Lieutenant John Wishart Acheson

 

Lieutenant John W. Acheson
The Progessive Men of the Commonwealth of PA, Vol. 1, 1900, p. 269

         Lieutenant John Wishart Acheson was an ambitious, intelligent and courageous soldier. He survived the war but died shortly afterwards at the young age of 34. Nonetheless, the accomplishments of Acheson and his brothers as a members of various Union regiments are noteworthy.

      Lieutenant John Wishart Acheson of the 85th PA was the first son of Judge Alexander Wilson Acheson, a prominent member of the Little Washington community in western Pennsylvania

Judge Alexander W. Acheson
Commemortive Biographies of Washington County 1893

       Judge  Acheson was born in Philadelphia, but his parents hailed from Washington County. Young A.W. Acheson went to college in western Pennsylvania and remained in Washington, PA ("Little Washington") until his death over seven decades later.

     Just before passing away in 1890, Judge Acheson recalled a memory from his childhood. Mr. Acheson remembered from nearly 80 years beforehand, "One of my earliest recollections was when school took a recess to see the soldiers pass through town on their return from the War of 1812. Of that band of children which gathered on the pavement, I am probably the only one now living. The company which passed was the 'Ten Mile Rangers.' A black horse, which had belonged to one of their officers who was killed at Niagara Falls [also known as Lundy's Lane], was led in front. That must of have been in the fall of 1814." [Washington Semi-Weekly Reporter, July 12, 1890, page 6]

     Military service would become a very important in the lives of Judge Acheson's children. Judge Acheson himself did not have a military career. He was admitted to the bar in 1832. He served four terms as district attorney before becoming a regional county judge in 1866 and spent 23 years on the bench. Politically he began as a Democrat, although he switched to the Republican Party in the years just prior to the Civil War. 

     Besides John, his eldest child, Judge Acheson had four other sons who served in the Union army during the Civil War. John Acheson was very ambitious for promotion during his three-plus years in the army. He knew the best way to advance was to show coolness, fortitude and leadership in battle, which he often displayed. He also seemed to have the political connections that would assure his furtherance in military.

     However, John became frustrated that his path to higher rank was proceeding slowly or maybe was blocked. This may have been due to political reasons, as Colonel Joshua B. Howell of the 85th PA was a member of a different political party. Acheson was a strong supporter of Howell early in the war but the relationship soured and John eventually transferred out. John's rise may also have been blocked for health reasons, which will be explored below. 

      However, John Acheson's patriotism, capability and bravery were above question. He came from one of the elite families of Little Washington, but he and his brothers displayed a sense of noblesse oblige regarding the war. John proved to be an effective leader while under fire. He was wounded three times, a testament to his commitment to the Union cause and to those who served under him.

     Following the war, John's life was cut short due to various addictions, including alcohol. Perhaps these dependencies came from his war service and difficulty in overcoming his physical wounds. Some soldiers also turned to the bottle out of boredom or due to the horrors of the battlefield. John's death came in 1872. This was ironic because his father was a strong advocate of the temperance movement throughout his political career.

       John Acheson graduated from Washington College (later Washington and Jefferson University) in 1857 and was a language instructor for several years before studying to become a lawyer. But he quickly enlisted a few days after Fort Sumter fell in 1861 into the 12th PA infantry for three months along with his brother, David. Their company was commanded by Colonel Norton McGiffin, who would later become the lieutenant colonel of the 85th PA. The 12th regiment, a three-month unit, saw no action at the First Battle of Bull Run in July of 1861. They were instead tasked to guard a railroad near York, Pennsylvania before disbanding. 

     While two brothers, David and Alexander "Sandie," soon joined the 140th PA, John enlisted for three years into Company A of the 85th Pennsylvania. 

      David Acheson became the captain of Company C of the 140th PA. On the second day of fighting at the Battle of Gettysburg, Captain Acheson was killed near Stoney Hill when engaged against a South Carolina regiment. His remains were later recovered after the battle and buried near the Weikert Farm. Near his gravesite, his company placed a small boulder and carved his initials, "D.A" into the stone along with "140th P.V." David Acheson was 22 years old. His body was eventually brought home and buried in Little Washington.

 

Captain David Acheson and the Gettysburg boulder marking his temporary grave
History of the 140th Regiment Pennsylvania, R.L. Stewart, 1912, P.124-5

        David Acheson was succeeded as the captain of Company C by his younger brother, Sandy. Sandy Acheson was shot in the face (but survived) at the Battle of Spotsylvania in 1864.

