A Civil War Love Triangle

The American Civil War generated thousands of fascinating stories of daring, subterfuge, heroism, valor, despicable behavior, and human emotion. Well over 60,000 books have been written about the war, along with countless articles, reminiscences, and blogs. The story I tell here is not well known—but it deserves to be.

In writing about Civil War adventures, my purpose is not to glorify the Confederates or the unjust cause for which they fought. My intent is to relay a compelling story and to describe the fun excursion I made through Maryland and West Virginia while tracking it down. I hope you find it interesting and informative.

Getting There is Half the Fun

Back in 2020, at the beginning of the Covid pandemic and in the midst of the shutdowns, I “sheltered in a moving place”—namely my 2013 BMW 335i convertible. That fine car carried me to West Virginia multiple times in pursuit of a Civil War Love Triangle and its associated adventures.

On the way to West Virginia, I drove through the town of Lonaconing, Maryland. Most Marylanders have never heard of Lonaconing, which is located between Cumberland and Westernport. The town is best known as the birthplace of baseball player Lefty Grove, who played for the Baltimore Orioles, Philadelphia Athletics, and Boston Red Sox, in a career that lasted from 1920 to 1941. Lefty is considered one of the best pitchers ever and set record after record. After retiring, he returned to Lonaconing and served for a number of years as the chief of police. (Photo of Lefty Grove winning his 300th game courtesy of the Chicago Tribute.)

The town of Lonaconing was formed in conjunction with the George’s Creek Coal and Iron Company, which produced iron from 1839 to 1855. The iron furnace has survived in good condition and is the centerpiece of the town’s park.

In rural areas, you never know what you’re going to find. The building in the background is what’s left of the Klotz Silk Mill. It operated from 1909 to 1957, producing high-quality silk thread. When it closed abruptly, all the machinery, tools, supplies, and records remained in the facility—and were still there at the time of my visit.

Attempts were made to reopen the mill in the 1970s, but to no avail. For a while, the owner offered tours, but those are no longer available. Such a shame.

These additional dramatic views illustrate the scope of this once-thriving factory (courtesy of Abandoned America and AbandonedOnline).

The Origin of West Virginia

Captain David Pugh lived in this house near Hooks Mill, in what is now West Virginia. He built it in 1835, and it has been updated only gradually over the years. Notably, indoor bathrooms were not added until 1992! (Pugh photo courtesy of the American Civil War Museum. Unless otherwise cited, all historical photos, drawings, and paintings are courtesy of the Library of Congress, the National Register of Historic Places, or Wikipedia.)

Leading up to the Civil War, the state of Virginia was conflicted about secession. The population of the eastern part overwhelmingly wanted to leave the Union, whereas the western residents generally did not. In Hampshire County, where Capt. Pugh lived, people were bitterly divided. Named to the Secession Committee in April 1861, Capt. Pugh voted against secession in the first round of voting. But under heavy pressure, including threats of violence, he subsequently voted in favor, even though he personally remained strongly against. Ultimately, of course, Virginia seceded, but 2 years later the western portion of the state withdrew from the Confederate States of America and returned to the Union, forming the current state of West Virginia in the process.

General Benjamin Franklin Kelley

Although the bombardment of Fort Sumter, in South Carolina, was the beginning of the Civil War, the first land battle was fought at the town of Philippi in Barbour County, Virginia (now West Virginia). Newly recruited Confederate forces had been destroying bridges and other resources of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, and Union General George McClellan had been ordered to secure the railroad and to drive the Confederates out of the area.

In June 1861, Union Colonel Benjamin Franklin Kelley devised and led a clever attack on the Confederates at Philippi. As a subterfuge, he and half of his forces took trains toward Harpers Ferry but almost immediately stopped and circled back toward a point south of Philippi. The other half approached stealthily from the north. Kelley’s troops got lost in a heavy rainstorm, however, and ended up attacking from the northeast. The Confederates were completely surprised and immediately retreated to the south—where they would have been captured, had the attack gone to plan. Col. Kelley himself rode at the head of the forces, earning a fairly easy victory—although he was severely wounded in the process, when he was shot in the chest.

