that her horses “couldn’t eat money” during the winter and refused to sell the feed to the army. Her supporters included the Officer of the Guard on the farm at the time and the Union commander at “Camp Tompkins” who had seen his men treated with kindness. All committed themselves to Ellen’s defense and it may have gone hard on the unpopular quartermaster, if he had chosen to press the issue on a return trip. Ellen felt that she had made herself even more popular with the soldiers in the area by taking a stand against the unpopular officer and several officers apparently mentioned that he deserved what he had received. She felt they had “no right to put him down” and she reserved that right for herself.

The letter went on to provide some of the news of the war in the area of the farm:

“The news is our troops have retreated safely to Meadow Bluff, near Lewisburg and are fortified there, escaped all the traps of Rosencranz and Cox, and that the secessionists are trying to cut off their wagon trains, 120 camped here last night, and fifty more wagons are here. I feel that our troops are getting on much better, but fear to trust the particulars in a letter. Don’t send this letter to Anne or any one. Burn it.”

She had included a separate letter in the envelope which she wanted sent to Henry Wilkins:

“Send this letter to Henry.”

The news provided by Ellen in the letter that the Confederates had eluded the traps of the Union generals and had safely withdrawn to Meadow Bluff and were constructing field fortifications was correct. They were also receiving reinforcements from the Cheat Mountain area and General Lee would soon arrive to assume command. This could have been some of the information that Ellen may have included in the letter, if she had any confidence that the letter would have been safely delivered. With the new officers in the nearby town of Gauley Bridge who could have the same general attitude toward her that was exhibited by the quartermaster and felt by Rutherford B. Hayes, she probably feared to send significant military information in her letters for fear that they would be opened.

The two hostile armies were within sight of each other and skirmishes between pickets and patrols were beginning. Unfortunately for both sides, the Sewell Mountain region was one of the more inaccessible areas in western Virginia and the poor weather was beginning to leave the dirt roads impassable. Re-supply of ammunition and food to the forward units was virtually impossible during bad weather and both sides had their lines of communication from their supply depots stretched to their limits. The combinations of bad weather, poor roads, high water at critical ferries and high levels of camp disease began to impact on the development of a major battle which was beginning to form. All of the pieces were present and what began to appear to be a decisive battle for the control of western Virginia was endangered by the tenuous supply situation. 

Tilyard. Two officers brought it and civilly informed me that they would like to remain all night. I declined the honor, but gave them their supper for the letter.”

Once again, Ellen is attempting to casually account for her letters to ensure they were forwarded to the right persons and remind Sarah that they should have been sent on,if Sarah had not yet done it. This is a sign of a careful “bookkeeper” whose letters were going beyond casual correspondence.

She continued:

“Just let me give you a description of one day and all are alike in trials to me. Yesterday first came as officer of General Rosencranz to say that he wished three hundred horses to camp here and two artillery companies, some of General Rosencranz’ staff officers. I asked him his orders. He said not to do so without my consent and General R. said, if possible, to go elsewhere. I told him very politely I hoped he would go farther. I would consider it a great favor, that I was annoyed to death, every night waggoners camping here over a hundred at a time. Well, by being civil, he went on three miles above. I thanked him and told him I was glad to speed the parting guest. But just as they were off and we were enjoying the hope of a quiet night, a party took possession of one of my fields, had six tents up before we saw them. I sent for the superior officer and asked him by whose authority he intruded on my premises. He said he did not know my property was different from other people’s. I was provoked at once. I told him he’d find it was, for I was protected by General Cox and Colonel Tyler in command of Gauley Bridge. He said he hoped I’d allow them to stay all night as they were all unharnessed. He’d pay for all damages. I told him I scorned his money, I would not touch a cent if I was starving, it was the insult to my private rights. They were an awful set. They tore down the fences and were so mad that they could not do as they chose, that it was terrible to hear them cursing us, said one half of a regiment was kept to guard us while Mr. T. was killing the other half. But for an officer of the 26th Ohio, I do not know what would have happened. I ever shall remember Lieutenant Hicks. He was up nearly all night. It took two guards at the back of the house, two in front, and two at the barn, to walk all night to protect us.”

This was beginning to become an unpleasant ordeal for Ellen Tompkins. Her primary protector, General Cox, was farther up the turnpike preparing for combat on Sewell Mountain. His subordinate, Colonel Tyler, was in command of the post at Gauley Bridge and was instructed to provide protection for the family, but he was several miles away. He could not be constantly at the farm.

Many of the Federal officers were honest, truthful soldiers and unlike the quartermaster reported on in the previous letter, they would ask permission from Ellen prior to setting up camp on her property. The latest incident was provoked by Ellen when she felt that her “private rights” had been “insulted”. Provoking the Federal officers and men was becoming a dangerous game and if it were not for the loyal guard force on the farm, she may have lost the house to arson that night.

General Rosecrans was now in overall command in the area, and while Colonel Tompkins had made the original request to protect his family in a letter to General Cox, the new commander felt required to honor it. Rosecrans accepted the responsibility as if it were his own. He had required the artillery officer to ask Ellen’s permission before setting up a camp and to set up in another location, if that was possible, rather than inconvenience her. The rapid assumption of Cox’s responsibility would seem to indicate some sort of relationship between Rosecrans and Tompkins had existed prior to the war.

Rosecrans — like Tompkins — was a graduate of West Point who finished his studies in 1842, six years after Tompkins had graduated. They did not share West Point experiences together and records of an association in the pre-war regular army have not been located, but the graduates of the Military Academy were generally a close group. Later, Tompkins was to write a letter to Rosecrans to thank him for the consideration shown to his family and said:

“I wish I could talk with you and many of my old friends and comrades on your side of the question. I believe we could manage affairs better than the politicians or at least differ honestly

in our respective views.”

While there is no obvious connection between these two officers in the pre-war military, the informal style in the letter leads to the conclusion that there had been some sort of association between the two at some time before the outbreak of hostilities. This probably occurred when the two were working in the western Virginia counties to mine coal, produce coal oil, and locate markets for their products in the states to the south and west. The common experience at West Point would have given the two a reason to become closer than simply acquaintances.

Ellen’s letter went on:

“They were putting up a telegraph wire from Sewell Mountain to Gauley, and in the morning cutting down all the trees I loved to see. We have a superb grindstone where they were sharpening their axes. I remarked that it was a hard case, I had to allow them to sharpen their axes to cut my favorite trees. Willie, who is as sharp as a briar, took Chris out, and together they took the handle off and they, the enemy, were outdone I assure you. They blessed us, and finally sent in Lieutenant Hicks to ask me to let them grind three axes and one hatchet and then they would cut no more of the trees, and the Captain said they would hurry the men off. I sent word I would agree to those terms, and let them have the handle.”

When the handle was removed and hidden, Ellen reported that the enemy “blessed us” — probably in terms that only soldiers far from home and frustrated by a woman and children could give as a blessing. Ellen probably had her hands over the ears of the smaller child, Willie.

The relationship between the Tompkins’ family and the Union soldiers was not necessarily an amiable one. The children were probable always trying to pull pranks or assist in “outwitting” the soldiers as Ellen explained their ability in an earlier letter. They may have been captives on their own property, but the Tompkins family was far from being defeated.

Ellen’s opportunity to complete the letter was probably interrupted by some unknown aggravation, but she was able to complete the letter the following day:

“October 6: Just as I wrote this far I was interrupted and all day yesterday I was so annoyed, first one thing and then another, I quite gave up. The teamsters are the most lawless men in the army and I have the road lined with them all the time, fires extending all along the fences. Colonel Tyler, who is in command of Gauley, wrote me a note telling me I must report any trespass on my property or any complaint I had to make of ill treatment and he would see I was protected. He is a real gentleman and with all my troubles there are some alleviating circumstances. The officers try to be kind to us in every way and really neglect no opportunity to do me a favor. The character and position of Mr. Tompkins secures me their civility.

They assure me constantly of their sympathy and tell me I have plenty of friends in both armies. Many believe I am refused a pass because it prevents our troops from attacking Gauley, as they say our lives are held worth a regiment of ours and this place commands the fortifications at Gauley. Cannon on the lawn here would ruin them. Some officers are here at every meal and staying at night, but never without my invitation. Two of General Rosencranz’ officers, sick in an ambulance, stopped and asked if I’d allow them to remain a night, as they were suffering. Well, of course, I did and they expressed themselves under great obligations. Mr. Grimme wishes me to adopt a different conduct, refuse everyone, but I am in the hands of the Philistines and have no idea of making bitter enemies, and, in truth, they are always kind to me and as a lady I must be polite. I have nothing to do with their politics in this free country. There are many of these officers I shall be happy to see and introduce to Mr. T. as friends to me in a dark hour of trial, when this terrible war is over.”

Many of the officers who came into contact with Ellen were able to imagine their families in her predicament, if the roles were reversed and the rebels had invaded Ohio. They generally went out of their way to help her and she — like her husband — worked to reduce some of the pain and suffering the war was causing. Tompkins had asked surprised Union infantrymen to surrender rather than shoot them down and she went out of her way to help the sick. They were people who would rapidly gain the respect of men of their class even though they were on opposite sides in the middle of a war. The age of chivalry was still present, but was in its’ final stages. The Civil War would put an end to the previous romantic notion of warfare and families as well as combatants would become legitimate targets of war. This was still evolving as a political and military policy at this early stage of the war. The long casualty lists had yet to totally harden the attitudes of the opposing forces, but it was not far into the future.

Because of her consistent policy of kindness, the officers began to discuss with her their suspicions that she and the family were held at the farm as hostages “because it keeps our troops from attacking Gauley.” There is considerable truth in her statement. General Cox did not mention such motivation in his reports or in the book he wrote after the war, but this is not the sort of information that gentlemen warriors would want to pass on to posterity. As mentioned previously, Ellen’s presence did reduce the probability that any Confederate army would make a serious attack against the Federal garrison at Gauley Bridge, at least along the James River and Kanawha Turnpike from the Rebel positions on Sewell Mountain. She was also correct in her assessment of the strategic position of her lawn. A few artillery batteries placed there would have made the Union fortifications in the nearby town of Gauley Bridge untenable. If they were placed under a substantial artillery barrage, the Union regiments at Gauley Bridge would have been forced to retreat, probably as far down the valley as Charleston, where the Elk River was a significant geographical barrier to any additional Confederate advances.

Ellen went on with the letter:

“We have had a freshet and General Cox’s troops suffered for fear of not being able to get wagons across Gauley River, for General Wise burnt the bridge. Had it kept up four days longer the whole army would have had to return. But now General Rosencranz, General Cox, General Benham, General McCook, and General Schenck are on the top of Big Sewell Mountain, 32 miles above us, with 16 thousand men and our forces on the top of Little Sewell. The Big and Little Sewell are eleven miles across. The two armies are two miles apart, lying in sight of each other. The pickets have exchanged Kanawha salt for Greenbrier beef. Our forces are under General Lee, General Floyd and Wise. Mr. Tompkins is there with his regiment. The rebels have between thirty and thirty-seven thousand men. As the officers tell me ‘they have the elephant but don’t know how to cage it’, meaning a chance to fight but fear to risk it against such odds. General Lee’s name strikes terror into these federal forces. If it was General Floyd or Wise, they would have tried to go to Lewisburg, but General Lee, they know, is so superior to their officers. The Confederate States have bound themselves to get back Western Virginia. My place is here evidently. I hope they will fall back without a battle. Some think they will.”

Here, again, Ellen’s sources of information were exceptionally accurate. The two armies were in the positions described, the distances were exact, and Robert E. Lee was in charge of both Floyd’s and Wise’s troops. Significant reinforcements had moved into the area and it appeared that there would be a major battle fought in the Sewell Mountain area. She was even aware that her husband’s regiment was in the fortifications on the mountaintops.

Conditions were miserable and both sides had difficulty in transporting supplies to the soldiers in the field and life for them was becoming difficult. One Rebel in Tompkins’ regiment recorded the following in his diary:

“…was about 2 or 3 o’clock when we reached the first troops … The men deployed behind logs, trees, or in open ground … and stood awaiting the attack. Continued firing among the pickets was heard — one poor lieutenant carried along dying in a litter … up at 4 o’clock — almost certain of attack — had the men along the lines … men worked hard and by night had made an excellent line of 3 or 4 hundred yards. Nothing still to eat. Some time in the forenoon Gen Wise sent some flour and beef — men were sent to cook — they used the barrel heads to cook upon, and about night some warm dough and some beef burned upon the coals were distributed, no salt in either the bread or on the meat. A piece of bread about the size of one’s hand, and a small piece of meat were given to each man. Some received none until after night. This was the meal of the second day — 3rd day (Thursday) about the same scenes, food of the same character but a little more of it. I cut my dough into thin pieces, browned it thoroughly and ate it with cold water, could eat no more beef… In a short time we were saturated. Tried to sleep but could not, water almost running under us, and a large leak dropping in my face, and many others running upon my body…”

Conditions on the Federal side were not much better. They had tents, but they had to be short of food inside their fortifications. Epidemics began to break out among the rural origin soldiers who had not contracted many childhood diseases such as measles and in addition the weather and exposure of the troops to the elements left them severely afflicted with colds, pneumonia, influenza and other disorders which began to fill the substandard military hospitals.

Ellen went on to explain some of the military events and explained the Federal courier system of swallowing dispatches when threatened with capture:

“But last night five couriers passed down and some passed up to General Rosencranz with sealed dispatches, papers compressed into a ball and covered with wax so the courier can swallow it if the enemy overtakes him. The supposition is within forty-eight hours there will be a change in the relations of the armies. I believe the federals will fall back to Camp Lookout, 18 miles above us at Mrs. Lewis place where I boarded two summers. There they are fortified, but the climate is so bleak they can’t stand it. They have hundreds of sick men now. When a battle is expected, in both armies the hospitals get filled, but these men have severe colds and fevers.”

Once again, Ellen Tompkins proves to be a careful observer and reporter of military affairs. She was aware of the number of couriers passing down the turnpike past the farm and even had managed to discover the special technique used for transporting sensitive dispatches to prevent their capture and discovery. She predicted a change in relationships between the opposing forces and proved to be correct. Rosecrans chose to withdraw his forces back along their over extended supply line rather than face the numerically superior Confedereates under the command of Robert E. Lee.

A Confederate artilleryman wrote of the Federal retreat and Lee’s disappointment:

“After remaining at Little Sewell Mountian upwards of two weeks, General Lee made preparations to attack General Rosecrans; contrary, doubtless, to General Lee’s expectations, on the morning the attack was to be made, General Rosecrans had quietly evacuated Big Sewell, and only left a few broken down horses and wagons, and a few tents pitched to make it appear that he still occupied his position. This was considered a very ingenious piece of strategy, as General Lee was much disappointed when he found that General Rosecrans had so quietly and adroitly eluded him on the previous night.”

There was another change that would eventually have an effect on the Tompkins’ family. Colonel Tompkins’ commander, General Wise, had been in a constant feud with General Floyd and now Wise was being recalled to Richmond for eventual reassignment to North Carolina. When Floyd took command as Lee moved back to the Cheat Mountain area, the Rebels also became a threat to the safety of the family on the Union-occupied farm.

There was some urgency attached to the order for Wise to return to Richmond. It was delivered to him while he was under fire with some of his skirmishers:

“Sir: You are instructed to turn over all the troops heretofore immediately under your command to General Floyd, and report yourself to the Adjutant General in this city, with the least delay. In making the transfer to General Floyd you will include everything under your command.

By Order of the President.”

The order was signed by the acting Secretary of War, Judah P. Benjamin.

Even though Wise was a political appointee, as a General he had a stable relationship with Tompkins. Floyd, also a “political general”, was no friend to the soldiers in the regiments and seemed to have some animosity toward the troops of his now deposed rival, Henry Wise. Now Tompkins 22nd Virginia Infantry Regiment was normally assigned the worst as well as the most dangerous duty in the army. “You will notice that our regiment usually is put in front on an advance and in the rear in a retreat” was recorded in a Confederate officer’s diary.

As a result, there was little love lost between Floyd and Tompkins. Colonel Tompkins had been a professional military officer, trained at West Point, and he was fair as he looked out for the welfare of the men in the regiment assigned to his command. Floyd continuously exhibited a dislike for the Kanawha volunteers who composed the 22nd Virginia.

Following the battle at Carnifex Ferry, Isaac Smith recorded the following comment in his diary:

“Floyd does not like Col T because he knows that Col T despises his character as a man and has no respect for his qualifications as a soldier, and it would suit Floyd’s view to leave Tompkins to bear all of the blame which might attach to any mishap in the retreat..”

Tompkins’ regiment, of course, had been assigned the dangerous duty of rearguard during the retreat. They were able to extricate the Confederate artillery from their positions and enabled the entire army to pull out of the immediate area of the large Federal army successfully, but Floyd generally found less than desirable duties for Tompkins and the 22nd Virginia to perform. With Wise out of the picture, Floyd was completely in charge and he would eventually be able to make a major change in the Tompkins family’s position and the Colonel’s military career.

Ellen continued with general information :

“There is such a difficulty to have letters sent without stamps and I can’t get any. Please send me some in your next letter. I hear all the eastern news from the Cincinnati papers which the officers send me. Willie is much better. He is cutting four teeth and for two months has not been well. My health is much better. Caroline says the war has cured me. I have not had a spell of nausea for two months. I am too busy and excited to be sick. I am so sorry to see Wilkins Glenn is taken up. I believe Maryland will go out of the Union in spite of Lincoln. A lieutenant colonel of the Confederates was killed by the pickets of the Federals. As officer of the day he rode between them and asked if they were Jeff Davis’ men. They said, ‘No!’ He drew his revolver and they shot him in the side. The officers are strapped to the horses now to save their bodies. His horse galloped back to our camp, a mile. The likeness of his wife with a slip of paper fell out of his pocket. On it was written, ‘But for this sad war, my dear husband, we never would have been separated.’ Her letters to him covered with his blood. The man was very sorry he did not let him go. He is on this place now. The wretch! What shadows we are and what shadows we pursue.”

She was obviously upset with the death of the Confederate officer who had carried a picture of his wife in his pocket. She could easily associate his death with that of her own husband and the slip of paper with the sad sentence “but for this sad war, my dear husband, we never would have been separated” described the Tompkins’ situation exactly. She didn’t have the facts this time. She was describing the death of Colonel Spaulding, an officer who had been drunk for several days, perhaps loneliness for his wife and that very piece of paper had produced the depression which led to drinking and had lead an unauthorized attack. Nothing was accomplished except his death. Ellen was also in error about the strapping of Confederate officers to their horses to recover their bodies. Spaulding was able to cling to his saddle until he fell into the arms of his troops who were out of range of the Union pickets.

She went on to complete the letter:

“Sunday night: The news for us is glorious. The Federals had to retreat from the Sewell Mountains as the Confederates were getting too close. The South is sure to hold its own and they begin to see it now. They have fallen back nearly to Hawk’s Nest and will have to go to Gauley, soon I expect to Charleston. They had to make their march at night. I feel bright and hopeful of better days, as the troops, no doubt, will go to Kentucky and Missouri, recalled from Western Virginia.

“An officer told me General Cox wrote him he was on the top of Sewell looking to the East. I told him, like Moses, he would be allowed to view the promised land but never enter it. It turned out true.

“Direct to the care of General Cox.”

Ellen frequently felt a compulsion to push her luck with the Union officers. Comparing the Confederacy to the promised land where the Union army would never be allowed to enter on the day the Federals had been forced to retreat seems to demonstrate a lack of good sense, but she was correct in her prediction that the Union forces would be forced to retreat from the Sewell Mountain area without a fight. She was now hoping that the same forces would be forced completely out of the state while leaving her family and farm in peace, a Confederate peace. If that were to occur, the sacrifice of the past several months would have been worth it.

Imagine, however, Ellen’s nerve, telling the Union officer that Cox was like Moses: he would be allowed to look into the promised land, but he would not be permitted to cross into Eastern Virginia. It is little wonder that the Federal officers respected the courageous, but aggravating, southern lady.