    

Sandy Acheson
History of the 140th PA 

Sandy became a doctor following the war, moved to Texas and died at the age of 91 in 1934.

      A fourth brother, Marcus "Mark" Acheson, was born in 1844 and enlisted into the 58th PA infantry in 1863, one day before his brother David was killed at Gettysburg. Marcus spent a few weeks in this three-month regiment and was mustered out in mid-August. 

Joseph M. Acheson
Progressive Men of PA

      A fifth son, Joseph, enlisted into Knapp's Battery in 1864 at the age of 16. He contracted malaria during his four months of service that troubled him for the rest of his life. He died at the age of 38 in Fairfield, Iowa. 

Ernest Acheson
https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/ernest_acheson/400681

      Another brother, Ernest, was 10 years old when the war ended, too young for military service. Ernest later served for 14 years in the U.S. House of Representatives. 

      In 1986, librarian and local historian Jane Fulcher (1916-2005) published a collection of letters entitled "Family Letters in a Civil War Century." In her book, Ms. Fulcher, Ernest Acheson's granddaughter,  included about 20 letters written by John Acheson during the war.

[Note: All of the quotations below are from "Family Letters In a Civil War Century: Achesons, Wilsons, Brownsons, Wisharts and Others of Washington, Pa.", Jane Fulcher, Avella, PA, 1986.]

      Nine days after the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter, John Acheson heeded President Lincoln's call for 75,000 volunteers and enlisted into the 12th PA. From Pittsburgh, Acheson wrote, "I cannot describe to you the excitement that exists here...the people are wild, crazy...The military spirit of our state seems thoroughly aroused. Companies of volunteers are continually passing through the city en route to Harrisburg." [Page 299]

     After his brief enlistment in the 12th PA expired, John joined Company A of the 85th PA. Part of the reason may have been Colonel Howell, who organized the 85th, was a personal friend of Judge Acheson, which John Acheson probably hoped would benefit his pathway to promotion. 

      With his younger brother David already a captain of his own company, John yearned to be an officer as well. He wrote, "I am willing and anxious to join the army if I can secure a position. I do not believe it to be my duty to enter the service for three years as a private, nor will I do it." [Page 305]

Professor Thaddeus Lowe in His Balloon
Virginia Peninsula, 1862
Library of Congress

        During the Peninsula Campaign in 1862, Lieutenant Acheson led his company in helping Professor Thaddeus Lowe launch his observation balloon near Warwick Court House in Virginia. [Author's note: I have attended two presentations on Lowe's balloon and asked the speakers if they knew of any specific regiment that is recorded for helping Lowe. Both presenters noted the 85th PA had performed this duty.]

      Despite his reservations, it does appear John Acheson joined the 85th regiment as a private. Within the next six months, though, he won a series of promotions and became a 1st lieutenant in August of 1862. He had distinguished himself at the Battle of Seven Pines in Virginia, where he led his company and received two wounds in the wrist and leg. 

       In mid-1862, he asked his father to intervene to help him secure a commission as the permanent captain of Company A due to the medical resignation of Harvey Vankirk. "I think if anyone has claims on the Colonel for the captaincy of Company A, I have. I have shared its dangers and privations and was always with them no matter what duty was to be performed. Col. Howell knows all of this, and for this reason, he promised the captaincy should be mine. His conduct in the matter is very strange."  [Page 311] John Acheson was not named captain of Company A; the position instead went to William W. Kerr.

      A year later, David Acheson was killed and another younger brother, Sandie was voted to become the captain of David's old company in the 140th PA. John, still a lieutenant, wrote the following to his father in early 1864 from Hilton Head Island in South Carolina. Once an ardent supporter of his colonel, Joshua B. Howell, John Acheson became more and more incensed at his commanding officer for preventing his advancement in the 85th.

      "I would like to get a transfer to General [Absalom] Baird in order to show Colonel Howell that my success as an officer did not depend on his toadies. This is all the triumph I want....I can serve the balance of my term as First Lieutenant cheerfully, but I do not like to see men who have little or no qualification outstrip me." 