This is the covered bridge leading into Philippi. It has been severely damaged by floods or fire seven times over the years but has always been repaired. The bridge is still in regular use by vehicular traffic. (Battle of Philippi mural courtesy of The Parkersburg News and Sentinel.)

Although Col. Kelley’s wound was considered mortal, and he himself expected to die, he survived. After two months of recuperation, he resumed military service on a limited basis. He was promoted to Brigadier General, and the citizens of Wheeling, grateful for his victory against the Confederates, bought him a fine stallion, which he named “Philippi.” (Photos of Gen. Kelley courtesy of Richard A. Wolfe and Military Images Digital.)

Gen. Kelley and his men also drove away the Confederate forces occupying Romney, VA in October 1861. Romney was a critical location, at the intersection of the Northwestern Turnpike, the Mechanicsburg Gap, and the South Branch of the Potomac River. Its importance was such that Romney changed hands 56 times during the Civil War. Eventually, neither side tried to hold the town. Gen. Kelley also helped when Confederate Gen. Stonewall Jackson attacked Union forces at Hancock, MD in January 1862.

After the state of West Virginia was formed, Gen. Kelley was named Commander of the military Department of West Virginia. Shortly thereafter, following the Battle of Gettysburg, Gen. Kelley and his men attempted to locate and attack Robert E. Lee’s army as it retreated from Pennsylvania in 1863. That effort failed, however. Critics of Gen. Kelley accused him of being soft on the Confederates and their sympathizers and too timid. They sarcastically called him the “quartermaster of the Confederacy,” given how often the Confederates had plundered Union supply trains in West Virginia.

In March 1864, Gen. Kelley was relieved of his appointment as Commander of West Virginia and was reassigned to guard the B&O Railroad between Monocacy Junction, MD and Wheeling, WV, as well as the railroad lines to Grafton, WV. He had approximately 8,000 troops in his command, stretched over a space of about 225 miles. The largest forces were stationed at Cumberland.

During the summer of 1864, as the war continued to drag on, both sides resorted to “hard war” tactics that involved destruction of private property in addition to military targets. Traditionally, such means were considered out of bounds by both the North and the South. For example, as Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee moved toward Gettysburg in 1863, he issued an order that included the following statements:

No greater disgrace could befall the army, and through it our whole
people, than the perpetration of the barbarous outrages upon the unarmed
and defenseless and the wanton destruction of private property, that have
marked the course of the enemy in our own country… It must be
remembered that we make war only upon armed men, and that we cannot
take vengeance for the wrongs our people have suffered without lowering
ourselves in the eyes of all whose abhorrence has been excited by the
atrocities of our enemies, and offending against Him to whom vengeance
belongeth, without whose favor and support our efforts must all prove in
vain.

Ironically, Gen. Lee wrote these words in the town of Chambersburg, PA…

As for the “hard war” tactics, in June 1864 Union Gen. David Hunter, on orders from Ulysses S. Grant, drove deep into the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia, burning barns, mills, houses (including that of the Governor of Virginia), and the Virginia Military Institute. He also intended to burn the nearby Washington College, founded by George Washington, but was talked out of it by protests from his officers. (Washington College was still heavily damaged and looted by the Union soldiers.) (Photo of burned VMI courtesy of Encylopedia Virginia.)

In retaliation—and desperate to capture Washington, DC and force a settlement to the war—Confederate Gen. Jubal Early attacked Fort Stevens, one of some 70 forts surrounding the Capital. His army was repulsed, retreating back into Virginia.

But as part of that effort, and in retaliation for the Gen. Hunter’s “burning campaign,” Gen. John McCausland’s Confederate forces drove north of Washington. McCausland was a graduate of VMI, and before the war he taught mathematics there. McCausland demanded—and received—sizable ransoms from the cities of Frederick and Hagerstown in Maryland, in exchange for not burning them. In Chambersburg, PA, Gen. McCausland demanded a huge ransom of $500,000 cash or $100,000 in gold. Some of the city leaders stated that they could not comply, as the banks had removed their assets from the city. Others refused to comply, believing that the Confederates would not actually destroy a city of 6,000 civilians. They were wrong: When McCausland’s troops were finished, 550 buildings had been burned, including homes, barns, businesses, and even churches.