She was a good correspondent and wrote to her sister, Sarah, frequently. Ellen wrote to explain the Union army’s situation following the retreat and the situation on the farm as military

supplies were stockpiled in preparation for an expected Rebel offensive. This letter was written on October 10, 1861:

“This place ought to belong to the state, it has such a central, important position. Last night the road was lined with wagons and the noise such we could not sleep, the teamsters quarrelling and swearing. The barn now is filled with government property, barrels of pork, sugar, etc. If they retreat, they will burn it down no doubt, for when they fell back from Sewell Mountain they burnt tents, and the sugar, coffee, etc., was over a foot deep, mixed with mud to prevent the rebels from using it. Over a hundred wagon loads were destroyed as they had no transportation.”

Retreats over the steep, muddy mountain roads in the winter were nearly impossible to manage successfully. Any supplies which had been pre-positioned in forward areas normally had to be destroyed or abandoned to the enemy as there seldom was sufficient transportation to move it quickly. This was a problem for both sides, but the southern troops were affected less with this difficulty since they simply had fewer supplies to attempt to move.

Ellen continued:

“General Scott does not approve of the march up Sewell Mountain. He did not approve of the rout at Manassas. He well may be angry. It has cost Uncle Sam an immense amount of money and hundreds of sick soldiers, in fact it has demoralized and disheartened them. They return saying that the South has generals, but they have not one capable of leading thirty thousand men. Many talk of going home and all say they must go into winter quarters. Regiments of a thousand can’t muster more than five or six hundred active men fit for service. They will be at Gauley in a week, but our troops harass them. 800 cavalry came down yesterday and drove in their pickets and as they thought possibly they were supported by infantry. The Federals had three regiments out for battle, but the cavalry only galloped backwards and forwards annoying them so that they could not continue to retreat fearing an ambush. They now don’t know what to anticipate as some fear the rebels will cut off their provision wagons from the other side of the river. They know General Lee is full of stratagems. General Scott is said to have cried when General Lee refused all of his offers and would go with Virginia.”

General Scott had retired from active service, but apparently spoke freely with newspaper correspondents. Ellen seemed to be supplied frequently with newspapers from Ohio and this is probably the source of her comments about General Scott, a fellow Virginian.

This was an exceptionally hard period for the Union soldiers assigned to Rosecrans’ brigades. Lee’s forces had been reinforced by troops under the command of Brigadier-General Loring and the Confederates were again advancing toward the Federal strongholds at Gauley Mount and Gauley Bridge.

Loring was also a well-respected officer who had served as a Major in a mounted rifleman regiment during the Mexican War. He lost his left arm at Chapultepec and had been promoted for bravery. A Confederate artilleryman explained the level of respect Loring had from his fellow southerners:

“A man thus distinguished as a Major in a war in which Robert E. Lee served as a Captain, and Thomas J. Jackson as a Lieutenant, naturally enjoyed great prestige.”

to send Loring’s troops along the turnpike on the north side of New River soon afterwards, but the pressing need for reinforcements in the Cheat Mountain area and in the Shenandoah Valley was so urgent that Lee had to send Loring there while Floyd was allowed to continue his operation on the south side of New River. This operation was probably intended to harass the Union camps and divert their attention from Loring’s withdrawl. Floyd’s force was simply too small to be able to stand against Rosecrans’ regiments without Loring’s support, but there was considerable protection available for Floyd from the rising water of New River. The small Confederate force could retreat to the southwest into Virginia, if pressed.

Floyd’s army totaled approximately 4000 men and consisted of six infantry regiments: the 14th Georgia, the 22nd Virginia, 36th Virginia, 45th Virginia, and the 51st Virginia, as well as

the 20th Mississippi. The Phillips’ “Legion” from Georgia was also present and the small command had cavalry elements and artillery attached. A company of Louisiana sharpshooters also accompanied Floyd’s march.

General Lee was indeed “full of stratagems” and would have driven the Federal army out of the upper Kanawha Valley, if Loring had been able to remain to support Floyd by maneuvering along the north bank of the river. Unfortunately for the Confederacy, Loring’s troops were needed elsewhere.

Ellen, unaware of the Confederate advance that was forming, had decided to ask Rosecrans for permission to travel to Richmond for supplies and winter clothing. She explained this to Sarah:

“I intend, in about ten days, to apply to General Rosencranz for a pass to Richmond. I shall leave the children and be gone about ten days. I must see Mr. T. and attend to my house there. I want winter clothes. You perceive I am a desperate woman. Literally I never know personal fear, although I am a coward usually. Bill has not been returned. The wonder is all have not gone. They say this war is to revenge the treatment of the slaves. Live abolitionists I never saw before, for we would order them off or set the dogs on them usually. Now they enter the house. I tell them my opinions of them frankly. Please send me some stamps. We have twenty-four men on guard. General Wise had his things in the same barn.”

Ellen Tompkins was a southern woman who was raised around the institution of slavery and saw little wrong with it. As usual, Ellen was outspoken on this issue as she was everything else. Her slave, Bill, had been concealed by the Union troops and had not returned to his duties at the farm. She had written to General Cox about the incident and Cox promised to investigate and ordered the regimental commander, Colonel Fyffe, to have Bill returned. Ellen had a rather low opinion of abolitionists.

A pass and orders for safe travel was issued for Ellen, her daughter, and J.H. Miller, Jr. to permit them to travel to Richmond and they soon departed for the Confederate lines and the road into the heart of the Confederacy. It is interesting that J.H. Miller, Jr. went along. He was the son of the Postmaster at Gauley Bridge, James Hodge Miller. It is obvious that Miller was a Confederate sympathizer and could have assisted Ellen with her “letters” which went through the Federal mail system and contained such interesting information.

A pair of very courteous letters were exchanged between Colonel Tompkins and General Rosecrans at the time of Ellen’s departure. These are worth more than a casual review.

Rosecrans letter was carried by Ellen as she left the farm. It was written on October 14, 1861:

“My Dear Colonel,

“Your noble wife and fair daughter take this to you.

“The only condition I impose on the visit is that while giving pleasure to you the visit shall have to me and the Government of the United States no painful consequences.

“It is unnecessary to suggest to you, whose nice sense of honor I know so well and highly appreciate, that conversation on the number, condition, or position of military forces, or their equipment, discipline, supplies, or movements should be avoided. But I mention it that those of your friends and others who will probably converse with Mrs. T. and Miss Ellen may be cautioned against embarrassing them by conversing on these subjects.

“I send you my warm regards. Anything I can do to contribute to your comfort or happiness I shall be happy to do.

Your Sincere Friend

W.S. Rosecrans”

This certainly doesn’t seem to be the sort of letter that a general would send to his enemy. At some point in the past, these two men of honor had known one another and had been friends. It wasn’t in the Seminole Wars as Rosecrans was still a cadet at the time. There is no record of their professional lives touching. After Rosecrans graduated from the Military Academy, he served at Fortress Monroe and later went to West Point where he was assigned until 1847. Christopher Tompkins resigned from the regular army while he was serving in California in 1847. How they came to know each other is not well documented.

Tompkins’ return letter was written six days later from Lewisburg and shows an equal warmth for General Rosecrans:

“My dear Sir:

“Dropping the etiquette of official and more formal correspondence, I beg to thank you for your letter of the 14th instant and especially for your many manifestations of kindness to my family at Gauley farm.

“You will do me the justice to believe that I feel most deeply the kindness which you have bestowed upon those so dear to me, and you will find your reward in the consciousness of having exercised those Christian virtues which go so far to elevate ourselves in the estimation of all respecting people.

“Aside from truce considerations, I shall continue in all sincerity to refer briefly to the unfortunate condition of our divided country.

“It has been a source of great and momentous concern to myself and whilst I have no idea that either of us will live to see the end of the evils that now exist, I do cherish the hope that we in our respective spheres accomplish much to mitigate their atrocities.

“I wish I could talk with you and many of my old friends and comrades on your side of the question. I believe we could manage affairs better than the politicians or at least honestly differ

in our respective views.

“But this may never be.

“Once more I repeat my obligations to yourself and other officers of your Army for your kindness to my family. I only ask that they may be permitted to leave the place and return in safety within our lines, and I need hardly add that I shall be bound by every sentiment of honor to observe the strictest regard for the observance of such silence as you will require in reference to your official affairs.

“With much respect and regard I remain, dear Sir,

Very truly

C.Q. Tompkins”

This was a very unusual pair of enemies! Tompkins’ feelings about politicians were clear enough, and if he felt strongly enough to write this down in a letter to an enemy general, he must have been at the boiling point in his relationship with General Floyd, whom Isaac Smith wrote that Tompkins “despised” even at the time of the battle at Carnifex Ferry.

It was about this time that Floyd’s regiments were moving along the south side of New River toward their positions opposite the Federal camps at Gauley Bridge and at Gauley Mount. The small army had crossed the river at Richmond’s Ferry on October 11.

Issac Smith recorded Colonel Tompkins’ departure from the 22nd Virginia in his diary:

“Col. T met us on the way up and left us for Lewisburg to meet Mrs. Tompkins whom he had just learned was at that place. I was therefore in command of the regiment and dreaded the responsibility. Plus rode forward in great haste to tell Col Tompkins the news about his wife and the Col frequently alludes to it, says he will never forget Plus for this kindness.”

As mentioned previously, Christopher and Ellen Tompkins were romantically in love and had difficulty in being separated. Ellen occasionally alluded to this in her letters to Sarah, but the emotional attachment was far from being one-sided. These two people really wanted to be together.

Floyd’s army occupied Cotton Hill and set up artillery positions directly across New River from Gauley Bridge and were in position to fire at the Union camp at Tompkins’ farm. The artillery attack on Gauley Bridge began on November 1, 1861, and continued for nearly two weeks. Ellen was in Richmond for most of this period and did not write much about the fighting even though it was loud, intense, and long lasting. As a matter of fact, she became relatively uninterested in military affairs after being placed “on my parole of honor” by General Rosecrans. This careful observer and precise reporter of military maneuvers was no longer interested in those things.

The Union army’s local commander, Brigadier General Jacob D. Cox, described the military situation of the upper Kanawha Valley that had only recently fallen under the control of newly mobilized soldiers from Ohio and Kentucky. Key to controlling access to the valley and blocking a Confederate counterattack involved the fortifying of a large farm that was adjacent to the major east-west transportation route through the region, the James River and Kanawha Turnpike. The farm was the property of Colonel Christopher Q. Tompkins, a West Point graduate and current commander of the First Kanawha Regiment that was opposing the forces under Cox’s command as the gradually fortified Tompkins’s farm became the key to the Union’s army’s control of the area. Living on the farm was Colonel Tompkins’ wife and their children.

Ellen Tompkins’ letters written from their farm provides a very interesting insight into the lives of Virginians as the early Civil War was being fought around them.

Jacob Cox described both the location and situation:

“Nothing could be more romantically beautiful than the situation of the post at Gauley Bridge. The hamlet had, before our arrival there, consisted of a cluster of two or three dwellings, a country store, a little tavern, and a church, irregularly scattered along the base of the mountain and facing the road which turns from the Gauley valley into that of the Kanawha. The lower slope of the hillside behind the houses was cultivated, and a hedgerow separated the lower fields from the upper pasturage. Above this gentler slope the wooded steeps rose more precipitately, the sandstone rock jutting out into crags and walls, the sharp ridge above having scarcely soil enough to nourish the chestnut-trees, here, like Mrs. Browning’s woods of Vallombrosa, literally “clinging by their spurs to the precipices.” In the angle between the Gauley and New rivers rose Gauley Mount, the base a perpendicular wall of rocks of varying height, with high wooded slopes above. There was barely room for the road between the wall of rocks and the water on the New River side, but after going some distance up the valley, the highway gradually ascended the hillside, reaching some rolling uplands at a distance of a couple of miles. Here was Gauley Mount, the country-house of Colonel C. Q. Tompkins, formerly of the Army of the United States, but now the commandant of a Confederate regiment raised in the Kanawha valley.

“Across New River the heavy masses of Cotton Mountain rose rough and almost inaccessible from the very water’s edge. The western side of Cotton Mountain was less steep, and buttresses formed a bench about its base, so that in looking across the Kanawha a mile below the junction of the rivers, one saw some rounded foothills which had been cleared on the top and tilled, and a gap in the mountainous wall made room on that side for a small creek which descended to the Kanawha, and whose bed served for a rude country road leading to Fayette C. H. At the base of Cotton Mountain the Kanawha equals the united width of the two tributaries, and flows foaming over broken rocks with treacherous channels between, till it dashes over the horseshoe ledge below, known far and wide as the Kanawha Falls. On either bank near the falls a small mill had been built, that on the right bank a saw-mill and the one on the left for grinding grain.”

General Jacob D. Cox

Colonel Tompkins’ wife, Ellen, described the arrival of the first Union soldiers at her home as they searched for her husband and while the first few pages of her letter were missing, she was clearly describing dramatic events that created tension at her farmhouse.

“…They looked mad, asked if he was here. I said, ‘No.’ ‘When did he leave?’ I said, ‘I am not here to answer such questions. I should not be worthy of the name of wife if I betrayed my husband.’ The officer seeing I was not in a trifling mood said, ‘Ask the lady no such questions; she won’t answer you. Give us some whiskey.’”

The Union soldiers were probably from the 2nd Kentucky Volunteer Infantry Regiment. They were recruited from the riverfront in the Cincinnati area and at this very early stage of the war, they were more an undisciplined rabble than soldiers.

Ellen continued to describe her initial encounter with the newly arrived Federal army:

“I told them I had none as I sent it away when I heard they were coming, if they wished milk or bread or meat, that they should have it. A party rushed into the kitchen. I asked the officer very politely to request his men to leave the kitchen, food should be brought to them in the porch. Some had gone to the vineyard house (no one was in it however). A party rushed into the stable yard with shovels, etc. Three went to Dickert’s house, the white man who has lived here for two years, broke open his trunk, took his watch, breast pin, 437 dollars in notes due in Cincinnati, 95 dollars in bank notes. I told the officer that Mr. T. had written to General Cox and that as a gentleman my greatest protection was in my entire defenselessness, and showed him the note left the day before by the officers. One was his captain fortunately. He called his men off and left. Mr. Dickert went after them, but they were going to run him through. I sent a letter for him, to stop the payment of the 437 dollars, the 95 he lost, of course. I told him if faithful I’d give him a watch.”

General Henry Wise, Former Governor of Virginia

August was a very active month for people in the area of Gauley Bridge, Virginia. The Confederate commander was able to come away from the battle of Scary Creek which was fought below Charleston with what was essentially a stalemate. He and his forces were now faced with a situation in which they were threatened with being surrounded by troops sent from the Sutton area. If these Federal troops were able to march south to Gauley Bridge, the small Confederate force would be cut off and would probably have been forced to surrender. General Wise, his Legion, and the newly recruited Confederate regiments from the Kanawha Valley began their retreat.

As in any retreat, the Confederates destroyed bridges in their rear to prevent the development of rapid pursuit and the bridge across Gauley River was not to be an exception. It was burned early on the night of July 27, 1861 and the blaze from the burning structure was spectacular. The glow was seen as far away as Woodville (currently Ansted) and the flames would have been quite visible from the Tompkins home.

A.B. Roler, a member of Wise’s Legion, recorded the destruction of the bridge in his diary:

“…When all of the companies were over the bridge with their baggage and commissary stores, the bridge was set on fire at about 11 p.m. It burned very fast, and the first arch that was fired fell in about one half hour. The whole length of the bridge was at least 150 yards, and ten minutes after the torch was first touched, the whole bridge was one sheet of flame, and for five or ten minutes afterwards presented one of the most beautiful sights I have ever saw. The night was somewhat cloudy and very damp from the recent rain, though it had stopped raining by this time. The smoke arose from above in heavy spiral columns which lingered a moment over the burning wreck, affording time to be lit up in the most gorgeous colors, and then passed off into the air. The curve of the wind was south east and was right against the side of the bridge which caused the smoke from the flooring of the structure to circle beneath the arches in beautiful curves, and to mingle with that of the roofing after it had passed across. The exclamation of all present was what a beautiful sight….”

Covered Bridge Across Gauley River That Was Burned in July, 1861

Christopher Tompkins and the remainder of Wise’s small army continued the retreat to Bunger’s Mill (in the vicinity of Lewisburg) and Wise submitted a written report to Richmond:

“In thirty minutes after we fell back from Tyler Mountain, the enemy took possession and nearly succeeded in cutting off Colonel Tompkins’ command at Coal River. We left Charleston last Wednesday week (July 24), and Gauley last Saturday, destroying the bridges behind us. This I was obliged to do … owing to gross inefficiency of the quartermasters department of my brigade, I have come on slowly.”

Federal troops under the command of General Cox moved quickly into the military vacuum produced as the Confederates pulled out. Portions of the 11th Ohio and the 2nd Kentucky Volunteer Infantry Regiments were pushed across the Gauley River to continue to press the Rebels and keeping them off balance.

Elements of the Kentucky regiment were the visitors to the Tompkins farm who demanded liquor from Ellen. This group of soldiers were little more than a mob and at least one member of the 2nd Kentucky’s sister regiment, the 1st Kentucky — Private Gatewood — was later executed by firing squad in Charleston for serious violations of military discipline. Another was later killed at Gauley Bridge by an officer for refusing to obey orders. General Cox claimed in his memoirs that these soldiers were later extensively drilled and with experience, they became skilled soldiers, but at the time of the farm visit they were highly undisciplined and the fact that General Cox had sent orders that the Tompkins family was not to be harmed meant very

little to these men.

These visiting Kentucky troops broke into the overseer’s house and robbed his savings while others went to the stable yard with shovels. This is probably the source of the story that a quantity of silver was buried on the Tompkins’ farm that has persisted to the present. (The location of the buried treasure was alleged to be marked with a buried musket.)

Ellen described her rather strange situation in a letter to her sister:

“Major Leiper came up at dinner time to say that General Cox had received Mr. T.’s letter, recognized his right to send it, and would see me protected, that his horse would not cross the ford or he would have called himself. He called the next day with several of his staff officers and took dinner, and is an elegant, accomplished gentleman, withal very handsome. Strange to say General Wise always sat at table on my left hand (the seat of honor I believe) and General Cox, his enemy, took the same seat two days after. I smiled to think how the table was filled with men in so short a time anxious to cut each other’s throats.”

Cox had received a letter from Tompkins and had accepted responsibility for the safety of the Tompkins family. The letter was written at Gauley Mount on July 28, 1861 and was sent to Cox who was probably given the letter as he entered the town of Gauley Bridge:

“Sir:

“Circumstances over which I have no control, have compelled me to abandon my farm, and leave upon it a defenseless family of females and children.

“Should the chances of war direct your columns in this vicinity, it is presumed that these persons would receive treatment befitting their several stations, provided responsible persons were in immediate command. But, should this particular locality be visited by scouting parties or irregular detachments of your Forces, temptations to license and abuse of private rights might be committed without your knowledge or sanction.

“It is to guard against such a contingency, that I have taken the liberty to address you in this communication, and to call your attention to the propriety of giving such instructions as will doubtless present themselves to an Officer of your rank and reputation. If, however, you should think it out of your power to prevent such abuses of private immunities, I will be obliged if you will apprise Mrs. Tompkins of the fact.”

Tompkins’ letter was written the day after the bridge was burned and Cox had dinner there two days where Confederate Wise had eaten at the same table. Cox must have been on the farm on either July 30 or August 1. The Federal pursuit was not very far behind and the burned bridge was only a temporary obstacle to the continued Union advance.

The Federal officers who visited the farm were described by Ellen as “…very respectful and really kind, thank me for all that I do for them…” but Ellen’s position within their lines was precarious. Her family and property had to be guarded by troops from each side. When the area was occupied by the Confederates, General Wise’s son, O. Jennings Wise, the commander of the “Richmond Light Infantry Blues” provided guards to prevent property damage “fearing Union men would burn the house as they threatened it.” Now, the Union officers must attempt to guard the private property from their own troops.

Ellen described them best: “…but the soldiers are cut throats, villainous looking indeed. They are very angry, say it is a pretty kind of war, here is a secession Colonel and they are not allowed to pillage anything…”

A guard force of twenty soldiers was posted to keep the farm safe from looters.