      "I want you to fully understand that your former friendship with Colonel Howell will not weigh a feather with him. He is a weak, vain, ambitious man, and insensible to everything that does not tend directly to further his prospects for a Brigadier Generalship...I long for the opportunity to show him that however regardless he may be to my interests, I have friends at home who are just as able as he to secure my position." [Page 313]

     Execution       Harper's Weekly

    While stationed in South Carolina, John earned the ire of General Quincy Gillmore, the commander of the Department of the South, for a clerical error during the court-martial of three soldiers from the 10th Connecticut who were slated for execution due to desertion. Two of the men were hanged, but a third stayed alive because his name was misspelled on the official record of the court matial. Gillmore was most upset and blamed Acheson for the oversight.

      Acheson was perhaps a bit nonchalant in the performance of this duty because he had already accepted a position with General Absalom Baird, a division commander in the western theater who happened to hail from Little Washington. With this unit, Acheson would participate in Sherman's March to the Sea. From Jonesboro, Georgia, in 1864, where he was wounded, John wrote, "General Baird was in the thickest of the melee. This end of the Confederacy is about caved in. Atlanta is ours. I will embrace the first opportunity to write you a long letter." [Page 317]

      Once Sherman's Army captured Savannah, Georgia on the Atlantic Ocean, they headed due north through South Carolina [see map below]. Two weeks before the end of the war, John wrote, "On the South Carolina side [of Savannah], huge torpedoes [land mines] had been placed in the mud. Little injury was done by them. Two or three soldiers had their legs blown off, but that was about all. But how silly was this conduct of the chivalrous citizens of the Palmetto State! Our soldiers swore revenge and every man supplied himself with an extra bunch of matches. Day after day while marching along the road past burning dwellings, barns and out-houses, the line of march of other columns might be discerned by the dense masses of black smoke darkening the heavens on every side. South Carolina, which hitherto has suffered so little from the war, has been terribly punished for her folly and crime." [Page 320]

David A. Scott, A School History of the U.S., NYC, Am. Book Co., 1884, p.371

       John Acheson was promoted to the rank of brevet major before his military career ended. He had studied before the war to become a lawyer but turned afterwards to a medical career, earning his degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1868. He could not, however, overcome his various addictions and died just seven years after the war ended.

     Only three days before his death, his brother Sandie wrote to their mother, "I have received a letter from Sadie [Sandie's wife] stating that John is seriously ill...If you think it best, and he is willing to come [home], he must make one vow before he starts and that is 'never to touch tobacco again.' If he'll do that, the alcoholic tendency can be controlled and the opium will not be so harmful or may be broken off. But if he persists in using tobacco, he will be liable to the day of his death to fits of depression (a result of the tobacco) which he cannot control and which will compel him to resort to stimulants. His only safety lies in quitting tobacco." [Page 332]

      John Acheson is buried in the Washington Cemetery in Little Washington, PA. 

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/157037892/john-wishart-acheson

The Peripatetic Life of Lt. Colonel Norton McGiffin

       

Norton McGiffin
Property of Ronn Palm Museum of Civil War Images
Gettysburg, PA

         Shortly after the 85th Pennsylvania regiment was organized in the fall of 1861, 37-year old Norton McGiffin of Washington, PA was elected to be the first lieutenant colonel of the regiment. McGiffin would be second-in-command to Colonel Joshua B. Howell, who organized the unit. McGiffin was elected by the officers and was endorsed by the rank-and-file. He was an obvious choice, having served in the Mexican War before going on to a political career in his home county. 

         But after only seven months of service with the 85th Pennsylvania, McGiffin was forced to resign in the spring of 1862 due to illness. He was replaced as lieutenant colonel by another resident of "Little Washington," Henry A. Purviance.  

          During the months of April and May of 1862, when the regiment had just arrived in Virginia for the Peninsula Campaign, 33 men were dismissed for medical reasons. Twelve men had already died from diseases, mainly typhoid fever. 

        Regimental historian Luther S. Dickey wrote, “Lieut. Col. Norton McGiffin’s resignation was accepted, owing to impaired health. This caused universal regret among both officers and men, as he was highly esteemed by all, not only as an efficient officer, but as a most estimable, chivalrous man. The fact that he had served throughout the Mexican War and in the three months’ service before coming to the 85th Regiment had given him great military prestige, and as he was imperturbable in temperament and never gave way to excitement under the most trying circumstances. His final departure was regarded as a distinct loss to the Regiment.”