The burning of Chambersburg prompted a new round of retaliation against the Confederacy, delivered by Union Gen. Philip Sheridan and his army of 25,000. A comprehensive account of the “hard war” tactics followed by the North and the South is available in an excellent analysis by Jeannie Cummings Harding. I highly recommend it.

But back to Chambersburg: After the city’s destruction, Gen. McCausland’s army moved on, toward Cumberland, MD, intent on gaining further ransoms and retaliation against the Union’s destruction in Virginia. In addition, they hoped to destroy as much of Cumberland’s railroad facilities as possible. Word of their march spread to the city, and Gen. Benjamin Franklin Kelley gathered about 2,000 of his troops and established a small artillery brigade on the southwest hills bordering Evitts Creek, next to the National Road. Many of these soldiers were poorly trained “100-day specials,” who had enrolled in the army for only a short period. The general also called for volunteers from the city, gaining 200 or so civilians, who came armed with whatever they had available.

The civilians were positioned on the south side of the National Road, at Turkey Flight Manor (which is now Puccini’s Restaurant.) From both positions, the Union forces had a clear view of the highway and the covered bridge carrying it over the creek.

As McCausland’s army of 2,600 calvary approached on the National Road from the east, Gen. Kelley’s artillery open fire, surprising the Confederates. They ran for cover behind Folck’s Mill, which sat in the low-lying area at Evitts Creek. McCausland sent his own artillery to the hill behind the mill and returned cannon fire.

The battle continued from 3:00 in the afternoon until about 8:00 in the evening. During the artillery exchange, an exploding shell hit Folck’s barn, which burned to the ground. Other buildings in the area were also heavily damaged.

McCausland was unsure of the size of the Union force, and he was also aware that Gen. William Averell’s Union forces were approaching from behind. The Confederates left during the night, crossing the Potomac at Oldtown, MD, back into West Virginia. Averell’s cavalry eventually caught up with McCausland’s army near Moorefield, WV and routed them.

The Battle of Folck’s Mill is little remembered, but it may have saved Cumberland from the fate that befell Chambersburg only two days earlier. Today there is little left of Folck’s Mill. The property is now owned by the state of Maryland, and the area is strictly off-limits despite its historical interest. If one were allowed to go there (and could find it), it would look exactly like this:

As for the covered bridge across Evitts Creek, it was heavily damaged and was replaced soon after the war ended.

Following the skirmish, Gen. Kelley, his troops, and the civilians returned to Cumberland. The city still celebrates the anniversary of this battle.

McNeill’s Rangers

John Hanson McNeill was born near Moorefield, WV in 1815. Finding the house where he was born was not easy, but, with the help of local historians, I did. In this part of West Virginia, a given dirt road might be an official road or it might be someone’s driveway. This road had a name, so I gave it a try.

At the end of the road/driveway, I found this stately brick home. The land belonged to John McNeill’s well-to-do father (Strother McNeill) in 1815, but I wasn’t able to confirm whether this house existed then.

Behind the house was a very old log cabin. I don’t know what it was used for, but it might have been housing for some of the enslaved African Americans owned by Strother McNeill.

When you stop to take a picture of railroad tracks, always be sure to notice whether the rails are shiny. If they are (like these), that’s the sign of active use—in which case it’s best to move on!

Strother McNeill died when “Hanse” was only 3½ years old, and early on he turned to farming. After his marriage to Jemima Cunningham, the young couple moved to Kentucky, returned to Moorefield a few years later, and then decided to try farming in Missouri.

When the Civil War broke out, McNeill formed a company of the Missouri State Guard, and included his three oldest sons. He was wounded at the Battle of Lexington, and his son George was killed. While recuperating, McNeill was captured and imprisoned, as was another son, Jesse. While the elder McNeill was widely considered to be a prudent and thoughtful commander, he described Jesse as “a hare-brained daredevil if ever there was one.”