Ellen Tompkins continued to explain the unusual aspects of her situation to her sister, Sarah:

“A man dined here who told me he ordered one hundred guns to be fired at Mr. T., described his horse exactly, knew he was an officer by his orders to the men, and said, ‘Is it not strange that here I am dining at his table?’ He said the twigs of the trees flew, but the range was too high. They are very respectful and really kind, thank me for all that I do for them, But the soldiers are cut throats, villainous looking indeed. They are very angry, say it is a pretty kind of war, here is a secession Colonel and they are not allowed to pillage anything, not even a chicken. The apple orchard is the only sufferer. Four are there to guard it, but, somehow, few apples are left. The stock horses are all preserved. The guard is sent at nine o’clock every morning to relieve twenty men in three places. Two lieutenants or captains, besides the officer of the day, come up twice besides and once in the night to see all is right. The officers eat at the table and sleep on mattresses on benches in the porch, the men on the lawn or in the road. Ellen is never seen. They do not know I have a daughter. When our troops were at Gauley Bridge, where these are now, Captain O. Jennings Wise sent me a guard every night, fearing Union men would burn the house as they threatened it. So we have been highly honored by both parties. Captain Wise is General Wise’s son.”

It was beginning to be a strange war for all participants. Here was the wife of a Confederate Colonel, eating at the same table of a man who described how he had ordered his unit to fire at her husband in an effort to kill him. Ellen felt they were “very respectful and really kind…” in spite of the fact that they were enemies. Her daughter, Ellen, was constantly concealed from the Union soldiers as her mother feared for the safety of the fifteen year old girl if she were seen by the ordinary soldiers who were “cut throats … villainous looking”.

She continued the letter to her sister in Delaware:

“The greatest trial is I am cut off from all communication with Mr. T. The mails are stopped from here to Lewisburg. Except a message, I have heard nothing from him. I do not know where he will be ordered. Sometimes my heart almost gives out. Then I feel I must rally as all depends on me now. Whether these troops will go to attack Mr. T. or remain here, I have no idea. The children tell me ‘I am a prisoner of war but don’t know it.’ It is true I ought not to leave here , all is lost if I go, but I am so anxious about Mr. T. Yet we cannot afford to lose this place if by remaining two months all may yet be well. I suppose you know that the dear old state is to be divided. Governor Pierpont is for the Union and this fact is certain, the forces will go as far as the sword will cut. What about Washington? Is it to be taken? I dread the bloodshed following it. Do pray write to me. Tell me who is living, who is dead, and where Henry is? Caroline I heard , was doing well. I get papers from Cincinnati, sent by the officers to me. Indeed, I call them socially friends and am puzzled to draw the line of their political enmity. I look at them and think here General Cox makes it a personal matter to protect the wife and children of a man he may kill next week. I know and believe many of the officers would spare him now for my sake. It is a matter for thought.

“Now for business. How does the blessed estate get on? Do write me a real long letter. Remember how I am situated and how thirsty I am for news of every kind. Your letter must be directed to Mrs. Colonel C. Q. Tompkins, Care of Brigadier General Cox, Gauley Bridge, Fayette County, Virginia, It will come safely through Cincinnati. General Cox sent a letter to Mr. T. from me to relieve his anxiety, and lets me send to mill or store, but worded the pass so as to throw me on my honor. He sends this letter and says I may seal all I write. I admire him truly, for such men have a happy effect for peace.

Please send this letter to Ann Tilyard and tell her not to show it, burn it but to go to see Louisa and Achsah and tell them the news, also Jane. Goodbye with love to Mr. Cooch, Wilkens, Helen, and all the family. I wonder if we will ever meet again.”

Ellen Tompkins had nearly completed the letter to her sister, but as became her habit she included interesting postscripts:

“Write the day you get this for General Cox may leave and my letter might not arrive so safely. Ellen received a letter from Florence last week. She was so delighted.

“The people intercept my letters from Mr. T., I fear to gain some news. He could write nothing to instruct them, of course. They burn my fences, to let the stock out, make fires near the barn in hopes to burn it. I get angry sometimes. The officers put things to rights for me. Oh, what an awful curse war is. How I envy you with your husband and children at home…”

Ellen Tompkins had a real fear of the Union soldiers on her farm and she took serious risks whenever she caused the Union officers to confront the enlisted men on her behalf. She was aware of the risks she was taking by remaining on the farm and took extra precautions by keeping young Ellen hidden and out of sight. Like any normal person, Ellen Tompkins wanted to leave for a safer location, but in the absence of Colonel Tompkins, she felt that the family’s fortunes were her responsibility. She was sure that they would lose their farm and possessions to looters or arsonists if she abandoned the property and she apparently planned to remain there to “see if all may be well”. Most people felt that the war wouldn’t last very long and would be settled in favor of the South. If she could hold out for a few months, the farm in which they had invested most of their money could be safe. If they abandoned it, they would probably lose everything they had there. Ellen Tompkins had excellent financial reasons to remain on the farm when the Federal troops took possession of Gauley Mountain.

A second reason for remaining rather than move to Richmond (as the Confederates withdrew) or travel through Union-controlled territory to Baltimore (as offered by Federal officers) was the nearby presence of Colonel Tompkins. They apparently had a very close marriage and with all of her pressing problems, she confided in her letter to her sister that her “greatest trial” was being cut off from all communications with her husband. At the time the letter was written, Tompkins was probably at Bunger’s Mill near Lewisburg where Wise’s regiments had halted after their long retreat, but there was no way to send mail through the hostile lines.

It is quite likely that Ellen and Christopher Tompkins were more than simply husband and wife. It appears that they were romantically in love with one another since before their marriage. Christopher gave up his army career to return to Richmond to be with Ellen and she had accompanied him into the rough, sparsely populated area of Fayette County, Virginia, to make their home near Gauley Bridge. Occasional hints are present in her letters that indicate their romance was still strong.

After her trip to Richmond to collect winter clothing, she wrote her sister that she “spent some blissful days with Mr. T.” and she worried constantly about his welfare.

Following the dinner where the Federal officer described how he had “ordered one hundred muskets to be fired at Mr. T., described his horse exactly…”, Ellen warned her husband in a note: “Remember you must not ride that horse. It is too well known.” Later in another short letter to her husband, she wrote “I hope you have sold that horse.” These short warnings were the best that she could do to help protect her husband from harm as her letters had to be sent through the Union lines unsealed. She remained unsure of the actual location of Colonel Tompkins, but sent a letter through the lines to him at Lewisburg from Gauley Bridge on September 1, 1861:

“My Dear Husband,

“I have not had the pleasure of hearing from you since the third of August. Various reports have reached us of your presence in this region, but none reliable. My impression is that you are with General Lee, therefore I shall direct this to Lewisburg.

“We are treated with much kind consideration by the officers and a guard is kept here to prevent intrusion. I shall remain here until I know your wishes on the subject. We are all well. The children long to see you. I need not tell you how I wish to see you, for that you know full well.

“How does John get on? Give our love to him, and Mr. Grimme sends his respects. I am tired of this war, and yet see no hope of peace, all looks dark to me, however, I hear no news from the east except a few papers from Cincinnati, newspaper reports I do not credit. I wish I could suggest a way to send me a letter, but I am entirely at a loss.”

She completed the letter with “With much love your devoted wife” and continued with one of the usual postscripts:

“My judgement still approves of my remaining here, but the difficulty of hearing from you is a severe trial. My health is rather better, for I have no spells of nausea, therefore feel no uneasiness about me. Remember you must not ride that horse. It is too well known.”

Ellen’s letters to her husband were subject to Federal censors and were kept short and straightforward. Her brother, John, was a physician assigned to General Wise’s command and his presence in the Confederate force operating in the area gave her additional cause for concern, but her major complaint centered on her inability to communicate with her husband.

Elements from both armies were maneuvering into positions in the area from Hawk’s Nest to Sewell Mountain. Two major transportation routes intersected in that region, the James River and Kanawha Turnpike and Sunday Road (which connected northern areas) where the Federal forces under the command of General McClellan were operating. Wise had to ensure that his small Confederate army did not get caught on the turnpike between General Cox (at Gauley Bridge) and the Federal army under McClellan which could move from the north on Sunday Road and trap the Rebel force in a very inaccessible area where retreat or maneuver would be nearly impossible.

Cox, with a smaller military force at his disposal, kept several of his regiments out in front of his main element, constantly skirmishing with the Confederate pickets to keep Wise off balance. Cox was concerned that the combined Confederate army would be able to attack his force in Gauley Bridge and push the Federal forces out of the upper Kanawha Valley. While Cox was a volunteer general, his military instincts were quite good and he was able to keep the less qualified General Wise guessing about his actual strength and intentions.

During this period of maneuver and counter-maneuver, Tompkins and Ellen’s brother, John, arranged for a note to be sent to General Cox requesting that the Tompkins family be allowed to pass through the Union lines to rejoin her husband in safety. The letter was sent by Colonel C. F. Henningsen, an Englishman who had joined the Confederate army following several years as a “Soldier of Fortune”. Henningsen’s most recent experiences included the invasion of Nicaragua along with a group of Southerners lead by William Walker of Tennessee.

The note was hand carried to General Cox’s headquarters in person by Ellen’s brother, Dr. Wilkins. The message from Henningsen was not been located, but Cox’s reply explained a great deal about Ellen’s situation, Cox’s protection, and advised that she would not be allowed to cross into Confederate-controlled territory. It was written at Cox’s headquarters in Gauley Bridge on September 6, 1861:

“To Colonel C. F. Henningsen

“Sir:

“Your note dated 4th was brought in today with a flag of truce by Dr. Wilkins. I have endeavored to save Mrs. Tompkins from any of the inconveniences or dangers which might result from hostilities in her neighborhood, and have spared no pains to keep her family and property from molestation. She has been allowed every latitude I could reasonably grant and subjected to only such restrictions as seemed necessary.

“The very fact that she has been allowed to remain so long with her family within our lines, makes it improper for me now to grant the request that she should pass over to your forces. I will however see to it that she is not left in any personal danger in any event, or will even allow her a safe conduct to go to her friends in Baltimore, by way of Ohio. More than this I must be excused from granting at present, however I may regret the duty of refusing any request her husband or friends might make. Of course I include her family in the assurances above given.”

There were several reasons that Cox was uncomfortable in releasing Ellen to travel into the Confederate lines at this particular point in the mountain war. Ellen was probably aware of the general weakness of the Federal forces in the Gauley Bridge area at the time. If she were able to tell Confederate General Wise of the Union positions in the area of her farm, the Rebels would shortly realize that they had a definite advantage and would probably be able to force the relatively weak Federal garrison out of the upper Kanawha Valley.

Cox, however, was a gentleman who promised to protect Ellen or permit her to slowly travel through Ohio to Baltimore — a prolonged trip which would protect the military positions his soldiers were holding. He told Henningsen that he regretted his duty of refusing to allow Ellen and her family to join Tompkins, but this might be slightly incorrect. Actually, Cox was able to derive some benefit by holding the Tompkins farm and family within the Federal camp. While Ellen and the children were there, it was very unlikely that General Wise’s forces, with Christopher Tompkins as a senior officer, would place the family in danger by attacking. Cox, the gentleman, may have realized the tactical advantage he was gaining by holding Ellen and the family within the Union camp, but he obviously would have released them for the trip to safety in Baltimore, if that had been requested. 

himself into command of the Army of the Potomac. General Rosecrans took command in western Virginia and began to move troops south toward the Kanawha Valley.

Christopher Tompkins remained in the area with his regiment, recently reorganized and re-designated the 22nd Virginia Volunteer Infantry Regiment, formerly the First Kanawha Regiment. This regiment was unique in Confederate service as it was formed exclusively from volunteer companies recruited from western Virginia counties.

Tompkins was able to get a letter passed through the lines to Ellen which was hand carried to Gauley Mount by the commander of the 26th Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiment, Colonel Fyffe. Ellen replied to her husband from the farm on September 10, 1861:

“My Dear Husband,

“I had the pleasure of receiving your letter from the hands of Colonel Fyffe, and was much gratified to hear that you and John were well.

“The children send much love and have enjoyed good health and, not withstanding the exciting times, continue their studies quite industriously. They seem much interested in their music and play Dixie and various airs. General Cox and his officers treat us very kindly and made us as comfortable under the circumstances as possible. The General thinks however that it will be most judicious for us to remain here for the present, and I agree with him, feeling quite safe under his protection. As for my going to Baltimore it is entirely out of the question. If nothing occurs to drive me away, I would like to remain here as late as possible, although it forces me to forgo the pleasure of seeing you and John, especially as Mr. Grimme and Mr. Dickert think they could not remain here with advantage without the family.

The stock is all in good condition, and the crops were quite abundant, but not equal to the demands made upon them. Of course I will write whenever there is an opportunity. In the meantime I hope you will feel no unnecessary anxiety about us as I feel sure in case of sickness General Cox would allow me to let you know. My own health is rather better. The servants give me no trouble. All desire their respects to you and John.

Yours devotedly,

Ellen Tompkins

P.S. I hope you have sold that horse. Sarah wrote me all were well and our property in Baltimore right.”

Tompkins apparently missed being able to communicate with Ellen to the degree that she missed his letters. He asked her to write and she assured him she would do so whenever there was an opportunity. She also took the opportunity to warn him again about his well known horse which had caused him to become a special target for Union soldiers.

Ellen’s letters to Colonel Tompkins were delivered through the Union lines and were delivered in an unsealed condition. Since these were coming from inside Union territory and could contain military information, they were probably read before being delivered to the Confederates. Ellen was obviously aware of this practice and didn’t write the open, frank letters such as were sent to her sister. Since the letters to her husband would be read by Union officers and perhaps General Cox, himself, Ellen took the opportunity to let them know that had been well treated and expected the same sort of care in the future.

Initially, the Union officers feared the losses were far greater than it turned out, but Major John Casement was able to rally nearly 400 Union survivors from the surrounding countryside and march them over the mountains to Charleston where they rejoined the Union army. Until they were able to return to Union control, Cox’s headquarters were nearly in a panic with only the 7th Ohio’s commander, Colonel Tyler, his Lieutanant_Colonel, and 200 Union survivors of the Confederate attack had arrived at Gauley Bridge. It had taken on the appearance of a terrible defeat until Casement’s group appeared in Charleston.

General Floyd, obviously pleased with the results of his initial battle of the war, sent a report on the action to General Robert E. Lee:

“I determined to attack them, which I did yesterday about sunrise. They were posted about three miles from my camp in a commanding position, but our men made the attack with spirit and soon carried it. The enemy were completely routed… The enemy’s killed and wounded number upward of 30 men. Amongst the killed is a captain. The prisoners number over 60 … we captured some of their wagons and hospital supplies. the result of this fight will enable me to hold this quarter of the country, I think certainly, and cut off effectively all communication between General Cox and the forces toward the north.”

Ellen was unaware at the time that she was writing this letter that her husband’s regiment was attached to Floyd’s Brigade and had participated in the rout of the Seventh Ohio. Later she was to learn of his humanitarian actions at the time of the battle which saved many Union soldier’s lives and this display of gallantry was to be of benefit to Ellen and the children.

The September 10 letter to Sarah continued with a description of the skirmishing that went on along the eastern boundary of the farm, in the area of nearby Chimney Corner:

“September 3rd we heard the cannon roaring two miles above us, actually on the farm which extends three miles on the turnpike. The 11th Ohio and two other regiments were concealed in the bushes each side of the road expecting our troops to come down and attack Gauley Camp. Our troops, it seems, followed the same plan. When either showed themselves, were honored with a volley. The road ran in this way. Both were surprised at the reception they met. The idea of six thousand men playing bow peep at each other. The federals blame a boy who went to mill a hundred times a day, said they heard cow bells all night which was the rebels’ signal, complain of the ingratitude of the people to an army sent here to protect them. I am truly grateful for one! The country people run in, close doors and windows, will answer no questions. Neither party did much, some were wounded, none killed. But the best thing was a cannon taken from General Wise was true to the southern cause. It hung fire and blew off the arm of the cannoneer and another man’s thumb. Better them than our forces should suffer.”

The fighting described by Ellen Tompkins was a continuation of skirmishes between several companies sent by General Cox to act as a screen for his force at the Tompkins farm and at Gauley Bridge. These troops moved along the turnpike as far as Locust Lane on the western slopes of Big Sewell Mountain before pulling back to Mountain Cove on August 13. A 120 man patrol left the following day and marched as far as the foot of Sewell mountain before encountering Confederate cavalry and having two men wounded in a brief skirmish. They again fell back to Mountain Cove, but the Confederate forces were now advancing. The Union troops continued to withdraw and halted to set up a line of breastworks on the “Gauley side” of Big Creek. A six man patrol sent up the road toward the Confederates had one man killed and two wounded before being forced back to their positions.

Wise’s forces advanced and positioned themselves on the eastern slope of the mountainsides at Chimney Corner (known as the “Devils Elbow” to the Union soldiers) while the Federal defenders remained in their trenches across the valley to the west. Wise’s artillery fired all day at the Federal troops with “shell and canister”, but did no damage to either the field fortifications or the men in them.

The Union artillery batteries began a defensive counter-battery fire against the Confederate guns which were deployed against them and during their firing, there was a premature discharge which Ellen Tompkins referred to in her letter. Union eye witnesses tell the story best, however:

“During the morning a piece of artillery sent out to Col. Frizell arrived, and after firing a few shots, a premature discharge of the gun sent the swab whizzing over among the enemy, which, as we afterwards ascertained, frightened them badly, as they thought we were throwing chain shot! This discharge took off the arm of the “rammer” and the thumb of the “thumber”, after which Col. Frizell ordered the gun to the rear, as he found it to be more dangerous to his men than the rebels.”

Wise’s regiments remained in the immediate area for a few additional days and again withdrew to the east. The 11th Ohio was replaced opposite the enemy by the 26th Ohio (commanded by Colonel Fyffe, the officer who had delivered Tompkins’ letter to Ellen). The 11th Ohio returned to their camp at Gauley Bridge on September 8 following an active month of skirmishing with the Confederates under General Wise that occurred from Gauley Mountain to Sewell Mountain and back, again.

Ellen reviewed her opinion of the current tactical situation facing the Federal army under General Cox in her letter to her sister:

“They have to keep a tremendous force here, 1000 men in Charleston. The people are very sulky to them there. They are being attacked on all sides up Gauley, from New River etc. Their supplies fired into daily and they fear they will be cut off entirely”.

Being cut off was a major concern for General Cox. With the bulk of his small army at Gauley Bridge, he was afraid that General Wise would continue to move against his fortifications on Gauley Mountain to hold his attention while General Floyd moved his regiments along the route to Charleston taken by Major Casement following the Union defeat at Cross Lanes. If this were to occur, the Union forces in the Kanawha Valley would be trapped between Wise and Floyd in a very narrow valley with few avenues for escape. It was a valid fear for the Union commander at Gauley Bridge to consider.

Cox was sufficiently concerned about the Confederate maneuvering near his lines to sent the following dispatch to his commander, General Rosecrans, on August 29:

“There are reports that Wise’s force has gone south of the river and is strong enough to take Loop, Paint, and other creek roads, with designs on our trains so often rumored. There are reports of an intent to bring artillery over Cotton Hill.”

Cox’s small Union army was facing a crisis and the officers guarding Ellen were sufficiently talkative to keep her accurately informed as to the current military situation. Her letter continued:

“Their pickets are fired into and their forces scattered, as the foe appears where least expected. General Rosencranz sent them word he would reach them yesterday with reinforcements by the Somerville road. They are in a bad way today. The rebels have got between them and Rosencranz and cut off communication with Gauley. Their wagons are fired on (I saw the wounded horses) a mile above this house on the farm but across the river at the narrow falls. Our troops have pickets within two miles above us, the camp two miles and a half off”.

General Cox was rapidly finding himself in a difficult situation. His relatively small force of Ohio and Kentucky volunteer regiments was nearly surrounded at Gauley Bridge (and vicinity) and promised reinforcements from General Rosecrans’ northern-based troops were unable to get through quickly to provide help. General Floyd’s regiments had slipped between the two Federal groups and demonstrated both a willingness to fight and tenacity when they attacked the unfortunate Ohio regiment located at Cross Lanes. Cox was pleasantly surprised by the lack of serious attention he was receiving from the numerically superior Confederates, but did not find out until after the war why his small command was spared. After reviewing some captured Confederate correspondence written during this dangerous period, he concluded:

“Wise had a capacity for keeping a command in hot water. If he had been half as troublesome to me as he was to Floyd, I should indeed have had a hot time of it.”