        McGiffin's time with the 85th regiment was brief; he and the 85th had peripherally participated in just one battle thus far at Williamsburg on May 5 where two of their men were wounded. Although his Civil War record was abbreviated,  McGiffin's overall life was nonetheless one of the most varied and interesting of any of the thousand men who served in the regiment from southwestern Pennsylvania

Siege of Puebla

         McGiffin was one of the few members of the 85th Pennsylvania who had previously participated in battle.  A graduate of Washington [PA] College (now Washington and Jefferson College), he was 22 when that war broke out. McGiffin was planning for a career as a lawyer as he clerked for Judge Nathan Ewing in Uniontown in the 1840's, Then the Mexican War changed the course of his life. During this conflict, he was a private in Company K of the First Pennsylvania Infantry, known as the "Duquesne Grays." McGiffin participated in engagements at Puebla, Vera Cruz and Mexico City, where he stormed the fortress castle of Chapultapec. He was wounded during street fighting at the Siege  of Puebla (1847).  

    Manaen Sharp of the 85th Pennsylvania wrote this brief account of McGiffin's service in the Mexican War around 1900. 

      "[During the Mexican War] McGiffin saw as hard service as any in the greater war of the Rebellion. At the taking of Puebla, after fighting for six weeks, his company was ordered to drive out some cavalry occupying a cross street. He had just been relieved from a 24-hour's picket service, which excused him for the day, but he volunteered to go with the company of 58 muskets. They succeeded in driving the enemy nearly a mile when they ran into as hot a place as could be imagined. They were overpowered and driven back with a loss of 14 killed and 28 wounded, making 2/3 of the company disabled in a few minutes. Comrade McGiffin was hit on the back of the head by something thrown from the top of a building. He recovered from the shock barely in time to dodge something like a crowbar that barely missed him, and striking a heavy door, buried itself 3 inches and stuck fast there."  [Sharp, Amity in the Great American Conflict, 1903]

        McGiffin went home to Little Washington shortly before the end of the war due to his injury. At a banquet at the end of the war held in nearby Canonsburg, McGiffin was presented with a silver-mounted pistol. 

Court House, Sheriff's Residence and Jail
Boyd Crumine's History of Washington County

        A decade after coming home from Mexico, McGiffin was elected to be treasurer (1849) of Washington County before being voted to be county sheriff in 1858. He was in that office when the Civil War began in 1861. McGiffin immediately resigned to join the 12th Pennsylvania for three months. Following the expiration of that term of service, he joined the 85th Pennsylvania.

        After the Civil War, McGiffin moved with his family across the state border and lived for four years as a farmer in Ohio County, West Virginia. He moved back to Washington County in 1870.

          Upon his return, McGiffin attended the organizational meeting in Uniontown, Fayette County in 1873 for the postwar regimental association. This group of former members of the 85th regiment would conduct reunions for the next 45 years. McGiffin was elected to be the first president of the association.

         McGiffin went on to hold a wide variety of political positions, both elected and appointed. He was voted into the Pennsylvania State House of Representatives in 1880 and served one year.

  

        After his term in the state house, McGiffin lived for four years in Ida Grove, Iowa as a farmer. He then lived for the next four years in Fair Haven, New York near Lake Ontario.

James G. Blaine
LOC

         For the next stage of his life, McGiffin was appointed U.S. Consul at Port Rowan, Ontario, Canada by United States Secretary of State James G. Blaine, a classmate at Washington and Jefferson. This was shortly followed by an appointment to the same position at Port Hope, Canada for two years. In the 1890's, he found his way back home to Little Washington.

        McGiffin died on July 30, 1905 in his home town. He is buried in the city's Washington Cemetery. He was the last survivor of the Mexican War from Washington County. 

           McGiffin had many interesting events and triumphs in his personal life. Several of his children, however, did not fare as well. In 1872, his 17-year old son, Thomas, shot a school principal, Welty J. Wilson, at the Union school in Washington, PA. The story has several versions. All stated that Wilson intercepted a note that young McGiffin had written to a female student. Thomas shot him in the hip when Wilson would not return the note.