The McNeills escaped after a few months and made their way back to Moorefield. There they established McNeill’s Rangers, a cavalry unit newly allowed under the Confederate Partisan Ranger Act of 1862. Unlike the regular army, rangers could capture arms, munitions, and other wartime supplies, sell them to Confederate quartermasters, and keep the proceeds for themselves. McNeill’s Rangers started cautiously but were soon capturing Union wagon trains, destroying B&O Railroad bridges, scouting Union troop movements, and generally causing havoc. As a consequence of his own imprisonment, ever after McNeill would treat anyone captured by the Rangers with substantial care and consideration.  (Painting of McNeill’s Rangers by the noted historical artist John Paul Strain.)

On the day after Christmas, 1862, Union Gen. Robert Milroy’s division of roughly 8,000 men was moving from Moorefield to Winchester, VA. At Old Fields, McNeill and 37 Rangers swooped in, captured part of McIlroy’s 100-wagon supply train, and hauled it away—a coup that took only 10 minutes and involved not a single shot. Soon the Rangers were harassing Union supply lines throughout the region—and making a lot of money in the process. After one such raid, the sale of 104 horses and mules, along with harnesses, pistols, and other matériel netted the men $36,000.

Working with Confederate General John Imboden, McNeill’s Rangers planned and carried out a number of raids on Baltimore & Ohio Railroad facilities in West Virginia and Maryland. One such attack targeted the B&O roundhouse and repair facilities in Piedmont, WV. There, the Rangers entered the town under a flag of truce, demanded—and received—the surrender of the small Union garrison, and (per historian Paul Burig) “destroyed seven machine shops, nine locomotives and more than 100 fully loaded railroad cars. Finally, six additional locomotives were put under full steam and sent off down the tracks toward New Creek, (now Keyser).”

Today, there are few reminders of McNeill’s Rangers’ raid on Piedmont. I found several old locomotives outside of town, but they’re survivors from the 1950s, not the 1860s. This one is an ALCO FA freight locomotive, originally fitted with a V12 turbocharged diesel engine, producing 1,500 horsepower. It served the Western Maryland Railroad, then the Long Island Railroad, sat in the B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore, MD, and then somehow ended up in the middle of nowhere in West Virginia.

Nearby, this later pair of diesel locomotives appeared to be in much better shape. Two years after my visit, they were taken to Virginia for rebuilding and reuse.

Piedmont is one of many towns in West Virginia that are slowly disintegrating. The tracks are still in use by the CSX Railroad, which is a much later version of the old B&O Railroad that was the source of so much contention during the Civil War.

Some of the houses in Piedmont are still occupied, including this one. I’m not sure if the old furniture and appliances piled in front of the house are the result of an eviction or possibly just someone’s prized collection of, uh, valuable antiques.

Piedmont was a good reminder of how vertical West Virginia is. Thankfully, the BMW has an excellent parking brake!

This intriguing old 4-story house caught my eye. I later learned that it was built by U.S. Senator Henry Gassaway Davis in 1871. It showcases the French “Second Empire” style, which was almost unheard of in this part of West Virginia. Sen. Davis accrued great wealth from his coal mining, railroad, banking, and other interests. Late in life, he donated the land for what became Davis and Elkins College.

Piedmont’s fortunes suffered a serious blow when the B&O Railroad moved its center of West Virginia operations to New Creek (Keyser) in 1874. Then, in 1924, severe flooding washed away the town’s bridges and destroyed many of its buildings and businesses. It never really recovered.

Moving back to the Civil War: In June 1863, McNeill’s Rangers accompanied Robert E. Lee’s army as it marched toward Pennsylvania and what would become the Battle of Gettysburg. The Rangers served to help screen the main army’s movements and acquired cattle, horses, and food on behalf of the Confederates. But shortly before the battle unfolded at Gettysburg, the Rangers raided Mercersburg, PA.