The letter to Sarah went on to explain the situation at the farm:

“Now I must tell you how we are situated. Four days ago they put a camp of nearly two thousand men on the field next to my kitchen, with nearly one hundred tents. When I saw the measure the field, I sent Joe to tell the superior officer to come to me. I asked him by whose authority he was acting. He showed me General Cox’s order. I told him I did not acknowledge the right to intrude on me according to General Rosencranz Order no. 3, which I had cut out of the American”.

Rosecrans announced on August 20, 1861 from his headquarters at Clarksburg that among other things:

“… you must remember that the laws are suspended in Eastern Virginia, which has transferred itself to the Southern Confederacy. The old constitution and laws of Virginia are only in force in Western Virginia. These laws you must maintain.… Unarmed and peaceful citizens shall be protected, the rights of private property respected …”

This must have been the approximate content of the General Order Ellen had so cleverly cut from a newspaper for use in protecting her home from the Union troops. Unfortunately for Ellen, military necessity at a time when the Confederates were a severe threat overwhelmed the intent of Rosecrans’ order. Cox was in a tight spot and the Tompkins’ farm was the best open area where a military post could be constructed for miles in any direction. Cox had no choice other than use the open fields adjacent to Ellen’s house, but Ellen felt otherwise:

“He said it was military necessity. I told him to say convenience. I fought long to save us the annoyance, but their motto is “might is right.” I told him they had taken my corn crop, hay, wheat, etc. and if I could protect nothing I had no resort but to cut the throats of my horses, etc. I then sent a message by an officer I knew was my friend to General Cox to say that I would give up the use of one stable, the vineyard house for a hospital, the overseer’s house for the commissary, but there must be a division. I must have my part undisturbed. The Colonel called on me to say General Cox agreed and that he would station sentinels anywhere I said. So they walk night and day in front of the kitchen and really considering, I am not much intruded on. But Colonel Fyffe is a gentleman and so is his Lieutenant Colonel. They killed five sheep the first day. So I keep the flock in the front yard, my carriage horses in the turkey house. Sometimes I have to laugh at my contrivances to secure our things. Mr. Dickert, the overseer, could not stay here if I left. They curse him, and threaten him, every day he is true to our interest. He cut off the grapes by the bushel (just turning) as the soldiers were tearing down vines and all. It looked like such a shame”.

A great deal of both time and expense had gone into the Tompkins’ farm to get it to its’ current point. With the constant foraging of the undisciplined Union troops looking for food to supplement their army rations, Ellen could see the farm’s rapid erosion in spite of her best efforts to keep it intact.

She continued this very long letter to Sarah and attempted to explain her predicament:

“The Generals of our army have sent in three flags of truce to General Cox for him to allow me and the family to pass out of his lines, four miles, and join our forces, but he positively refused, says I may go to Baltimore but not to Lewisburg. I told him I refused entirely to go to Baltimore (he sent Colonel Fyffe to me) that I could not hear from Mr. Tompkins nor could I take the servants. Yesterday General Cox called with three of his officers to apologize for not coming to report to me, as he was much engaged. He certainly is an elegant man, but I think he made a mistake to refuse to let us go. I told him I felt badly as I feared I was in the way of our forces making a military movement. For it stands to reason our troops can’t attack Gauley with me exposed between two fires. Of course under these circumstances my presence protects the camp more than Rosencranz’ reinforcements. General Cox told me to prevent such a condition of things, in his answer to our Generals, he had told them he would be certain to move me in time out of all danger. They have four cannon and entrenchments on the hill by the kitchen. Mr. T. told General Wise I was to be depended on in any danger, was thoroughly game. I think I am severely tested”.

Cox could hardly permit Ellen to move into the Confederate camp after having seen all of his military preparations to meet the impending Confederate attack. He would have agreed to her travelling to Baltimore, however, as he had explained in a previous letter to Confederate Colonel Henningsen. She had both family and property there. Maryland, while essentially a southern state, had not seceded from the Union and while many of her citizens were Confederate sympathizers, the Federal government was in control. By the time Ellen would have arrived after a journey through part of Ohio, into Pennsylvania, and into Maryland any military information she could have possibly relayed to the Confederate army facing Cox would have been greatly outdated.

She was probably correct when she wrote that “my presence protects the camp…”from any Rebel attack. Cox was too much a gentleman to keep her and her family intentionally at risk in order to gain a military advantage, but as long as Ellen Tompkins was living on the farm the Federal troops were not likely to be attacked by the Confederate army.

The letter went on to explain her brother’s visit under a flag of truce:

“John came with a flag of truce, and as he heard the house was burnt to the ground ventured to see. They fired at him and the ball just grazed him. Again he came with five cavalry and they did not see the flag and they were covered with Enfield rifles. His uniform being like the federals saved him and the flag was seen. He begged so hard to see one of the boys Colonel Fyffe told Captain Simmons to put one on his horse and take him up, but one of the General’s aides would not allow it, even at my portico forbid it. I told General Cox he must allow me to go up in the carriage with one of his officers to see John, or let him be brought here blindfolded. The officers were amused to hear me talk to him as they treat him with such deference, not even sitting down without he invites them. He laughed a good deal himself. He said he could not break his rule, but I told him I was an exception to every general rule and to consult policy less, his heart more. He said he would consider it favorably but yesterday sent his Adjutant to say he must ask to delay it for a few days. I sent him word I could not take a refusal and if delayed John might be moved. The Adjutant said the General would be up himself to see me in a day or two. But our troops have made a move, fallen back to Hawk’s Nest, and these have sent some companies up to hide in the bushes”.

Ellen’s brother, Doctor John Wilkins, had been captured while trying to determine the condition of the family after rumors were heard in the Confederate camp that the house had been burned. She did not hesitate to use her charm and power of persuasion on General Cox in order to be permitted to see him. John Wilkins rode in under a flag of truce and was later released to return to his regiment as is seen by comparing dates of entries in Isaac Smith’s diary with the dates of Ellen’s letters. She reported the capture in a letter written on September 10 and Smith’s diary entry on September 18 referred to Dr. Wilkins offering to treat Smith’s escaped slave, Mike, during the march on the previous Thursday. This probably occurred on September 12 or 13 as the Confederates pulled out of the area.

General John B. Floyd arrived in the Gauley Mountain region with his infantry brigade on August 6 and the political infighting between Wise and Floyd began to disrupt the Confederate effort against the Federals holding the Kanawha Valley. At the time Ellen wrote this letter, the two commands had split. Wise and his legion remained in the Hawk’s Nest area to keep pressure on Cox’s troops in and near Gauley Bridge while Floyd’s Brigade marched up Sunday road, crossed the Gauley River at Carnifex Ferry, and routed the 7th Ohio at Cross Lanes. Rather than advance on Charleston as Cox feared, Floyd’s troops withdrew to Carnifex Ferry and erected field fortifications.

Wise’s regiments and the local Confederate militia units under General Chapman and Colonel Beckley operated at will in the area and fired on Union wagon trains moving from Gauley Bridge to the camp at Tompkins’ farm. Ellen witnessed the increasing tension as the Federal regiments prepared to be attacked by the numerically superior Confederates:

“September 11: The news is General Rosencranz is cut off from Gauley camp, at least no dispatches can reach him, our troops between. The wagons are shot into, the federals do their hauling at night. Orders have just come to this camp here, to be ready to move at a moment’s warning. The batteries above us on the hill are manned, 4 cannon, and three thousand troops on this farm. How would you like to be in our place? I keep the trunks packed as a shell may set fire to the house at any moment. It requires much thought to act rightly. I dare not speak without thought. I know John won’t be allowed to come now. The officers express much sympathy for our situation, say they would not have their wives or families in our place. General Cox won’t let us go, so I make the best of it. All agree the house would go, if I left, in twenty hours. General Cox says with us here, it is comparatively easy to protect us. There is even amongst the soldiers a feeling for us. I am a great coward naturally, I know, but never have I known a sensation of fear since Mr. T. left. To part with Mr. T. and to have him exposed to their bullets has given me a feeling of desperation. It is true at times all hope forsakes me of seeing him, but I lock myself up until I have cried my heart out fairly, and never give way before the children. Indeed, I dare not, for it would but make matter worse and they are bad enough. I shall have to send this letter today or may not get it off. I regret I cannot relieve your

anxiety about us, but I will write again if they let me. Don’t allude to a word I have written in your answer. Love to all.

“Ellen”

She was much like the Union soldiers in the area and was expecting an attack at any time and had her more important possessions packed in preparation for an immediate family evacuation she knew would be ordered when the first shells hit the farm. Even with the fear and uncertainty, Ellen still worried about the safety of her husband who was “exposed to their bullets.”

Ellen continued the letter with one of her most unusual postscripts:

“Please send this to Wilkins Glenn but do not direct to him, under cover to someone else, as times are such in Baltimore. What is Anne Tilyard’s direction? Excuse all mistakes. I have

no time to read or correct. Send the slips of paper To be burnt by W.G. Mr. Grimme has such a knowledge of the world he is a great advantage, but he and Mr. Dickert refuse to stay if I leave. Mr. Grimme is never willing to see the officers even. Colonel Fyffe brought me a letter from Mr. T., not sealed, telling me he wished me to abandon the property, and could not let me be exposed to such terrible trials. General Cox says “No.” Colonel Fyffe sent an answer for me to him, open of course.”

The postscripts on Ellen Tompkins’ letters generally included instructions to pass her letters to someone with instructions that each be burned. Wilkins Glenn is frequently mentioned as a second recipient and in this case, Sarah is instructed to send the letters to someone other than Glenn who should be instructed to deliver the letters to him in a less than obvious way, “as times are such in Baltimore.” The special instructions that were also provided (and complied with as there is no record of what was written) “Send the slips of paper To be burnt (her emphasis) by W. G.” is a particularly intriguing phrase. Ellen was later accused of espionage by some Ohio newspapers and while active spying on her “Federal hosts” would probably not have been possible (and was discounted by Cox after the war) Ellen probably would not have hesitated to send notes regarding Union military dispositions to the Confederate military by way of her sister in Baltimore. It is more than simply interesting that Ellen could have used an identical system of message delivery that was utilized by the Confederate espionage service, except that her letters went the opposite direction.

The operations of the Confederate Secret Service Bureau remain shrouded in mystery since most of the records of their agent’s activities have not been revealed because the acts of espionage

committed were punishable by hanging at the time and few knew what would happen to them after the war, if their actions became known. With the exception of a few celebrated cases, the files of the Confederate espionage service remain a mystery. There are a few documented cases that shed light on their methods of operation. One espionage operation has become known and involves a leg of a very efficient courier system which operated along the eastern shore, directly across from Confederate territory.

The farm of Thomas A. Jones was located directly across the Potomac River from a Confederate debarkation point that was used to start both people and correspondence into the infiltration network that branched out into the North. Jones had been arrested by the Federal authorities early in the war for ferrying travelers across into Virginia who were evading Union warrants or possible incarceration as Southern sympathizers. While he was in prison, his wife died and he became a willing recruit for the Confederate Secret Service Bureau. His farm was only one mile away from the Virginia shore and he quickly determined the watch schedules of the Union pickets sent to guard the river. A black cloth hung in a neighbor’s attic window warned any boat departing from the Virginia side that there were Federal guards in the vicinity and with this simple, but effective warning system in effect, travelers and information crossed the river safely. Packets of northbound letters would be deposited in the fork of a dead tree and when the area was clear of any Federal pickets, Jones would simply walk to the tree, pick up the information, and place it in the Federal mail system to be delivered to Confederate agents and sympathizers throughout the northern states.

It does not stretch the imagination to picture Ellen Tompkins using the exact same mechanism, only in reverse,in order to get her letters to Confederate authorities in Richmond who could make use of the information contained in the “…slips of paper to be burnt…” which went to Wilkins Glenn. This could simply be a coincidence, but the discovery of the identity of Wilkins Glenn tightens the available circumstantial evidence to something which can be believed.

William Wilkins Glenn was a resident of Baltimore and co_owner of a newspaper, the Daily Exchange. He was obviously a Confederate sympathizer and a vocal supporter as he was imprisoned by the Union authorities for his political activities. He and Ellen shared the same middle name, Wilkins, and it is safe to assume that they were cousins. He was probably very familiar with the Confederate courier system operating out of Maryland which was so efficient that New York newspapers could be delivered to Richmond within 24 hours of their publication.

He had the capability of simply placing Ellen’s letters into the Federal mail system to have them delivered to Farmer Jones, or some similar, but too much mail in a rural area could create suspicion, so Glenn probably sent the information provided by Ellen through the courier system. It was probably placed in the fork of the dead tree, a dead letter drop, with a bundle of mail for the Confederate capital and the “loading signal,” the black cloth in the attic window, was set up to indicate that the dead drop needed to be serviced. Rebel boatmen rowed across the narrow stretch of river, retrieved the bundle, and Ellen’s information could soon have been in the hands of the Confederate army.

Whether Ellen was trained carefully on the actual mechanism to be used to send out information will never be known, but there can be little doubt that she actively delivered information that she discovered to the Confederate authorities in Richmond. This could account for much of the anxiety on the part of Colonel Tompkins to get her out of the farm safely when she was being accused of being involved with spying. He was probably aware of the plan to casually transmit information to the South. He had told General Wise that Ellen “was to be depended on in any danger, was thoroughly game.” If the circumstantial evidence is correct, Ellen’s motivation was probably explained with her comment regarding the Union cannoneer who lost his arm in the premature discharge : “…Better them than our forces should suffer.”

The next obvious questions must go without answers for a while longer:

A. Was Ellen a deliberate “stay_behind” agent?

B. Had she been carefully briefed as to the method to use to get her letters into the Confederate courier system or was all of this simply a coincidence?

C. Was William Wilkins Glenn a major player in the Confederate Secret Service Bureau and how did Ellen know to send her letters to him if she was not involved?

D. Since all of this occurred quite early in the war, how would the Confederates have known to prepare Ellen for any future role? She had moved into western Virginia in 1855 with her husband — well before the development of serious movements toward secession.

It is unlikely that any preliminary thought had been given to the development of Ellen Tompkins as a potential stay-behind agent who would remain within the Union camp and report as she was able on their activities. It is far more plausible to believe that a hasty plan was conceived at the Tompkin’s dinner table when General Wise had a final meal at the house the day before the Union soldiers visited the farm for the first time. A hastily conceived plan may have been explained to her on a system which could possibly be used to communicate safely, if she was able to observe and record any significant military activity. She learned to work like a professional in a very short time.

All of the aspects of a professional espionage network were present in the system used by Ellen. It is far too complete to have been simply a coincidence or the hasty assembly of ideas on

the part of a housewife. She used her special status well and quickly “recruited” many of her Union officer contacts. She gave letters directly to General Cox for mailing through the Federal postal system to her sister in another Union state knowing that the letters would not be opened. These crossed no hostile lines and at the time no “gentleman” would ever consider reading the private thoughts of a lady. She had her sister forward the letters — with the special slips of paper which had to be destroyed — to another person who would then deliver the letters to Wilkins Glenn. She now had a “cutout” which would reduce the chances of her discovery, if the letters should be intercepted by Federal authorities. Wilkins Glenn had every opportunity to slip the notes into the Confederate courier system, perhaps not identical to the “line” worked by Mr. Jones but something similar. Letters would move down Maryland’s eastern shore and be ferried across the river to Virginia for a quick trip to Richmond. It is very unlikely that Ellen Tompkins developed this special delivery system alone.

She continued to ask that her letters be sent to third parties, ordered that each be burned, and occasionally asked if her letters had been received and identified them by the name of the person scheduled to be the receiving party. This was an interesting system for accounting for forwarded letters and a simultaneous reminder that she had wanted them forwarded.

There is some evidence that the courier system worked back to Ellen with some information. She was later to tell her sister to forward a letter to “Cousin Henrietta Glenn as I know they are

attached to Mr. T.” Again there are questions: How did she know that Henrietta Glenn had someone, perhaps a relative,travelling with Colonel Tompkins’ regiment and if her sister, Sarah, was instructed to send the letter to Colonel Tompkins’ camp, how did Ellen know that her sister was able to get the letter sent through or around the Union lines from her location in Delaware? The Confederate courier system was probably involved and may have been more extensive than anyone would have imagined. There is no other obvious method for accounting for the two-way flow of information that appears to have been occurring. If all of this conjecture is true, Tompkins’ statement he made to General Wise at the time of their final dinner was correct. Ellen “was to be depended on in any danger, was thoroughly game.”

The next letter to be sent to Sarah contained news of the battle fought at Carnifex Ferry between General Rosecrans’ troops and the Confederates under General Floyd. Union forces were held off until after darkness halted the fighting and the Confederates withdrew.

Rosecrans had a superior force and was able to get a cavalry force through to Gauley Bridge to order General Cox to send his regiments east on the turnpike in an attempt to cut off and trap Wise and Floyd between the two advancing Union forces.

Ellen explained the fighting to her sister quite accurately in a letter dated September 13 that only contained “news” instead of the slips of information to be forwarded:

“I find it impossible to find a trusty person to send this by, therefore send you the news. General Rosencranz with four thousand men attacked our forces Sunday afternoon and fought until seven, then fell back a quarter of a mile, intending when his troops came up to fight his way through to Gauley (this was at Cross Lane’s) but our troops did not allow him to find them but yet managed to cut off his communication until yesterday when a company of his cavalry came in and ordered General Cox to advance up this road with the 11th Ohio, 26th Regiment (the one camped here) 2nd Kentucky and one more and meet General Rosencranz who hopes to hem our troops in as he advances on the Somerville road which enters this turnpike. They were passing here all night with their wagons with provisions, ammunition, cannon, then seven ambulances with surgeons followed, looking like hearses with their black covers. I cannot find out where our troops are. Mr. T. sent me a letter by a flag truce, but as my letters and his are examined by the Generals our correspondence is very formal, not dated. I am filled with anxiety of course. The batteries on our hill are manned. They say one good victory here, then on to Richmond. They will never get there. General Cox sent his Adjutant General up to me, with his compliments, to say he hoped in a few days to give me a pass to Richmond, and also sent a letter from Florence Fuller. Do you know, the soldiers believe General Cox is my brother-in-law; he is so attentive to protect me. I must confess my situation has elicited much kindness from the officers, but I trust few and ask favors from none but General Cox and three others. Go to the highest in command is the safest for me. The mistake was in ordering General Wise to abandon this valley. They could not have advanced to save their lives, but now Governor Letcher is deposed, according to them, Governor Pierpont wants all Virginia. Can he get it? I won’t pay my taxes to him. They hope to get to Dogwood Gap, 14 miles from here, and surprise our troops. Could I but have warned them, but no doubt they are up to them. I can’t tell if I will accept the pass as General Cox kept me here to oblige his views, I may stay to favor my own. He has not got the victory yet. To add to my troubles Willie has been very sick, caught cold. All the rest are well and get the name of being such bright, gentlemanly children. Joe passes current as he never names politicks.

“The soldiers are much excited about not being paid for four months, fed on pork and beans and stale crackers, sleeping on the ground and targets at all times. They earn eleven dollars a month. They say the politicians get it. The troops have exhausted three wells and now use the ice dam and spring. A sentinel has to protect my well to secure us water. Write again as I may remain, for I can’t tell what Mr. Tompkins wishes me to do now, and will remain if he desires it. But I really cannot in a letter tell you our trials. Two of our servants just escaped a few moments ago being shot. They were getting fire wood and not recognized as their backs were that way. The order is to shoot all not in uniform. A sentinel stopped the soldiers just in time. I keep the children in sight all the time, as they would be shot by accident. The servants are tempted to sell everything they can get to the soldiers. How I envy anyone who can rest without a feeling of apprehension. These officers tell me if they could but get Mr. Tompkins, he wields so much influence here, musters the militia, etc. and that Judge Summers and all Union men speak of him so highly. If taken prisoner, he would be sent to Colombus as they won’t exchange prisoners. But they have not got him yet, and I feel sure they won’t. The country people are all devoted to him, tell these officers, ‘Pray never shoot Col. T.’ All tell me of his popularity.

“Send this to Wilkins Glenn. He must burn it. Your second letter has arrived, mine must be burned.”

Ellen was unable to locate someone she could totally trust, so she told Sarah “…therefore send you the news.” What would she have mailed her sister if she had found a trustworthy person? Probably a great deal more information than just the news would have been shared. It is interesting that there were no slips of paper in addition to the letter to be passed on the Wilkins Glenn.