          A local version of the incident in a Little Washington newspaper was sympathetic to Thomas. "Young M'Giffin," it said, "has borne the reputation of a quiet and peaceable boy of warm-hearted and generous impulses, and is one of the last who would have been suspected of being involved in a matter of this kind." [Washington Reporter, February 7. 1872, page 1]

         Another Washington County newspaper noted, "there are several sides to the story --one of which accuses the Teacher with reading the note before the whole school and also...making fun of McGiffin's 'love sickness;' also of giving the note to some students  to take to the College and there make it public. If this be so, much of the sympathy will learn toward the boy, as no young man of spirit could quietly brook such a needless insult. Shooting however is not the remedy and must be severely frowned upon. Shooting is getting too terribly common--nearly one half the boys of town and country carry loaded revolvers." [Monongahela Republican, February 8, 1872, page 3]

         On the other hand, the newspaper from Warren, Ohio, the hometown of the teacher, came down hard on the teen. "universal sympathy is extended to Mr. Wilson, as well as to the afflicted parents of the hot-headed young man...we cannot refrain from adding that Mr. Wilson was undoubtedly right in refusing to permit the delivery of the note...the murderous attempt on his life was without just cause or provocation...Young McGiffin should be retired to a state prison or a lunatic asylum for several years until his blood has cooled off and his head become level." [Western Reserve Chronicle, Warren, Ohio, February 14, 1872, page 3]

        Wilson survived and lived until 1925. Thomas eventually moved to Hawaii where he spent the last four decades of his life. He died in 1922 at the age of 68, survived by his wife, Malina, and several children.

         Norton McGiffin's second son, Philo Norton McGiffin, became the most famous member of the family. Philo was a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy. While at Annapolis, he earned the reputation of an unrepentant prankster. But he also demonstrated personal bravery that would mark his life by rescuing two children from a burning home. Furthermore, during a training session, when it seemed his ship's mast might collapse, he dashed up the rigging to secure the spar and prevent disaster. 

            Unable to gain a commission in the U.S. Navy because of it's small size at the time, Philo became a noted officer in the Chinese navy as an instructor and advisor. Philo McGiffin was the first American to command a modern battleship in wartime at the Battle of the Yalu during the First Sino-Japanese War in the 1890’s. 

Philo McGiffin
Nimitz Library U.S. Naval Academy

         Philo suffered numerous wounds during the battle as he personally put out fires, directed artillery and directed movements of his ship, all while receiving fire from four Japanese gunboats. He was in severe pain for the rest of his life. Returning to the United States, he wrote a review of the battle and delivered a few lectures, but finally succumbed to his painful wounds. He shot himself in 1897 and died at the age of 36.

           A few years earlier before the Battle of the Yalu, Philo wrote, "I don't want to be wounded and hate to think of being dreadfully mangled and then being patched up with half my limbs and senses gone, yet a triumph of surgical skill. No I prefer to step down or up or out of this world when my time comes." [The Fall River [MA] Daily Herald, October 2, 1894, page 5]

         Seven years later in 1905, Norton McGiffin was honored on his 80th birthday in Little Washington by the city's G.A.R Post. He was presented with "a fine Morris chair." A letter signed by the members of the post included the following tribute:

       "We congratulate you, sir, that at your very birth, you entered at once upon the inheritance of an honored name, for from that early time when your brave grandfather [Nathaniel] marched in the Pennsylvania line and suffered with [George] Washington at Valley Forge, through him and after him your honored father [Thomas], in his turn filling for many years a large and varied place in business and professional life, the name you bear has occupied a bright and prominent place upon the pages of our country's history." [Pittsburgh Weekly Gazette, January 24, 1904, page 13]

SW Pennsylvania Invasion Threats Part 5 Washington County

False Rumor Report in Phila. Inquirer  4-30-1863

Postwar Story About Grumble Jones
          Bristol (VA) Herald Courier  11-7-1948

     In April of 1863, a Washington, Pennsylvania ("Little Washington") newspaper received news of the Confederate occupation of Morgantown from J. Edgar Boyers, West Virginia statehood (and Union) supporter who had fled Morgantown before he could be the apprehended by Confederate raiders. The article noted,

“The information [from Morgantown] was brought by a gentleman who resides two miles below Morgantown on the Monongahela River and who reached this place about Tuesday morning. Their [the Confederates] aim appeared to be the obtaining of supplies in the shape of horses, cattle, stores, etc. and the capture of such leading citizens as had rendered themselves conspicuous for their efforts in the Union cause. Our informant being one of this class…was compelled to flee when they were within a few yards of his house...On reaching the main road, he leaped upon one of the horses that was being brought away to avoid capture and came through Waynesburg, arriving here early on Tuesday morning as stated.” [Washington (PA) Reporter and Tribune, April 29, 1863]