The Union commander in the valley, General Cox, genuinely appreciated the predicament of Ellen and the children and did many things to assist them. As a man of honor, he had accepted the responsibility of protecting the family when asked by Colonel Tompkins. He went as far as receiving Ellen’s mail at his headquarters in Gauley Bridge, delivered the letters unopened to

her at Gauley Mount, and ensured that there were sufficient armed guards on hand to provide adequate protection at all times. It is little wonder that the common soldiers of the Federalregiments on the farm thought that the general was Ellen’s brother-in-law. Strangers normally would never receive such protection.

Cox later explained the relationship:

“When Wise had retreated from the valley, Colonel Tompkins had been unable to remove his family, and had left a letter commending them to our courteous treatment. Mrs. Tompkins was a lady of refinement and her position was far from being a comfortable one. She, however, put a cheerful face upon her situation, showed great tact in avoiding controversy with the soldiers and in conciliating the good will of the officers, and remained with her children and servants in her picturesque home on the mountain. So long as there was no fighting in the near vicinity, it was comparatively easy to save her from annoyance; but when later in the autumn Floyd occupied Cotton Mountain and General Rosecrans was with us with larger forces, such a household became an object of suspicion and ill will…”

Ellen’s situation became increasingly precarious as the month of September continued. The military situation was far from stable as the Confederate forces withdrew after the stalemate at Carnifex Ferry. Union troops were maneuvering to attempt to trap Floyd and Wise’s commands between Cox and General Rosecrans’ larger Union army which was continuing to pursue southward along Sunday road toward the James River and Kanawha Turnpike. Cox’s smaller Federal force moved east from Gauley Bridge and Gauley Mount along the turnpike in an attempt to hold the Confederates until Rosecrans could attack their rear.

The political situation was also becoming undesirable for Ellen Tompkins and people in the region with convictions similar to hers. Attitudes toward southern sympathizers were beginning to harden as the war began to lengthen — along with the casualty lists. A new Federal administrative unit, the Mountain Department, was created by the government, primarily to provide a command for the blundering John C. Fremont.

Fremont had come a long way from the heroic “Trailblazer” who found new routes through the continental interior to the west coast and had been the new Republican party’s first Presidential candidate in 1856. He had failed in a western command in the early stages of the war and was being given a final opportunity to redeem himself as a military leader. He began to take and advocate a hard line against secessionists and ordered arrests as well as property confiscation.

Ellen’s Union protectors were able to shield her from the effects of Fremont’s proclamation, but the threat of property seizure hung over her head constantly.

She explained her latest problems to Sarah in a letter written on September 16, 1861:

“I have not met a man I could send this by without the risk of being opened. I think they have a great respect for our talent to outwit them. They have guards all round the house at night. I go into the front and back porches the last thing at night. As I walked out last night, each side of the front door was a sentinel. I did not speak nor did they. I walked around as usual, for if I let them see me afraid I should be imposed on directly. I was obliged just now to send for the officer in command and told him I would allow no one to impose on me beyond a certain point. I should report it to General Cox as a nuisance. He made me apologies at once. I told him once before an officer went beyond his orders, but I reported it to General Cox and he was not allowed to come here again, as he was told that he was objectionable to me. One of their guards climbed into the bedroom of Mr. Dickert. He seized an axe and he got out of the window. Yesterday four officers came to see me on business. I am tired of such a responsible situation, for Mr. Grimme never sees them I have to depend upon myself. I have to act with policy yet be independent, they are so imposing. All acknowledge the soldiers are friendly to me as I never omit doing them a kindness, especially for their sick and a number are sick. This camp is being moved away to my great relief. General Cox and three thousand men went up four days ago and found the camp of Rebels nine miles from here deserted, as they had started a few hours before on a retreat to Lewisburg. They had three thousand men of General Rosencranz employed in putting up barricades to fight behind, then by a side road called the Sunday road had advanced a regiment to cut off the retreat, but our troops got round another side road and escaped the trap they set for them. The Federals now are camping about thirty miles from here and the reports vary about their plans. Some say they are to go to Richmond, others to East Tennessee, if successful, but I believe the main body of General Rosencranz is in a fix and they are trying to relieve him.

“The camp at Gauley is still manned, but I could promise one thousand men could take it. The Federals are not boastful at present. At Cross roads they lost one hundred men besides Colonel Lowe. They report that General Lee was defeated at Cheat Mountain with great loss on both sides. What do you think of the proclamation of General Fremont? Is it not outrageous? Orders have arrived here to take all secessionists and to confiscate all property. The soldiers are not pleased with General Fremont’s act, as they say they have friends both sides and would not like their friends shot. Write again, but always put my name on the outside, care of General Cox, Gauley Bridge, Fayette County. The letters are sent me. A new officer has just come in and I will send this by him as I believe he can be trusted as well as any for all my best friends are above. Please put me a few of the new stamps in your next letter. My letters must be burnt. As I hear there is such times in Baltimore, I shall certainly remain here as cannot pass through two armies on the road to Lewisburg. Write at once. I can’t read this over as I have no time.”

The Union officers were certainly becoming aware of Ellen’s ability to stay one step ahead of them. They also began to suspect that she was able to get messages to the Confederates about Federal strength and preparations in the area. Most of this could have based on camp rumor, but Ellen was located in an excellent position and was a keen observer of everything that occurred in her vicinity. Her remark to Sarah in a previous letter must always be remembered when trying to decide if the flimsy evidence shows she was spying benignly on her hosts: “Better them than our forces…” This will help in making the decision regarding whether she arranged for information to be passed directly to Wise’s forces. There was an additional comment made in a letter which was suggestive: “…Could I but have warned them…” was sent to Sarah as Cox’s troops marched past the farm in an attempt to trap the retreating Rebels.

The Union soldiers certainly believed that messages and signals were used to aid the rebels. Cox later wrote:

“The men fancied they saw signals conveyed from the house to the enemy, and believed that secret messages were sent, giving information of our numbers and movements.”

Cox’s small Federal garrison had been in a difficult situation. They had been out numbered, cutoff from immediate reinforcement, and the Union soldiers knew that they were in a poor tactical situation. Confederate strength in the immediate area was reported to be in the vicinity of 10,000 or 12,000 men and additional reports reaching Cox warned “of a general stir among the secessionists in Fayette, Mercer, and Raleigh counties, and of the militia being ordered out under General Chapman to support the Confederate movement by operating on my line of communications, whilst Floyd and Wise should attack in front.”

Given the general perception of peril among the Union garrison, Ellen Tompkins was fortunate to have been allowed to remain on the farm. Cox informed Ellen in a letter on a later date that while she had won the respect of his officers, the troops were in a constant state of irritation and Cox was afraid that her property, if not her person, might be endangered. Cox took many special precautions for the safety of the family that Ellen didn’t know about.

As previously mentioned, the privates in the Union army were an unruly group. Rosecrans had appointed a future President, Rutherford B. Hayes, as his Judge Advocate (a military prosecuting attorney) and he was kept busy with courts martial of the undisciplined soldiers. Hayes recorded in his diary some unpleasant details about some of his cases from only a single regiment in Cox’s small army, the Ninth Ohio Infantry Regiment, a totally German unit “… one man shot resisting a corporal, two men in irons for a rape …” Many of the enlisted men in the Union army were not necessarily nice people to be around. They were relatively uneducated, generally hard drinking, and had to be managed with rigid discipline from their officers. Ellen Tompkins was taking a great risk by remaining on the farm in what was rapidly becoming an important Union military post. She and her family were quite fortunate to have had as friends General Cox and a few of his senior officers. If their protection had not been there, the outlook for the family may have been grim.

Ellen sent another letter to Sarah a few days later which was written on September 22:

“Dear Sarah,

“I wrote to you ten days ago, but I expect it was not sent as a great scamp took it. I asked you to send it to Cousin Henrietta Glenn as I know they are attached to Mr. T. I have tonight over a hundred wagons camped here, but they go tomorrow. The guard has to be very active, I tell you, to keep the teamsters right. The two officers here I know I can fully depend on. Would I not suffer if they had their way. A secession Colonel is fair game. Mr. Tompkins’ character and position secure me much consideration. Even the roughest teamsters will call to tell me Mr. T. is well. Say they have wives and feel for my situation. The country people send me messages if they hear of Mr. T. or John who is very popular.”

Union supply trains apparently stopped overnight at the farm as the wagons ferried supplies from the nearest point of steamboat navigation at the mouth of Loup Creek eastward to the area where active combat operations were being prepared. The teamsters were generally a rough, hard drinking, disorderly group who would have carried away any loose object they could get their hands on. “A secession Colonel is fair game” simply meant that Ellen understood that any of her property could be carried off without any threat of punishment if apprehended during the theft.

As Colonel Tompkins had resided in the area since 1855, was a prominent citizen, and a Lieutenant-Colonel in the area’s militia, he was liked and well respected by all of the county’s residents. It is not surprising that the country people would try to get word to Ellen when they heard anything about Tompkins. This, incidentally, could have been an opportunity for Ellen to send verbal messages through the lines. The local people would know all of the safe routes through Union pickets and would have willingly carried word about Ellen and the family to Tompkins — possibly with other information, as well.

Ellen’s long letter continued:

“The whole camp is ordered to be moved and now these regiments are to advance, take Lewisburg and the railroad and go to East Tennessee. But providence interfered for us. General Rosencranz sent a dispatch to General Cox to advance on our troops up this road and he would send three thousand men by a road to get them between, attack front and rear at once. Well! Twelve cavalry started with this dispatch and a German picket (of their own) fired into them not being able to understand English. They shot ten, the other two remained in the woods twenty-four hours and that gave our troops time to retreat beyond the place where their plans were laid. Were not they mad? I outwit them in finding out the news, guard us as they may. I make friends in curious ways. No one was allowed to speak to us except before a commissioned officer, but I still heard the news. When I found out that our troops had escaped the trap, you can imagine my joy. Still my anxiety is terrible as there is to be a battle at Lewisburg or the end of the railroad. They are so confident of success that I have trouble to be silent. The 26th Regiment camped here nearly three weeks and took off with them the most valuable man I have. General Cox says he shall be returned, but the soldiers have him hid in the woods now. He will be so demoralized that he will be of no value.”

Even though Ellen and the children cannot speak with the Union troops unless there in a Union officer present, she took pleasure in being able to continue to gather militarily significant information which was mailed to her sister. She carefully worded the information so that it will appear as “news” or idle gossip between two women, but there is significant information in the letters which are sent to Sarah.

Ellen apparently had a great ability to draw people into conversations where they would eventually let a few facts slip. It is probable that most of her information came from the commissioned officers detailed to prevent any conversation with the enlisted guards. They were naturally talkative about their ‘exploits” and probably talked freely around Ellen when they visited her home or were invited to dinner. Most men are eager to impress a pretty, cultured woman and will generally “slip” during a conversation.

She was concerned at the loss of a valuable piece of property, a male slave who was being hidden in the woods by the soldiers. She was not any different from any other person of her class at the time. She had grown up with slaves held as property and obviously saw nothing wrong with the institution. The Federal soldiers felt differently.

The letter continued with some details of the bloody rout of the Union regiment surprised earlier at Cross Lanes:

“Mr. T. was at the battle of Cross Lanes with General Floyd’s brigade. Lieutenant Colonel Ben Ficklen led the charge. The Seventh Ohio was surrounded and had to run. They say the charge was so handsome they forgot the danger in sight. But two companies ran to get to a mountain pass and the soldiers (the remainder of the 7th guard us now) told the boys, Joe and Chris, that there was, to their surprise, Colonel Tompkins’ regiment drawn up and had he fired, the slaughter would have been murderous, but he ordered the men not to fire and called out, “Throw down your arms, boys, and you shall not be touched.” Was it not noble and like him? The officers told me he won the respect of the men by that order. You may imagine the trial to

have these men at every meal and then to know they are trying to take Mr. T.”

Several of the men from the Seventh Ohio who were captured by Colonel Tompkins’ regiment at the battle of Cross Lanes escaped or were recovered by Union troops after the battle fought at Carnifex Ferry. The word of Tompkins’ chivalrous act would have quickly spread in the Federal camp and this single act of compassion did much to win friends for Ellen in the Union army. Many may have felt that they owed a debt of honor and were repaying it by protecting Ellen and his children.

The episode related by Ellen in the letter regarding the German picket (a group of soldiers on guard in an advanced position) and the shooting of their own cavalry couriers resulted in a delay of an order from Rosecrans to his field units that, if delivered, could have resulted in a battle in which the Confederates would have been outnumbered and probably defeated. Ellen was elated over this stroke of luck as the Union error resulted in her husband being safe for a longer period.

Accidental woundings and deaths were common occurrences in these early stages of the war. The men were not familiar with “challenge and password” systems and the most dangerous duty in either army facing junior officers was making the rounds of his advanced pickets. These officers were frequently shot by accident by their own soldiers and since the picket posts were normally close to the enemy’s forward positions, the young officers were also in danger of being killed by the opposing forces.

Ellen continued:

“How I envy you a quiet home and your family at home with you. My trials are terrible. Willie is much better, but looks delicate. The rest are well and I am no worse. Write anything you like in your letters. Both of yours arrived safely, also one from Helen to Ellen. She will write soon. `

“Major Leiper dined here yesterday and told me his wife in New York had sent him a column of the Exchange with an extract of a letter from me. I expressed surprise, but took it very coolly. He said there was a Southern spirit through it. What else could he expect? Do pray send me a copy, for I wrote in haste, as I always do, and feel ashamed not to copy often. They all know General Cox will protect me and amongst his staff and high officers I real can depend on being treated kindly. That is the only redeeming feature in the situation we are placed in. I wrote you three flags of truce had been sent in about letting us pass through their lines. General Cox refused, but said I could go to Baltimore. I refused as I should be cut off from Mr. T. As it was General Cox I submitted. He is a refined, elegant gentleman and very handsome. Colonel Tyler commands at Gauley, but still direct as before, without General Cox’s name as he is away. Please send me a few of the new stamps. There are none here and my letters have to be franked. Let me know if you received the third letter, that one I wished sent to Cousin Henrietta Glenn, not this. Burn this.”

Ellen Tompkins’ situation worsened toward the end of September and in early October. General Rosecrans, General Cox’s superior, had moved his headquarters into the Gauley Bridge area. With him came some more hardened, less gentlemanly officers who were not in sympathy with Ellen’s plight. Among these was Rutherford B. Hayes, a former lawyer who appeared to see things in terms of “right and wrong”. He didn’t feel that it was proper for U.S. troops to be standing guard over a rebel Colonel’s property. He wrote in his diary:

“Why devastate the homes and farms of poor deluded privates in the rebel army and protect this property? Treat the lady well, as all women ought always to be treated, but put through the man for his great crime”.

The burning of rebel property was a common occurrence during the war. A typical patrol in the western Virginia area was described in a soldier’s diary:

“Scouting party of eighteen men. Went out about ten miles where we burned a schoolhouse and a still house and captured fifty chickens and a number of turkies.”

The destruction of rebel property was to provoke anger and hatred that lasted through the war and beyond. The southern sympathizers in the area were outraged at these raids, but were too weak militarily to defend themselves and their property. In response to these depredations carried out by their Unionist neighbors or the Federal troops, they sought revenge for the arbitrary arrests and arson by resorting to “bushwhacking” or ambushing and murdering sentries, neighbors, or officials blamed for the destruction. These acts of revenge generally provoked Union reprisals and an extremely vicious cycle of violence became common. Bushwhacking became a common tactic of the guerrilla warfare that began to be used against the ‘arsonist” Union troops. The reprisals generally consisted of more killings and arson and the cycle of hatred continued throughout the war in western Virginia and remained after the war to spawn some long running feuds.

Burning or pillaging the property of the rich rebel Colonel, or worse, must have been a common thought among the Union privates. They were moving through a largely Southern sympathizing region like a swarm of locusts when they encountered rebel property. Remember that Ellen had described them as “…very angry, say it is a pretty kind of a war, here is a secession Colonel and they are not allowed to pillage anything, not even a chicken…” Ellen was indeed fortunate that General Cox and his senior staff officers had taken extra precautions to protect the family from the ravages that hovered constantly nearby.

The first two pages of a letter written by Ellen in late September of early October, 1861, are missing, but the pages that are left reflect some of the change of attitude toward Ellen and the farm with the arrival of Rosecrans’ veteran troops following the battle at Carnifex Ferry. She related a meeting she had with one of Rosecrans’ brigade quartermasters who was attempting to procure supplies from the farm:

“I had a stormy interview with a quartermaster, He said he wished to buy hay and corn. I told him I regretted I could not oblige him, but my new corn crop (about four or five hundred bushels) was eaten green by the soldiers; I had given all the hay away I could spare. He said, ‘Well, I will replace it.’ I said I could not run that risk as a long winter was ahead and as horses could not eat money, I should have no resort but to cut their throats. He said, ‘Well, Madam, I shall take it.’ ‘Why, Sir,’ said I, ‘did you call to ask me about it if such was your determination? By whose authority do you act?’ ‘My own,’ said he, ‘as brigade quartermaster, for I did not ask General Cox as I feared he would refuse.’ I said, ‘I don’t acknowledge your

authority, Sir, you shall not have my corn or hay.’ He said, ‘You should remember you are treated differently from everyone in your peculiar situation.’ I said, ‘General Cox attends to that.’ He said, ‘Every officer agrees that you are a real lady and that is another reason.’ ‘By them I am treated as one,’ I said. He lost his temper, repeated his threats in a most disagreeable manner. Then my indignation got beyond my control. I told him he should not touch my corn or hay and I knew my rights and he should see I’d maintain them. He left at once. The officer with him did not open his lips. I called the officer of the guard in, told him I’d look to him to carry out General Cox’s orders to protect me and my property. He said he would certainly do it. The officer in charge of the camp here said he would turn out every man to protect me, I had been kind to them. I told Major Leiper the next day not to send him here again, I would have no business transactions with him, we were strangers forever. He regretted it had occurred, but said I had done all I could, and he would report it. The quartermaster is very unpopular. I believe they were glad I put him down. I don’t wish you to name it, but thought I’d tell you to let you see I won’t be imposed on. In fact I made myself popular by the act. I heard several say that he needed it sadly, but they had no right to put him down.”

The provisioning of a large military force in those mountains was an extremely difficult job. The condition of the roads was poor and the record rains that autumn had made them nearly impassable. Supplies had to be hauled in wagons from the head of river navigation to the forward areas and the trip was so long that nearly half of the transport capacity had to be reserved for food for the horses and mules pulling the loads. The wagons had to carry sufficient feed for the return trip. The quartermaster had seen this serious problem and found a solution.

It was obviously easier to haul money than animal fodder and he attempted to purchase the scarce supplies on the Tompkins’ farm. Ellen also had problems with animal feed and realized that her horses “couldn’t eat money” during the winter and refused to sell the feed to the army. Her supporters included the Officer of the Guard on the farm at the time and the Union commander at “Camp Tompkins” who had seen his men treated with kindness. All committed themselves to Ellen’s defense and it may have gone hard on the unpopular quartermaster, if he had chosen to press the issue on a return trip. Ellen felt that she had made herself even more popular with the soldiers in the area by taking a stand against the unpopular officer and several officers apparently mentioned that he deserved what he had received. She felt they had “no right to put him down” and she reserved that right for herself.

The letter went on to provide some of the news of the war in the area of the farm:

“The news is our troops have retreated safely to Meadow Bluff, near Lewisburg and are fortified there, escaped all the traps of Rosencranz and Cox, and that the secessionists are trying to cut off their wagon trains, 120 camped here last night, and fifty more wagons are here. I feel that our troops are getting on much better, but fear to trust the particulars in a letter. Don’t send this letter to Anne or any one. Burn it.”

She had included a separate letter in the envelope which she wanted sent to Henry Wilkins:

“Send this letter to Henry.”

The news provided by Ellen in the letter that the Confederates had eluded the traps of the Union generals and had safely withdrawn to Meadow Bluff and were constructing field fortifications was correct. They were also receiving reinforcements from the Cheat Mountain area and General Lee would soon arrive to assume command. This could have been some of the information that Ellen may have included in the letter, if she had any confidence that the letter would have been safely delivered. With the new officers in the nearby town of Gauley Bridge who could have the same general attitude toward her that was exhibited by the quartermaster and felt by Rutherford B. Hayes, she probably feared to send significant military information in her letters for fear that they would be opened.