While Confederate General William “Grumble” Jones was occupying Morgantown and rounding up Union supporters, another resident of the city escaped the dragnet and rode about 45 miles north to Washington, Pennsylvania to alert these citizens of transpiring events. A Pittsburgh newspaper published an alarming report of the events to their south: “The excitement in Washington, Waynesburg and Uniontown at last accounts was unabated...Messengers arrived here from Washington [PA] last evening and took out six thousand rounds of ammunition, which would be distributed to the militia there. They had five hundred men under arms, and ready to give the rebels and warm reception, but they had no ammunition.” [Pittsburgh Gazette, April 29, 1863]

 Little Washington wasted little time in responding. Late in the evening of April 28, as soon as news was received of Jones’ movement at Morgantown, the courthouse bell was sounded and a late-night meeting was held within minutes. Two couriers reported that Grumble Jones had captured Morgantown (which was true), and that Waynesburg and Washington were the next targets on the Confederates’ path to Pittsburgh (which was not true). Overnight preparations were made to form a militia company to march to Waynesburg, which had requested military assistance. The Little Washingtonians agreed with the request, choosing to confront the enemy in Waynesburg rather than wait for the raiders to appear in their own city. [AlexanderWishart, Letter to Isaac M. Wells, August 3, 1901, Courtesy of U. Grant Miller Library, Washington and Jefferson University]

Washington County Court House

The company of militiamen from Washington was hastily organized under the command of Captain Alexander Wishart and Lieutenant Harvey Vankirk. Wishart earlier had served in the 8^th PA Reserves and was the current school superintendent of the city. He was wounded during the Seven Days’ Battles at Gaines Mill, Virginia in 1862 and was medically discharged several months later. Vankirk, an attorney, was also given a medical discharge from the 85^th Pennsylvania in 1862.

Captain Wishart later remembered that,

“…farmers and others who had teams were asked to convey the troops to Waynesburgh. When I [asked] where the arms and ammunition was to come from, Major [John] Ewing cried out, ‘Dang it all, we’ll fight them with pitchforks!’ But a wagon was sent to the Allegheny Arsenal [in Pittsburgh] at once and arms and ammunition procured, and after their arrival the company proceeded to Waynesburgh in the wagons which had been tendered.” [Wishart letter]

Obituary for Alexander Wishart
Pittsburgh Daily Post  8-3-1906

Wishart and Vankirk led their company from the Washington Courthouse to Waynesburg, a distance of 23 miles.  A Washington newspaper said these “patriots about Washington, armed with 'Dutch’ rifles, went to Waynesburg filled with zeal and enthusiasm and determined to repel Imboden and his hordes, or die.” They arrived and found that the reports of Jones [or Imboden] making a move into Pennsylvania were unfounded and exaggerated. Wishart returned to Little Washington with him company on May 2^nd. [Washington (PA) Observer, date unknown]

Invasion warnings cooled after the first few days of May as it became known that Jones had veered to the south towards Fairmont, (West) Virginia. As accounts began to report the fight at Fairmont, similar stories of the invasion of Uniontown or Waynesburg were discounted. The New York Times wrote that, “The reports for the south-western part of the State [Pennsylvania] are very contradictory owing to the excitement among the inhabitants.”  [New York Times, April 29, 1863]

On May 6, Greene County citizens were being alerted that the raid had not continued into Greene County as feared, but that the marauders were still a potential threat to the region:

“The excitement consequent on the threatened Rebel Raid on Greene and adjoining counties has almost entirely subsided. The Rebles have disappeared from Morgantown but are said to be still in the vicinity of Fairmont or Warren…On Saturday morning, all imminent danger of a Rebel incursion having passed away, the Washington lads returned to their homes and our own people resumed their usual business activities. At present all is quiet, and all alarm allayed…” [Waynesburg Messenger, May 4, 1863]

        

Finally, on May 18, the Waynesburg Messenger could report that, “On Tuesday evening the rebels all left in the direction of Fairmont on the West side of the river… At this date, all is quiet in the vicinity of Morgantown. No signs of ‘graybacks’ have been seen since Tuesday of last week.” [Waynesburg Messenger, May 10, 1863]

"Little" Washington (dot in Washington County)
PA Counties of Washington, Greene , Fayette, Somerset, Westmoreland, Allegheny
Emerging new state of West Virginia
From Maps Showing the Development of Pennsylvania (1920)


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