The two hostile armies were within sight of each other and skirmishes between pickets and patrols were beginning. Unfortunately for both sides, the Sewell Mountain region was one of the more inaccessible areas in western Virginia and the poor weather was beginning to leave the dirt roads impassable. Re-supply of ammunition and food to the forward units was virtually impossible during bad weather and both sides had their lines of communication from their supply depots stretched to their limits. The combinations of bad weather, poor roads, high water at critical ferries and high levels of camp disease began to impact on the development of a major battle which was beginning to form. All of the pieces were present and what began to appear to be a decisive battle for the control of western Virginia was endangered by the tenuous supply situation.

Ellen began another long letter to Sarah on October 5, 1861, but she had to complete it the following day. She described the typical problems of her average day and the difficulty she was beginning to have from many of the Union officers while another group labored to defend her and her property:

“Dear Sarah,

“I received your two letters, but wonder if mine went straight. I sent one for you to forward to Cousin H. G. I sent another with a letter for Henry. I had the pleasure of receiving a letter from Ann Tilyard. Two officers brought it and civilly informed me that they would like to remain all night. I declined the honor, but gave them their supper for the letter.”

Once again, Ellen is attempting to casually account for her letters to ensure they were forwarded to the right persons and remind Sarah that they should have been sent on,if Sarah had not yet done it. This is a sign of a careful “bookkeeper” whose letters were going beyond casual correspondence.

She continued:

“Just let me give you a description of one day and all are alike in trials to me. Yesterday first came as officer of General Rosencranz to say that he wished three hundred horses to camp here and two artillery companies, some of General Rosencranz’ staff officers. I asked him his orders. He said not to do so without my consent and General R. said, if possible, to go elsewhere. I told him very politely I hoped he would go farther. I would consider it a great favor, that I was annoyed to death, every night waggoners camping here over a hundred at a time. Well, by being civil, he went on three miles above. I thanked him and told him I was glad to speed the parting guest. But just as they were off and we were enjoying the hope of a quiet night, a party took possession of one of my fields, had six tents up before we saw them. I sent for the superior officer and asked him by whose authority he intruded on my premises. He said he did not know my property was different from other people’s. I was provoked at once. I told him he’d find it was, for I was protected by General Cox and Colonel Tyler in command of Gauley Bridge. He said he hoped I’d allow them to stay all night as they were all unharnessed. He’d pay for all damages. I told him I scorned his money, I would not touch a cent if I was starving, it was the insult to my private rights. They were an awful set. They tore down the fences and were so mad that they could not do as they chose, that it was terrible to hear them cursing us, said one half of a regiment was kept to guard us while Mr. T. was killing the other half. But for an officer of the 26th Ohio, I do not know what would have happened. I ever shall remember Lieutenant Hicks. He was up nearly all night. It took two guards at the back of the house, two in front, and two at the barn, to walk all night to protect us.”

This was beginning to become an unpleasant ordeal for Ellen Tompkins. Her primary protector, General Cox, was farther up the turnpike preparing for combat on Sewell Mountain. His subordinate, Colonel Tyler, was in command of the post at Gauley Bridge and was instructed to provide protection for the family, but he was several miles away. He could not be constantly at the farm.

Many of the Federal officers were honest, truthful soldiers and unlike the quartermaster reported on in the previous letter, they would ask permission from Ellen prior to setting up camp on her property. The latest incident was provoked by Ellen when she felt that her “private rights” had been “insulted”. Provoking the Federal officers and men was becoming a dangerous game and if it were not for the loyal guard force on the farm, she may have lost the house to arson that night.

General Rosecrans was now in overall command in the area, and while Colonel Tompkins had made the original request to protect his family in a letter to General Cox, the new commander felt required to honor it. Rosecrans accepted the responsibility as if it were his own. He had required the artillery officer to ask Ellen’s permission before setting up a camp and to set up in another location, if that was possible, rather than inconvenience her. The rapid assumption of Cox’s responsibility would seem to indicate some sort of relationship between Rosecrans and Tompkins had existed prior to the war.

Rosecrans — like Tompkins — was a graduate of West Point who finished his studies in 1842, six years after Tompkins had graduated. They did not share West Point experiences together and records of an association in the pre-war regular army have not been located, but the graduates of the Military Academy were generally a close group. Later, Tompkins was to write a letter to Rosecrans to thank him for the consideration shown to his family and said:

“I wish I could talk with you and many of my old friends and comrades on your side of the question. I believe we could manage affairs better than the politicians or at least differ honestly

in our respective views.”

While there is no obvious connection between these two officers in the pre-war military, the informal style in the letter leads to the conclusion that there had been some sort of association between the two at some time before the outbreak of hostilities. This probably occurred when the two were working in the western Virginia counties to mine coal, produce coal oil, and locate markets for their products in the states to the south and west. The common experience at West Point would have given the two a reason to become closer than simply acquaintances.

Ellen’s letter went on:

“They were putting up a telegraph wire from Sewell Mountain to Gauley, and in the morning cutting down all the trees I loved to see. We have a superb grindstone where they were sharpening their axes. I remarked that it was a hard case, I had to allow them to sharpen their axes to cut my favorite trees. Willie, who is as sharp as a briar, took Chris out, and together they took the handle off and they, the enemy, were outdone I assure you. They blessed us, and finally sent in Lieutenant Hicks to ask me to let them grind three axes and one hatchet and then they would cut no more of the trees, and the Captain said they would hurry the men off. I sent word I would agree to those terms, and let them have the handle.”

When the handle was removed and hidden, Ellen reported that the enemy “blessed us” — probably in terms that only soldiers far from home and frustrated by a woman and children could give as a blessing. Ellen probably had her hands over the ears of the smaller child, Willie.

The relationship between the Tompkins’ family and the Union soldiers was not necessarily an amiable one. The children were probable always trying to pull pranks or assist in “outwitting” the soldiers as Ellen explained their ability in an earlier letter. They may have been captives on their own property, but the Tompkins family was far from being defeated.

Ellen’s opportunity to complete the letter was probably interrupted by some unknown aggravation, but she was able to complete the letter the following day:

“October 6: Just as I wrote this far I was interrupted and all day yesterday I was so annoyed, first one thing and then another, I quite gave up. The teamsters are the most lawless men in the army and I have the road lined with them all the time, fires extending all along the fences. Colonel Tyler, who is in command of Gauley, wrote me a note telling me I must report any trespass on my property or any complaint I had to make of ill treatment and he would see I was protected. He is a real gentleman and with all my troubles there are some alleviating circumstances. The officers try to be kind to us in every way and really neglect no opportunity to do me a favor. The character and position of Mr. Tompkins secures me their civility.

They assure me constantly of their sympathy and tell me I have plenty of friends in both armies. Many believe I am refused a pass because it prevents our troops from attacking Gauley, as they say our lives are held worth a regiment of ours and this place commands the fortifications at Gauley. Cannon on the lawn here would ruin them. Some officers are here at every meal and staying at night, but never without my invitation. Two of General Rosencranz’ officers, sick in an ambulance, stopped and asked if I’d allow them to remain a night, as they were suffering. Well, of course, I did and they expressed themselves under great obligations. Mr. Grimme wishes me to adopt a different conduct, refuse everyone, but I am in the hands of the Philistines and have no idea of making bitter enemies, and, in truth, they are always kind to me and as a lady I must be polite. I have nothing to do with their politics in this free country. There are many of these officers I shall be happy to see and introduce to Mr. T. as friends to me in a dark hour of trial, when this terrible war is over.”

Many of the officers who came into contact with Ellen were able to imagine their families in her predicament, if the roles were reversed and the rebels had invaded Ohio. They generally went out of their way to help her and she — like her husband — worked to reduce some of the pain and suffering the war was causing. Tompkins had asked surprised Union infantrymen to surrender rather than shoot them down and she went out of her way to help the sick. They were people who would rapidly gain the respect of men of their class even though they were on opposite sides in the middle of a war. The age of chivalry was still present, but was in its’ final stages. The Civil War would put an end to the previous romantic notion of warfare and families as well as combatants would become legitimate targets of war. This was still evolving as a political and military policy at this early stage of the war. The long casualty lists had yet to totally harden the attitudes of the opposing forces, but it was not far into the future.

Because of her consistent policy of kindness, the officers began to discuss with her their suspicions that she and the family were held at the farm as hostages “because it keeps our troops from attacking Gauley.” There is considerable truth in her statement. General Cox did not mention such motivation in his reports or in the book he wrote after the war, but this is not the sort of information that gentlemen warriors would want to pass on to posterity. As mentioned previously, Ellen’s presence did reduce the probability that any Confederate army would make a serious attack against the Federal garrison at Gauley Bridge, at least along the James River and Kanawha Turnpike from the Rebel positions on Sewell Mountain. She was also correct in her assessment of the strategic position of her lawn. A few artillery batteries placed there would have made the Union fortifications in the nearby town of Gauley Bridge untenable. If they were placed under a substantial artillery barrage, the Union regiments at Gauley Bridge would have been forced to retreat, probably as far down the valley as Charleston, where the Elk River was a significant geographical barrier to any additional Confederate advances.

Ellen went on with the letter:

“We have had a freshet and General Cox’s troops suffered for fear of not being able to get wagons across Gauley River, for General Wise burnt the bridge. Had it kept up four days longer the whole army would have had to return. But now General Rosencranz, General Cox, General Benham, General McCook, and General Schenck are on the top of Big Sewell Mountain, 32 miles above us, with 16 thousand men and our forces on the top of Little Sewell. The Big and Little Sewell are eleven miles across. The two armies are two miles apart, lying in sight of each other. The pickets have exchanged Kanawha salt for Greenbrier beef. Our forces are under General Lee, General Floyd and Wise. Mr. Tompkins is there with his regiment. The rebels have between thirty and thirty-seven thousand men. As the officers tell me ‘they have the elephant but don’t know how to cage it’, meaning a chance to fight but fear to risk it against such odds. General Lee’s name strikes terror into these federal forces. If it was General Floyd or Wise, they would have tried to go to Lewisburg, but General Lee, they know, is so superior to their officers. The Confederate States have bound themselves to get back Western Virginia. My place is here evidently. I hope they will fall back without a battle. Some think they will.”

Here, again, Ellen’s sources of information were exceptionally accurate. The two armies were in the positions described, the distances were exact, and Robert E. Lee was in charge of both Floyd’s and Wise’s troops. Significant reinforcements had moved into the area and it appeared that there would be a major battle fought in the Sewell Mountain area. She was even aware that her husband’s regiment was in the fortifications on the mountaintops.

Conditions were miserable and both sides had difficulty in transporting supplies to the soldiers in the field and life for them was becoming difficult. One Rebel in Tompkins’ regiment recorded the following in his diary:

“…was about 2 or 3 o’clock when we reached the first troops … The men deployed behind logs, trees, or in open ground … and stood awaiting the attack. Continued firing among the pickets was heard — one poor lieutenant carried along dying in a litter … up at 4 o’clock — almost certain of attack — had the men along the lines … men worked hard and by night had made an excellent line of 3 or 4 hundred yards. Nothing still to eat. Some time in the forenoon Gen Wise sent some flour and beef — men were sent to cook — they used the barrel heads to cook upon, and about night some warm dough and some beef burned upon the coals were distributed, no salt in either the bread or on the meat. A piece of bread about the size of one’s hand, and a small piece of meat were given to each man. Some received none until after night. This was the meal of the second day — 3rd day (Thursday) about the same scenes, food of the same character but a little more of it. I cut my dough into thin pieces, browned it thoroughly and ate it with cold water, could eat no more beef… In a short time we were saturated. Tried to sleep but could not, water almost running under us, and a large leak dropping in my face, and many others running upon my body…”

Conditions on the Federal side were not much better. They had tents, but they had to be short of food inside their fortifications. Epidemics began to break out among the rural origin soldiers who had not contracted many childhood diseases such as measles and in addition the weather and exposure of the troops to the elements left them severely afflicted with colds, pneumonia, influenza and other disorders which began to fill the substandard military hospitals.

Ellen went on to explain some of the military events and explained the Federal courier system of swallowing dispatches when threatened with capture:

“But last night five couriers passed down and some passed up to General Rosencranz with sealed dispatches, papers compressed into a ball and covered with wax so the courier can swallow it if the enemy overtakes him. The supposition is within forty-eight hours there will be a change in the relations of the armies. I believe the federals will fall back to Camp Lookout, 18 miles above us at Mrs. Lewis place where I boarded two summers. There they are fortified, but the climate is so bleak they can’t stand it. They have hundreds of sick men now. When a battle is expected, in both armies the hospitals get filled, but these men have severe colds and fevers.”

Once again, Ellen Tompkins proves to be a careful observer and reporter of military affairs. She was aware of the number of couriers passing down the turnpike past the farm and even had managed to discover the special technique used for transporting sensitive dispatches to prevent their capture and discovery. She predicted a change in relationships between the opposing forces and proved to be correct. Rosecrans chose to withdraw his forces back along their over extended supply line rather than face the numerically superior Confedereates under the command of Robert E. Lee.

A Confederate artilleryman wrote of the Federal retreat and Lee’s disappointment:

“After remaining at Little Sewell Mountian upwards of two weeks, General Lee made preparations to attack General Rosecrans; contrary, doubtless, to General Lee’s expectations, on the morning the attack was to be made, General Rosecrans had quietly evacuated Big Sewell, and only left a few broken down horses and wagons, and a few tents pitched to make it appear that he still occupied his position. This was considered a very ingenious piece of strategy, as General Lee was much disappointed when he found that General Rosecrans had so quietly and adroitly eluded him on the previous night.”

There was another change that would eventually have an effect on the Tompkins’ family. Colonel Tompkins’ commander, General Wise, had been in a constant feud with General Floyd and now Wise was being recalled to Richmond for eventual reassignment to North Carolina. When Floyd took command as Lee moved back to the Cheat Mountain area, the Rebels also became a threat to the safety of the family on the Union-occupied farm.

There was some urgency attached to the order for Wise to return to Richmond. It was delivered to him while he was under fire with some of his skirmishers:

“Sir: You are instructed to turn over all the troops heretofore immediately under your command to General Floyd, and report yourself to the Adjutant General in this city, with the least delay. In making the transfer to General Floyd you will include everything under your command.

By Order of the President.”

The order was signed by the acting Secretary of War, Judah P. Benjamin.

Even though Wise was a political appointee, as a General he had a stable relationship with Tompkins. Floyd, also a “political general”, was no friend to the soldiers in the regiments and seemed to have some animosity toward the troops of his now deposed rival, Henry Wise. Now Tompkins 22nd Virginia Infantry Regiment was normally assigned the worst as well as the most dangerous duty in the army. “You will notice that our regiment usually is put in front on an advance and in the rear in a retreat” was recorded in a Confederate officer’s diary.

As a result, there was little love lost between Floyd and Tompkins. Colonel Tompkins had been a professional military officer, trained at West Point, and he was fair as he looked out for the welfare of the men in the regiment assigned to his command. Floyd continuously exhibited a dislike for the Kanawha volunteers who composed the 22nd Virginia.

Following the battle at Carnifex Ferry, Isaac Smith recorded the following comment in his diary:

“Floyd does not like Col T because he knows that Col T despises his character as a man and has no respect for his qualifications as a soldier, and it would suit Floyd’s view to leave Tompkins to bear all of the blame which might attach to any mishap in the retreat..”

Tompkins’ regiment, of course, had been assigned the dangerous duty of rearguard during the retreat. They were able to extricate the Confederate artillery from their positions and enabled the entire army to pull out of the immediate area of the large Federal army successfully, but Floyd generally found less than desirable duties for Tompkins and the 22nd Virginia to perform. With Wise out of the picture, Floyd was completely in charge and he would eventually be able to make a major change in the Tompkins family’s position and the Colonel’s military career.

Ellen continued with general information :

“There is such a difficulty to have letters sent without stamps and I can’t get any. Please send me some in your next letter. I hear all the eastern news from the Cincinnati papers which the officers send me. Willie is much better. He is cutting four teeth and for two months has not been well. My health is much better. Caroline says the war has cured me. I have not had a spell of nausea for two months. I am too busy and excited to be sick. I am so sorry to see Wilkins Glenn is taken up. I believe Maryland will go out of the Union in spite of Lincoln. A lieutenant colonel of the Confederates was killed by the pickets of the Federals. As officer of the day he rode between them and asked if they were Jeff Davis’ men. They said, ‘No!’ He drew his revolver and they shot him in the side. The officers are strapped to the horses now to save their bodies. His horse galloped back to our camp, a mile. The likeness of his wife with a slip of paper fell out of his pocket. On it was written, ‘But for this sad war, my dear husband, we never would have been separated.’ Her letters to him covered with his blood. The man was very sorry he did not let him go. He is on this place now. The wretch! What shadows we are and what shadows we pursue.”

She was obviously upset with the death of the Confederate officer who had carried a picture of his wife in his pocket. She could easily associate his death with that of her own husband and the slip of paper with the sad sentence “but for this sad war, my dear husband, we never would have been separated” described the Tompkins’ situation exactly. She didn’t have the facts this time. She was describing the death of Colonel Spaulding, an officer who had been drunk for several days, perhaps loneliness for his wife and that very piece of paper had produced the depression which led to drinking and had lead an unauthorized attack. Nothing was accomplished except his death. Ellen was also in error about the strapping of Confederate officers to their horses to recover their bodies. Spaulding was able to cling to his saddle until he fell into the arms of his troops who were out of range of the Union pickets.

She went on to complete the letter:

“Sunday night: The news for us is glorious. The Federals had to retreat from the Sewell Mountains as the Confederates were getting too close. The South is sure to hold its own and they begin to see it now. They have fallen back nearly to Hawk’s Nest and will have to go to Gauley, soon I expect to Charleston. They had to make their march at night. I feel bright and hopeful of better days, as the troops, no doubt, will go to Kentucky and Missouri, recalled from Western Virginia.

“An officer told me General Cox wrote him he was on the top of Sewell looking to the East. I told him, like Moses, he would be allowed to view the promised land but never enter it. It turned out true.

“Direct to the care of General Cox.”

Ellen frequently felt a compulsion to push her luck with the Union officers. Comparing the Confederacy to the promised land where the Union army would never be allowed to enter on the day the Federals had been forced to retreat seems to demonstrate a lack of good sense, but she was correct in her prediction that the Union forces would be forced to retreat from the Sewell Mountain area without a fight. She was now hoping that the same forces would be forced completely out of the state while leaving her family and farm in peace, a Confederate peace. If that were to occur, the sacrifice of the past several months would have been worth it.

Imagine, however, Ellen’s nerve, telling the Union officer that Cox was like Moses: he would be allowed to look into the promised land, but he would not be permitted to cross into Eastern Virginia. It is little wonder that the Federal officers respected the courageous, but aggravating, southern lady.

She was a good correspondent and wrote to her sister, Sarah, frequently. Ellen wrote to explain the Union army’s situation following the retreat and the situation on the farm as military

supplies were stockpiled in preparation for an expected Rebel offensive. This letter was written on October 10, 1861:

“This place ought to belong to the state, it has such a central, important position. Last night the road was lined with wagons and the noise such we could not sleep, the teamsters quarrelling and swearing. The barn now is filled with government property, barrels of pork, sugar, etc. If they retreat, they will burn it down no doubt, for when they fell back from Sewell Mountain they burnt tents, and the sugar, coffee, etc., was over a foot deep, mixed with mud to prevent the rebels from using it. Over a hundred wagon loads were destroyed as they had no transportation.”

Retreats over the steep, muddy mountain roads in the winter were nearly impossible to manage successfully. Any supplies which had been pre-positioned in forward areas normally had to be destroyed or abandoned to the enemy as there seldom was sufficient transportation to move it quickly. This was a problem for both sides, but the southern troops were affected less with this difficulty since they simply had fewer supplies to attempt to move.

Ellen continued:

“General Scott does not approve of the march up Sewell Mountain. He did not approve of the rout at Manassas. He well may be angry. It has cost Uncle Sam an immense amount of money and hundreds of sick soldiers, in fact it has demoralized and disheartened them. They return saying that the South has generals, but they have not one capable of leading thirty thousand men. Many talk of going home and all say they must go into winter quarters. Regiments of a thousand can’t muster more than five or six hundred active men fit for service. They will be at Gauley in a week, but our troops harass them. 800 cavalry came down yesterday and drove in their pickets and as they thought possibly they were supported by infantry. The Federals had three regiments out for battle, but the cavalry only galloped backwards and forwards annoying them so that they could not continue to retreat fearing an ambush. They now don’t know what to anticipate as some fear the rebels will cut off their provision wagons from the other side of the river. They know General Lee is full of stratagems. General Scott is said to have cried when General Lee refused all of his offers and would go with Virginia.”

General Scott had retired from active service, but apparently spoke freely with newspaper correspondents. Ellen seemed to be supplied frequently with newspapers from Ohio and this is probably the source of her comments about General Scott, a fellow Virginian.

This was an exceptionally hard period for the Union soldiers assigned to Rosecrans’ brigades. Lee’s forces had been reinforced by troops under the command of Brigadier-General Loring and the Confederates were again advancing toward the Federal strongholds at Gauley Mount and Gauley Bridge.

Loring was also a well-respected officer who had served as a Major in a mounted rifleman regiment during the Mexican War. He lost his left arm at Chapultepec and had been promoted for bravery. A Confederate artilleryman explained the level of respect Loring had from his fellow southerners:

“A man thus distinguished as a Major in a war in which Robert E. Lee served as a Captain, and Thomas J. Jackson as a Lieutenant, naturally enjoyed great prestige.”

Lee now had sufficient troops on hand and commanders who he felt could be trusted with independent commands. He planned a two pronged advance against the Federals in the upper Kanawha valley and gave command of the “southern element” to General Floyd. The “northern element” would be commanded by General Loring and Lee, himself, would travel with Loring. Floyd was to cross New River and move into the mountains across from the main Federal bases at Gauley Mount and at Gauley Bridge. From this position, he would be in an excellent position to block all of the supplies moving up the turnpike to replenish the Union troops. Loring would push in the Union pickets and advance his regiments in the vicinity of Hawk’s Nest and together, the two Confederate elements would be able to force the Federals from the upper valley without precipitating a major engagement. Lee knew as well as Rosecrans the difficulty involved in moving supplies through the mountains. After the Federals were forced out of the Upper Kanawha valley, the Confederates would have probably gone into winter quarters there.

Lee sent Floyd’s command consisting of eight infantry regiments and seven hundred cavalry across New River to operate on the south side and intended to send Loring’s troops along the turnpike on the north side of New River soon afterwards, but the pressing need for reinforcements in the Cheat Mountain area and in the Shenandoah Valley was so urgent that Lee had to send Loring there while Floyd was allowed to continue his operation on the south side of New River. This operation was probably intended to harass the Union camps and divert their attention from Loring’s withdrawl. Floyd’s force was simply too small to be able to stand against Rosecrans’ regiments without Loring’s support, but there was considerable protection available for Floyd from the rising water of New River. The small Confederate force could retreat to the southwest into Virginia, if pressed.

Floyd’s army totaled approximately 4000 men and consisted of six infantry regiments: the 14th Georgia, the 22nd Virginia, 36th Virginia, 45th Virginia, and the 51st Virginia, as well as

the 20th Mississippi. The Phillips’ “Legion” from Georgia was also present and the small command had cavalry elements and artillery attached. A company of Louisiana sharpshooters also accompanied Floyd’s march.

General Lee was indeed “full of stratagems” and would have driven the Federal army out of the upper Kanawha Valley, if Loring had been able to remain to support Floyd by maneuvering along the north bank of the river. Unfortunately for the Confederacy, Loring’s troops were needed elsewhere.

Ellen, unaware of the Confederate advance that was forming, had decided to ask Rosecrans for permission to travel to Richmond for supplies and winter clothing. She explained this to Sarah:

“I intend, in about ten days, to apply to General Rosencranz for a pass to Richmond. I shall leave the children and be gone about ten days. I must see Mr. T. and attend to my house there. I want winter clothes. You perceive I am a desperate woman. Literally I never know personal fear, although I am a coward usually. Bill has not been returned. The wonder is all have not gone. They say this war is to revenge the treatment of the slaves. Live abolitionists I never saw before, for we would order them off or set the dogs on them usually. Now they enter the house. I tell them my opinions of them frankly. Please send me some stamps. We have twenty-four men on guard. General Wise had his things in the same barn.”

Ellen Tompkins was a southern woman who was raised around the institution of slavery and saw little wrong with it. As usual, Ellen was outspoken on this issue as she was everything else. Her slave, Bill, had been concealed by the Union troops and had not returned to his duties at the farm. She had written to General Cox about the incident and Cox promised to investigate and ordered the regimental commander, Colonel Fyffe, to have Bill returned. Ellen had a rather low opinion of abolitionists.

A pass and orders for safe travel was issued for Ellen, her daughter, and J.H. Miller, Jr. to permit them to travel to Richmond and they soon departed for the Confederate lines and the road into the heart of the Confederacy. It is interesting that J.H. Miller, Jr. went along. He was the son of the Postmaster at Gauley Bridge, James Hodge Miller. It is obvious that Miller was a Confederate sympathizer and could have assisted Ellen with her “letters” which went through the Federal mail system and contained such interesting information.

A pair of very courteous letters were exchanged between Colonel Tompkins and General Rosecrans at the time of Ellen’s departure. These are worth more than a casual review.

Rosecrans letter was carried by Ellen as she left the farm. It was written on October 14, 1861:

“My Dear Colonel,

“Your noble wife and fair daughter take this to you.

“The only condition I impose on the visit is that while giving pleasure to you the visit shall have to me and the Government of the United States no painful consequences.

“It is unnecessary to suggest to you, whose nice sense of honor I know so well and highly appreciate, that conversation on the number, condition, or position of military forces, or their equipment, discipline, supplies, or movements should be avoided. But I mention it that those of your friends and others who will probably converse with Mrs. T. and Miss Ellen may be cautioned against embarrassing them by conversing on these subjects.

“I send you my warm regards. Anything I can do to contribute to your comfort or happiness I shall be happy to do.

Your Sincere Friend

W.S. Rosecrans”

This certainly doesn’t seem to be the sort of letter that a general would send to his enemy. At some point in the past, these two men of honor had known one another and had been friends. It wasn’t in the Seminole Wars as Rosecrans was still a cadet at the time. There is no record of their professional lives touching. After Rosecrans graduated from the Military Academy, he served at Fortress Monroe and later went to West Point where he was assigned until 1847. Christopher Tompkins resigned from the regular army while he was serving in California in 1847. How they came to know each other is not well documented.

Tompkins’ return letter was written six days later from Lewisburg and shows an equal warmth for General Rosecrans:

“My dear Sir:

“Dropping the etiquette of official and more formal correspondence, I beg to thank you for your letter of the 14th instant and especially for your many manifestations of kindness to my family at Gauley farm.

“You will do me the justice to believe that I feel most deeply the kindness which you have bestowed upon those so dear to me, and you will find your reward in the consciousness of having exercised those Christian virtues which go so far to elevate ourselves in the estimation of all respecting people.

“Aside from truce considerations, I shall continue in all sincerity to refer briefly to the unfortunate condition of our divided country.

“It has been a source of great and momentous concern to myself and whilst I have no idea that either of us will live to see the end of the evils that now exist, I do cherish the hope that we in our respective spheres accomplish much to mitigate their atrocities.

“I wish I could talk with you and many of my old friends and comrades on your side of the question. I believe we could manage affairs better than the politicians or at least honestly differ

in our respective views.

“But this may never be.

“Once more I repeat my obligations to yourself and other officers of your Army for your kindness to my family. I only ask that they may be permitted to leave the place and return in safety within our lines, and I need hardly add that I shall be bound by every sentiment of honor to observe the strictest regard for the observance of such silence as you will require in reference to your official affairs.

“With much respect and regard I remain, dear Sir,

Very truly

C.Q. Tompkins”

This was a very unusual pair of enemies! Tompkins’ feelings about politicians were clear enough, and if he felt strongly enough to write this down in a letter to an enemy general, he must have been at the boiling point in his relationship with General Floyd, whom Isaac Smith wrote that Tompkins “despised” even at the time of the battle at Carnifex Ferry.

It was about this time that Floyd’s regiments were moving along the south side of New River toward their positions opposite the Federal camps at Gauley Bridge and at Gauley Mount. The small army had crossed the river at Richmond’s Ferry on October 11.

Issac Smith recorded Colonel Tompkins’ departure from the 22nd Virginia in his diary:

“Col. T met us on the way up and left us for Lewisburg to meet Mrs. Tompkins whom he had just learned was at that place. I was therefore in command of the regiment and dreaded the responsibility. Plus rode forward in great haste to tell Col Tompkins the news about his wife and the Col frequently alludes to it, says he will never forget Plus for this kindness.”

As mentioned previously, Christopher and Ellen Tompkins were romantically in love and had difficulty in being separated. Ellen occasionally alluded to this in her letters to Sarah, but the emotional attachment was far from being one-sided. These two people really wanted to be together.

Floyd’s army occupied Cotton Hill and set up artillery positions directly across New River from Gauley Bridge and were in position to fire at the Union camp at Tompkins’ farm. The artillery attack on Gauley Bridge began on November 1, 1861, and continued for nearly two weeks. Ellen was in Richmond for most of this period and did not write much about the fighting even though it was loud, intense, and long lasting. As a matter of fact, she became relatively uninterested in military affairs after being placed “on my parole of honor” by General Rosecrans. This careful observer and precise reporter of military maneuvers was no longer interested in those things.

Cannon Position on Cotton Hill

She wrote another letter to Sarah after she returned to the farm from Richmond. The letter was written on November 16, 1861, and this was the during the battle of Cotton Hill, but Ellen does not refer to it in the letter:

“Dear Sarah,

“I have not heard from you for an age. Why, I cannot tell. I received your letter with stamps, for which receive my thanks. I went to Richmond on my parole of honor. General Rosencranz sent me with an escort (a squad of cavalry) from his body guard. They delivered me up to an escort General Lee sent to meet me. I had the honor of sitting in his tent on top of Sewell Mountain. I took Ellen with me and left her in Richmond. I spent some blissful days with Mr. T., but we wondered if the agony of parting under such circumstances did not outweigh the pleasure of meeting. Such is life. Why were people born with hearts at all? This cruel, cruel war!”

For some people, honor is far more than just a word. It involves a concept around which life is lived. Ellen and Christopher Tompkins were two such people and once their word was given, there was no breaking it. The Confederate military learned little from Ellen during her stay in Richmond as she given her word of honor to General Rosecrans that she wouldn’t discuss his military preparations and she even began to lose interest in the conflict, itself. She, of course, was vitally interested in the political aspects of the war as its’ outcome would have a serious impact on her and her family.

The letter went on:

“I found Richmond full of excitement, but the people determined to conquer or die. Knowing Southern blood, the North ought to have conciliated not invaded. Now all is lost beyond redemption. I saw General Lee, Henningsen, and Wise and talked with hundreds of officers and influential people. I must tell you I was overcome with attention from the highest in the land.

I found all right at the house. I refused all invitations and sent for some of the servants and dismissed them, when I left, to their homes until I return again. Ellen is at the Reverend Mr.

Peterkin’s in care of Sally Tompkins. A white man has care of the house.”

In spite of being “overcome with attention”, Ellen refused all invitations to attend social functions, probably to stay at home with her husband. The servants were sent home for what were economical reasons as the Tompkins planned their uncertain future together. They had to anticipate the loss of their property at Gauley Mount and had no possibility of avoiding the financial setback of losing such a valuable investment.

Their daughter, Ellen, was to remain in Richmond at a minister’s house under the care of a close relative, Sally Tompkins. It was thought to be too dangerous to return a young girl to the situation they were in at the farm. Remember that Ellen had hidden her daughter when the Federal troops first came to the farm. “Ellen is never seen” was written in the initial letter to Sarah.

Sally Tompkins also is an unusual person who became well known in Richmond after she had opened a hospital for wounded Confederate soldiers and when the government converted all of the hospitals to military status, Jefferson Davis provided a military commission to Sally. She became the only female commissioned officer in the Confederate army.

The letter continued to explain the trip back to the farm. She was accompanied by her brother-in-law who soon left the farm and was accompanied by one of Ellen’s sons. She planned to leave as soon as she could make arrangements for someone to take care of the farm in her absence:

“Mr. Ficklin came with me to Sewell Mountain. There we had an escort of fifteen (mostly officers) to the picket of the federal forces. They were then dismissed and Mr. Ficklin was allowed to accompany me to the farm where he has been ten days. He left today with an escort and flag of truce and took Chris with him, also Bill (who ran away), to remain until I come on which will be as soon as I can get any one who will remain at the farm. I am under great obligations to General Rosencranz. I wish all were like him and even yet, we could right. But it would startle you to see the excitement. People are mad, infuriated! They will never live with the North again. To subdue them, all must be exterminated. Richmond has taken a start. Manufactories are springing up, telegraph wires to Sewell, the railroad building to White Sulphur. The South is no longer lazy. The White Sulphur is used as a hospital. Men worth a million or more will give all they possess and their lives to the cause.

Apparently her escaped slave, Bill, had been returned to her by the Federal authorities as promised. The Union soldiers had hidden him in the woods, but Colonel Fyffe had promised to help recover Bill and had delivered him. Bill and Ellen’s son, Chris, would travel to the east with Mr. Ficklin, probably to Charlottesville, where they would remain until Ellen was able to locate a trustworthy caretaker for the property and depart.

Since Fickin left the day the letter was written — November 16 — and had been on the farm for ten days, Ellen returned to the farm on either November 5th or 6th. This was in the middle of the battle of Cotton Hill between Cox’s troops and the regiments under General Floyd which had crossed to the south side of New River that began on November 1. The initial fighting was described by General Cox:

“For the first week after the 1st, Floyd’s battery on Cotton Mountain fired on very slight provocation, and caution was necessary when riding or moving about the camp. The houses of the hamlet were not purposely injured, for Floyd would naturally be unwilling to destroy the property of West Virginians, and it was a safe presumption that we had removed the government property from buildings within range of fire, as we had in fact done. Our method of forwarding supplies was to assemble the wagon trains near my lower camp during the day, and push them forward to Gauley Mount and Tompkins farm during the night. “

High water in New River had prevented any Federal reaction against the positions on Cotton Hill held by Floyd. The river was at a higher level than had even been seen before and Floyd was protected by a swift, rough wide stream which was dangerous to attempt to cross.

On November 10, Cox sent a scouting party across the river from the picket post at Montgomery’s Ferry and once Cox was aware of the Confederate weakness, he made plans to send assault parties across. Men from the Eleventh Ohio and First Kentucky scaled the near vertical cliffs at two points along the river and forced the Confederate cannon to withdraw. Skirmishing continued as the Confederates retreated past Fayette Court House and on toward Raleigh Court House. Actual combat was over quickly and the only significant fight was at McCoy’s Mill where the Confederate rear guard (not the 22nd Virginia, for a change) skirmished with Union soldiers and the Rebel cavalry commander, St. George Croghan, was killed. The retreat was completed by the time Ellen wrote this letter, but she certainly did not report on the military details as she had in previous letters. Either the stress of warfare of the fighting within sight of her home or the “parole of honor” had caused her to shift much of her interest.

“The trial of parting with Ellen and Chris was great to me, but I rejoice they are away. I shall go very soon, so write at once. I received a letter from W.W. G. I was so glad to hear from him. Send the enclosed letter to Henry. Write no treason. Of course I have no politics, they would give me too much trouble. I enclose a letter from Anne’s brother, who I met on Sewell Mountain (one of the Richmond Blues). He looked in fine health and said he liked the life very much. I brought on a number of letters and sent them North after they were examined. One to Mrs. J. Hanson Thomas. Send word to Louisa Wilkins and Anne T. if any letters come to them to forward them to me. I do not know when we will all meet, but be sure I shall ever think of

you with the greatest affection and shall hope for brighter days. Give all my love to Mr. C and all the family.

Ever yours affectionately,

Ellen

“If you get an opportunity to see to my interests as you think best. Please tell Mary I received her letters and stamps.

Direct to James H. Miller, Gauley Bridge, Fayette County, Virginia. Give my love to Mrs. G’s family.

“It is reported Mr. T. is a General. I have no doubt it is true. John is in the Wise Legion and thought a great deal of. He is in Richmond on a leave of absence of 30 days. Lucia Tabb is

there too. He is a field surgeon.

“General Wise was ill when I was in Richmond, but sent for me to see him in his room. He could not sit up. He is very fascinating and has a kind heart. He is devoted to Mr. T.; always says ‘He is a soldier and a gentleman.’

“If Anne can write at once I will forward the letter to her brother. Mr. Ficklin has placed me under the greatest obligations. I can’t find the words to express his kindness at this time. One appreciates friendship. No one needs it more than I do. You cannot tell how blest you are. God help the right! For we seem cursed for our sins.”

Ellen thought that her husband had been promoted to General at this time. General Wise, his former commander, was trying to get him promoted and put in charge of all Confederate forces in western Virginia. The bedfast Wise obviously thought well of Tompkins’ ability as a soldier and by getting him placed in overall command of his old area of operations, Wise would have revenge on his old enemy, General Floyd, who was still in the area. Tompkins had an extreme dislike for Floyd and would have probably have enjoyed having him as a subordinate. Wise probably was “politicking” to have Floyd replaced with Tompkins.

One of Ellen’s final letters to Sarah was probably written on November 28. It was undated, but a short, final entry in the letter was written later as the family tutor, Mr. Grimme, was preparing to depart for “the North” was dated November 29. Mr. Grimme was probably going to hand carry the letter out of the military zone where it was less likely to be opened and mailed more securely.

The letter began:

“I had the starch taken out of me by a swollen face, but now that I am better I view the world differently. I suffered a great deal with my tooth. I am distressed to hear of the death of Colonel Croghan (shot by the Federals) who traveled with me from Richmond. He was such a gallant fellow. He was the last one who shook hands with me in Lewisburg. This cruel war! How little I dreamed it was the last time I’d see him. He has a widowed mother on the Hudson River. Whoever brought on this sad war will deserve a heavy punishment. I saw enough at White Sulphur of suffering to make one weep their heart out. A poor woman arrived with her baby, two months old, just three hours after the death of her husband. How she prayed to die too! She had his body in the cars with us. Poor thing! I said all I could to console her, but indeed I knew not what to do but to weep with her. The scenes I have witnessed this summer, heartrending grief! Ah, how little you realize the horror of war. All the vile passions are aroused. Is it not curious my courage has never deserted me? Delicate and frail I certainly am, for that visit to Richmond, travelling two nights in a stage was very severe, but I am thankful my wits have been brighter and my self possession greater than ever. Mr. Grimme leaves for the North.”

The cruel war had again touched close to Ellen with the death of Colonel Croghan. She had apparently visited the Confederate hospital at White Sulphur and “…saw enough … of suffering to make one weep their heart out.” She also shared the agony of the young mother who had come to the hospital to visit her injured or sick husband or help nurse him back to health only to find that he had died just before her arrival. How little, indeed, did Sarah know of war.

“I received a letter from Florence Fuller and yours came this evening. I received one with stamps, but this last one had been opened and the stamps taken out in Cincinnati, but the letter gave me pleasure. I sent it to Caroline as I had a chance by accident. I will send this letter if I can get it endorsed, but there is a new style of opening letters in Charleston. I will hope for brighter days now that Mr. T. has left the army, but as the authorities wish him to be a general, I can’t say what he will do except one thing is certain, he will do all he can for his state.”

She was now aware that her husband had resigned from the Confederate army, but how she received that information is a mystery as she wrote on December 5 that she had not heard from him since leaving Lewisburg six weeks previously. Perhaps she heard about his resignation from the same source who was taking Florence Fuller’s letter through the Rebel lines to Caroline in Charlottesville.

She was unsure whether her husband would accept a general’s commission, if offered, but her line “…one thing is certain, he will do all he can for his state…” will be useful in determining some of his future activities. Being a Virginian meant something special to most of the state’s population at the time and this factor, alone, held many of them in the war until the end.

“I expect to leave very soon and hardly hope ever to see this house again as even the majors say it ought be used as a hospital, then burned. It makes one suspicious to have a person very friendly in the house, talking, and then before they reach the gate to hear such remarks. I shall go to Richmond and no matter what happens stand my ground. I have been very busy packing, arranging things, and am filled with disgust to see this beautiful place torn to pieces by the soldiers, when I remember the cost of money and trouble to build all the houses, etc. It is a perfect desolation now. Fences are all gone. The fields set in clover as hard as roads from the encampments. There is no telling how long the man and woman and Deckert will be allowed the rooms I gave them to use, for there will be winter quarters here on this place no doubt. What a pity we ever saw the place. I cannot remain here this winter to save it, as in the spring the fighting will begin again. I have had as many cannon balls roaring round me as I wish to hear. There is no hope for peace for years. The South will not accept the terms offered by the North. The wind is roaring, rain, hail, and snow falling. I dread this journey. Think I have no way of letting Mr. T. know where to meet me. He dare not pass the lines or would go to Columbus.

“November 29: I must close as Mr. Grimme has just concluded to leave in the carriage, starting now. Goodbye.

Yours,

E”

Ellen was disgusted with the damage done to the farm by the Union troops occupying it and had little patience with the officers who spoke warmly within the house, but were overheard expressing their desire to convert her home into a hospital and burn it after the army moved forward. She knew she was helpless to prevent the eventual destruction of the home she had worked so hard to build and understood that she must leave the area before the spring fighting season arrived. She must have had a few close calls from the Confederate shelling of the farm from the opposite side of New River which had been ordered by General Floyd. She was not going to risk her family to any additional danger, even if it meant losing the house.

Ellen’s final letter to Sarah Cooch from Gauley Mount was written in early December, 1861, just prior to her departure from the farm for safety within Confederate lines:

“You can still write to me but it is very doubtful if I can answer you. Put a letter, directed to me on the envelope, inside another envelope addressed to James H. Miller, Esq., Gauley Bridge, Fayette County, Virginia. I most likely will get it. Write any time until the spring. Say nothing of military movements, however. This place is said to be the key of Western Virginia. It is fortified and winter quarters building, all sorts of preparations being made.”

A special relationship must have existed between the Tompkins family and James H. Miller. Since Miller was the postmaster in the town and was probably a Confederate sympathizer, a clandestine agreement had been made between Ellen and Miller for her incoming mail from the Union states to be received in his name until they could be forwarded by someone he trusted who was passing through the lines. Ellen’s letters would be hand carried into the Confederate lines and sent to her in Richmond. She cautioned Sarah to avoid mentioning any military subjects in her letters to protect her sister in case they were intercepted by Federal authorities and traced to Delaware.

She warned Sarah not to write after the arrival of spring as active military operations in the area would make it difficult for anyone to get through the lines, regardless of the reason. The use of the double envelopes and the cautioning of Sarah not to write about military matters were probably intended to reduce the chance that Ellen would be accused of breaking her “parole of honor” to General Rosecrans. While it was probable that she had sent military-related information to friends in the hope that it would find its’ way into Confederate hands, she was going to great lengths to avoid even the slightest appearance of improper behavior at this stage. She knew that she was going to lose the farm at Gauley Mount and that there would be a huge financial loss involved. She also had property in Baltimore that was in Federal territory which could be seized, if she were openly associated with the Confederate war effort.

She continued:

“They say if they give up this all the blood and treasure expended in Western Virginia is of no account. It must and shall be held. A pretty idea, is it not? Well, I go now, I expect forever. Certainly there is no hope of my returning until peace. Altho they say they will trust me through their lines and believe me so honorable that I may come back in the spring and go to see you or stay in Baltimore, then return, but I doubt if I risk myself so far. I must tell you the Ohio newspapers of last evening gave me a touch, say that Mrs. Tompkins is again to pass the lines in a few days. How strange a woman of her accomplishments should be allowed to go through the lines and she is known to be a rebel and able to do much harm. They give me

this in a German paper. The Colonel is going to give it to me to take on. You will be surprised to hear I am so celebrated.”

The Ohio newspapers were beginning to develop a situation in which Ellen would be unsafe if she chose to return in the spring. The war was now being recognized for the long, bitter conflict it was to become and Ellen risked prison, either by remaining or returning. Union Colonel Poschner was going to remain in her house for the winter (this was the best arrangement she could make to protect the farm from destruction) and he gave Ellen a copy of the German newspaper which was accusing her of being “able to do much harm” as a souvenir.

“”When I came home I found things in a terrible condition, indeed I was much annoyed, but I have gotten the feelings towards me to be better. The fact is they were Germans and hear I said (when General Floyd fired on them below the house) that if they had been in their proper place (Ohio) they would not have been wounded. The doctor who had determined to use this house for a hospital was very angry (and so was I sure enough), finding that I said so positively he should not, reported I had refused to let a man come in while he amputated his arm. A number went to General R to know the truth, but he said all he knew was I was the bravest woman he ever saw.”

Ellen’s difficulties were increasing. General Floyd was ordering Confederate artillery batteries to be fired at the Union camp on the farm and now there was a Union surgeon spreading camp gossip aimed at getting her forcibly removed from the house. The wounded resulted from local skirmishes, the shelling from across New River, and from the fighting as General Cox’s troops crossed the river to force the Confederates from the summit of Cotton Hill.

The camp rumors increased substantially when the doctor began to tell the story that Ellen had refused to let him bring in a patient whose arm had to be amputated. An agitated delegation visited General Rosecrans to determine the truth of the accusations, but Rosecrans continued to defend Ellen. It is unlikely that she denied help for anyone. She was very aware of the constant need to maintain a good relationship with the Union soldiers and had previously gone to great lengths to help the sick and wounded and had even given them the use of the farm’s vineyard house as a hospital. She had even permitted two sick Union officers to remain overnight in her home. The rumors from the doctor were probably attempts to convince the military commanders to evict her so the house could be used as a hospital.

She continued:

“They expect an attack here and are fortifying, and moreover determined, as the commanding officer told me, he would yield this place to no one but me, except with his life, and I was fortunate to own such a place. He is clearing the land, building a real village of winter quarters, and fortifying it all round, all he told me as a fine present to me. He moves in tomorrow. I will leave then certainly. He furnishes two four-wagons for my servants and baggage, as general R requested it, and sent my furniture that I valued most beyond the lines for me. Indeed I like him very much as far as our acquaintance goes. I leave him plenty here to get along with. His wife is coming from Cincinnati with her two children. He is drawing me a picture of the farm as a great encampment, as it is.”

The commanding officer referred to by Ellen is Colonel Frederick Poschner, the commander of the garrison at Gauley Mount or “Tompkins’ Farm”, as it was called by the Union troops and mapmakers. Poschner and his family would safeguard the farm with their presence during the winter and Ellen was probably hopeful that more permanent arrangements could be made later.

She completed the final letter from the farm:

“I have not the time to write to Cousin H G’s family. Will you be so kind as to write her, but not send this letter, as it is written too badly. I have sat down one dozen times to finish it. Tell Mary to direct as she did her last one to me, to James H. Miller. He will forward it. Sometimes people pass the lines. I have a quantity of letters. All have been examined, but yours will not be. Please attend to my money matters all you can. I have a private chance to send this, therefore cannot wait longer. God bless you all, if we ever meet again. The bliss, the bliss of getting out of these lines. Words cannot express my joy. Love to all.”

She was obviously tired of the war and the constant stress of trying to protect the farm she and her husband had worked so hard to develop. Most of their family’s money was probably tied up in the property, but after trying so hard for so long, Ellen was finally giving up. “The bliss, the bliss of getting out of these lines” is a phrase that explains a great deal of the emotional stress she had been under. She had been held as a near-hostage, feared for her children’s safety when the Union troops had orders to shoot anyone not in uniform, and had been fired on by cannon from her own side. The emotional strain must have been nearly overwhelming. In addition to all of this pressure, she had to worry about her husband and brother who were assigned to the Confederate army nearby. The relief of leaving must have been so great that it was hard to express in any other words.

She had developed a private method of sending this letter to Sarah, probably by a trusted Union officer who was travelling home on leave who would mail it outside of the military zone where the letter would not be opened for inspection. Ellen had developed a separate, secure mail system operating parallel to the regular mail service, but it utilized the services of people who could be trusted to carry the letters for her. She may have denied any activity against the interests of the Union army, but she certainly had the ability to use espionage techniques in getting her letters in and out of the Federally-occupied zone.

Ellen’s final letter from the area was written on the road while she was waiting for repairs to be made to her carriage. It was written to Sarah on December 5, 1861:

“My Dear Sarah,

“I am now fourteen miles from Gauley Mount. I left this morning and Joe broke the shafts just as we got to the top of the hill and we had to send back and get the pole of the carriage and another horse and make a fresh start. The servants and baggage went on in two four horse wagons and we have a flag of truce with Captain Smith and six dragoons of General Rosencranz’ body guard. They take me to the Confederate pickets, about 45 miles, then I will wait for them to send me wagons to go to Lewisburg. The trial I had today, parting from my house perhaps for years!”

Unfortunately for the courageous Ellen, the house did not survive the war. It was burned, as she had predicted at an earlier time. Who did it and exactly why it was destroyed is a mystery that is not explained in the Official Records or in the journals of many of the officers who later served in the area. The best guess that can be made centers on the sudden Union retreat out of the area in 1862 when the Confederates again briefly occupied the Kanawha Valley. The newly replaced bridge over Gauley River was again destroyed, and the Federal magazine near the Falls of the Kanawha was exploded rather than allow it to be captured by the advancing Rebels. It is quite likely that the Union camp at Gauley Mount was put to the torch as the Federal soldiers evacuated and the house was burned at this time.

“I was helped in by the Colonel, Poschner, and left him to use the house with his family. He is an honorable man and altogether it is the best arrangement possible under the circumstances, but still the trial to me! Indeed I could not help losing my self command for a few moments. But the joy of seeing my husband you cannot imagine, and Ellen and Chris will be so glad to see me, and I will be in my own house, I hope, in seven days. I intend to stop a night with Caroline; send the servants on. George drives the oxen on, and I assure you the idea of leaving home and being hired out nearly upset them. They know how to appreciate home now. Of course I shall not have Sally and Julia at home, too many children to bother us. Caroline, as usual is a trump in this move. I have gotten through wonderfully, owing to General Rosencranz, for he will see that I am treated kindly by all under his command. He is acting Major General and has all Western Virginia.

“The children are delighted at the idea of seeing their father. I brought on two puppies, two chickens, and had great difficulty in getting off from two pigs for Willie. Indeed I could not refuse them under the painful circumstances. Regrets are useless and I seldom allow such things to annoy me, but Mr. T. will be near enough to see and hear from and really I can’t live separated from him. I have not heard from him since I left Lewisburg six weeks ago. You may know my anxiety. Write still and I may be so fortunate as to hear from you. Say nothing you care about being seen, for it is a military necessity to open letters now. I often think suppose you had been situated like I have been.”

Ellen would be in her home in Richmond in a week after writing the letter, She would finally be reunited with the husband she couldn’t live separated from while she was trapped at the farm, but while her family was going to be reunited, the families of her slaves were going to be separated.

Ellen’s attitude toward her “servants” reflects the general feeling of her social set toward slaves. They were simply property that could be hired out or sold separately, if it was in the interest of the owner to do so. The Tompkins’ house in Richmond was obviously smaller than the mansion at Gauley Mount and the “three colored women, five colored children” referred to in the Union army pass would be living elsewhere. The slave, George, would be hired out and probably Bill, the slave who was hidden by the Union soldiers at the farm and left with the Ficklins at Charlottesville would suffer a similar fate.

Ellen continued:

“I get a little compliment from the Ohio papers who insist I am dangerous. Well, I challenge the world to find out a dishonorable act of mine. General Rosencranz and General Cox behaved so kindly to me that no power on earth could induce me to betray them, but I take no sort of interest in military affairs and am not capable of telling anything.”

This letter was probably to be hand carried back to Gauley Bridge by her escorting officer, Captain Smith. Ellen was fully aware that the opening of letters was now a “military necessity” and since Smith was assigned to Rosecrans’ staff, there was a possibility that this letter could be opened, especially since the Ohio newspapers were claiming that she “was dangerous”. Was this paragraph written for Rosecrans’ and Cox’s benefit, if the letter should be inspected? If it was inspected, she had found a way to defuse much of the hostility appearing in the newspapers which could eventually result in the loss of her assets in Baltimore as well as ensuring the destruction of the farm. There is the possibility that Ellen’s “challenge” to the world could have been a last defiant act, betting the world that she was smarter than the rest and that her activities which put some significant information into the hands of the Confederate authorities would remain untraceable.

Ellen may have not had any interest in “military affairs” and did not know any military secrets, but she was a keen observer who had an excellent ability to elicit information from visitors. She reported that she took pleasure in her ability to “outwit them” and did this rather well for someone with no interest in military affairs.

“The children will go to schools now. Mr. Grimme has gone North.

“Please write to Cousin H G and give my love to W.W.G., Mary, in fact all the family and all of my friends. It is impossible to say when I will write again. I bid you all goodbye and hope you will always remember me with affection. Love to all.

Ellen

“Saturday. We are within the pickets of the Confederates and I have sent for teams to help us on. I hope to be in Richmond in a few days and to see Mr. T. and the children. The cannon was on the range of our house and fired into the meadow in front of it. Mr. T. asked General Floyd not to fire on his house as we were in it. He refused to oblige him and he resigned at once, is now in Richmond. The Confederates were on a hill in front of the house. I did not like being so near the shells. We have had delightful weather. How I wish to see you all. Heaven knows when I will. Give my love to my relations and friends, and now goodbye. With love to Mr. C, H W. and all of your children.

E”

Colonel Christopher Tompkins resigned from the Confederate army when General Floyd refused to stop firing on the farm while Ellen and the children were in the house. This was the final act in a long series of disputes between the two men which came together with the harassment of Tompkins’ second-in-command, Major Isaac N. Smith, and the mistreatment of the men in Tompkins’ regiment, the 22nd Virginia. Honor required that Tompkins resign and he left the service.

Ellen lost the farm and her beloved home on the mountain while her husband gave up his military career for the second time over incompetent “political” generals.

Ellen Tompkins was a remarkable woman. Her husband was correct in describing her to General Wise as “thoroughly game”. It would appear that her original reason for remaining behind was to safeguard the farm and the family’s investment during what was thought to be a very short war which would end in a negotiated settlement. Little did they know that once the war genie was out of the bottle that it would be so difficult to bring the hostilities to a halt.

Ellen’s position was very difficult; her farm was occupied by unruly Union enlisted men, homes and farms in the area that belonged to Confederates were being burned by the Federal troops, and she was constantly worried about the safety of her husband, brother, and the children. Fortunately, the chivalry shown by General Cox in accepting responsibility for the safety of the family saved them from a disastrous situation. Another bit of good fortune was the previous relationship between Tompkins and Rosecrans which made it easier to shift the responsibility for the family’s safety to a higher level of command.

A good deal of speculation based on circumstantial evidence could be made as to Ellen Tompkins involvement in passing information to the Confederates. In cases such as these, it is wise to evaluate the capabilities of the individual rather than to search for firm evidence. Proof is generally lacking in espionage cases and if located, there would have been a trial at the time of discovery. Did Ellen Tompkins have the capability to be involved in spying?

She certainly had the courage, wit, and intellect to have done so. She had a well developed ability to elicit information from her Union guests at the house and was able to determine even small details, such as the wax-covered dispatches which would be swallowed by a captured courier, and she was able to deliver the information to her sister in a system that utilized the services of the Federal postal service. This was very similar to the system used by the Confederate Secret Service Bureau in their operations.

Ellen was able to recruit the assistance of trusted couriers who would hand carry her letters to post offices beyond the reach of the military censor before her letters were posted. She used the services of the Union commander, General Cox, to send letters to Sarah. The letters to Sarah were the only letters preserved that could be used in this study. Ellen corresponded with persons other than her sister Sarah and may have used a duplicate system to ensure that her messages were getting through.

She arranged the “double envelope” delivery system with the postmaster in Gauley Bridge, James H. Miller, to prevent anyone from learning that she was being forwarded mail after she moved into the Confederate lines. Could she have used a system such as this long before she gave those instructions to Sarah on how to get letters through the lines? Could James H. Miller have been an accomplice for Ellen during the early stage of the Union occupation? Once again, Ellen had the capability to have been involved in some form of information collection and transmission and without the presence of evidence of espionage, the fact that she had the capability makes her suspect.

Capability can probably be used as a form of evidence if it is combined with some form of motivation, such as a reason to spy. Why would Ellen Tompkins want to use such an elaborate (and potentially damning) communications system if she only wanted to pass on idle gossip about the military events in the area to her sister? She could have used the open postal system for most of what was going on and the news she was sending in her letters was generally being reported in the Ohio newspapers at the same time, hardly military secrets. Why did she risk being caught sending letters outside of the postal system and when it was used, avoiding the military censors in Charleston? What was on the small slips of paper inside her letters that was to be passed to Wilkins Glenn, if not militarily significant information? What was the reason that she took these risks?

She was a very clever lady and may have told her sister how to handle the inserted notes in an early letter. There are two phrases in letters that reinforce the theory that Ellen was collecting, passively, at least, information and attempting to get it to the Confederate capital. One letter was written as Rosecrans and Cox attempted to get their separate elements into blocking positions along the only potential routes of Floyd’s army as it retreated from Carnifex Ferry: “They hope to get to Dogwood Gap, 14 miles from here, and surprise our troops. Could I but have warned them…” and when

she wrote about the artillery fight east of the farm during which a cannoneer lost his arm and another lost a thumb: “Better them than our forces should suffer”. Ellen had a husband, a brother, and many other relatives as well as friends in Wise’s army and worried about their safety. She certainly would have warned them about the enemy’s intentions, if she had the capability.

Ellen Tompkins had both a capability and sufficient motivation to be involved in espionage while she was held at the farm. Her perception that her presence gave the Federals some extra protection may have even provided her with additional motivation to even things up a bit.

Ellen, at least in the early stages of the military campaign, probably did her best to get information through the lines. She had little reason to remain neutral and probably felt that by helping the Confederate war effort, she and her home would soon be back under their control. This was increasingly important during the early stages of the war when most people felt that there would be a negotiated outcome. If the war was to be settled through negotiation, Ellen would have wanted to be on the Southern side of any future cease fire line.

If the Confederate army forced General Cox’s small brigade from their positions at Gauley Bridge, there was a good chance that the Rebels would be able to push their lines west to at least Charleston. At the time, everyone in the area hoped for a negotiated settlement, Union as well as Confederate loyalists, and if this had been the shortterm outcome, as Ellen probably hoped, the more help she could provide, the sooner she, family, and farm would be safe. She had many excellent reasons to attempt to get information to the Rebel army and she certainly had developed excellent mechanisms to do so.

As time went by and the reality of a long war began to be recognized by Ellen Tompkins, she had also begun to appreciate the friendship and protection afforded the family by both Cox and

Rosecrans. When she applied for a pass to go to Richmond temporarily and was placed on her “parole of honor”, Ellen’s willingness to collect and pass information, outwitting them, to the Confederate army came to an end. She knew that a long war was coming, that her husband had left the army shortly after she returned from Richmond, and that the friendship of Cox, Rosecrans, and several of the other Union officers had saved her and her family from several potential dangers. They were certainly more concerned about her welfare than was General Floyd when he ordered the shelling of her farm. The gratitude was becoming so strong that she was serious when she wrote that “no power on earth could induce me to betray them”.

During this period of history, honor was far more than simply a word to be spoken, it was a way to live, a code that both gentlemen and ladies lived by. Their social standing, prestige and general acceptance by their peers was closely linked to this “code of honor”. Giving one’s word required that promises be kept. Ellen and Christopher Tompkins did have a well developed sense of personal honor and once they had given their word to Rosecrans that Ellen would not under any circumstances discuss “the number, condition, or position of military forces, or their equipment, discipline, supplies, or movements…”, the matter was settled.

Ellen adopted the attitude “…I take no interest in military affairs and am not capable of telling anything.” This continued for the rest of her life. Her granddaughter and namesake said that Ellen often spoke of the beauty of the farm, but never talked about her experiences during the fighting. She told her grandchildren the same thing she wrote to Sarah in 1861:

“But, really, I knew nothing about the war. I was interested only in the safety of Colonel Tompkins.”

Ellen Wilkins Tompkins was a very remarkable woman.