At Mercersburg, the Rangers terrorized the town, stealing anything and everything they could carry away and threatening the residents if they did not cooperate. McNeill himself told the assembled townspeople that he would burn the entire city if anyone tried to resist. The Rangers rode off with wagons full of loot, many horses, cattle, sheep—and approximately 20 free African Americans they had captured. Quoting from the Mercersburg Journal, historian Steve French notes “When Mrs. R.F. McFarlands’s purloined flock of three hundred sheep came by, she shouted to a Ranger, ‘So the Southern chivalry has come down to sheep-stealing. I want you to know that we regard sheep thieves as the meanest of fellows. I am too proud to ask for them back, but if I were a man, I would shoot you with a pistol.’”

Many of the ranger companies formed in the South were proving quite adept at robbing their own neighbors and causing dissention among the regular army units. In February 1864, the Confederate Congress voted to rescind the Partisan Ranger Act of 1862. However, two exceptions were made: for McNeill’s Rangers and Mosby’s Rangers.

As noted earlier, Gen. Benjamin Franklin Kelley was stationed in Cumberland, MD, with responsibility for protecting the B&O Railroad. Disabling the railroad was one of Captain John Hanson McNeill’s primary goals, and so the two became fierce enemies. Matters were not helped in August 1863 when Jemima McNeill, their 18-year-old daughter Sarah Emily, and 4-year-old son John Hanson, Jr. were traveling from Ohio to West Virginia to visit the Captain—and suddenly found themselves arrested and imprisoned by Gen. Kelley. They were held at Camp Chase in Ohio but before long managed to escape and reach Moorefield. Infuriated, Capt. McNeill swore, “General Kelley will regret that, for I will go into Cumberland and kidnap him and carry him off!” For his part, Gen. Kelley often expressed his urgent desire to see “McNeill killed, captured, or driven out of this valley.” (Drawing of Camp Chase courtesy of the Ohio Exploration Society.)

A full accounting of the activities of McNeill’s Rangers would take a book—and there are some very good ones out there. One of the best is Phantoms of the South Fork: Captain McNeill and his Rangers, by historian Steve French.

Capt. McNeill’s last exploit was in reaction to the defeat of Confederate Gen. Jubal Early’s army by Gen. Philip Sheridan at Winchester and Strasburg, VA. Sheridan, with an army of 26,000 troops, had been ordered to chase Early in response to the latter’s audacious attack on Washington, DC itself, late in the war. Moreover, the North was infuriated by the Confederates’ burning of Chambersburg, PA. McNeill was determined to intercept and destroy Sheridan’s supply train. At 4:00 AM on October 3, 1864, McNeill and 30 of his Rangers attacked a Union cavalry force of 100 that was guarding the bridge over the North Fork of the Shenandoah River at Meems Bottom, VA.

With one critical exception, the attack was a resounding success, and the Rangers captured almost the entire Union force and burned the bridge. But afterward they found Capt. McNeill lying on the ground, apparently shot in the back accidentally by one of his own men. McNeill was severely wounded. He could not be moved any significant distance, and his men had to leave him at a nearby home. Before the Rangers left, McNeill charged his son Jesse with leadership of the group.

Jesse notified his mother of what had happened, and she soon arrived at the home. Several Union soldiers and officers saw Capt. McNeill there, but no one recognized him until Gen. Sheridan himself visited. As reported by Private J.W. Duffey, “One of Sheridan’s staff, a surgeon, who was in the room at the same time, stepped to the bedside and, extending his hand, said ‘Captain McNeill, I know you, and am sorry to find you in this condition. I was once a prisoner in your hands, and your treatment was so magnanimous, I now hold myself ready to render you any service in my power.’”

Later that night, before McNeill could be placed in custody, Jemima and Jesse spirited him away to a safe haven in Harrisonburg, VA. He died there 35 days later.

It’s hard to judge the character of John Hanson McNeill, in significant part because most accounts of his life fall into one of two categories: Either he was a gentleman farmer, natural leader, and gallant warrior, or he was an uneducated, unprincipled leader of a pack of ruthless, thieving “bushwhackers.” There is evidence to support each of these divergent views, and the truth is undoubtedly somewhere in between. I noticed that historian Steve French was careful to present facts but not draw conclusions on this subject.

A Civil War Love Triangle

When the McNeill family returned to Moorefield in 1862, young Jesse McNeill met and fell in love with the belle of Cumberland: Mary Clare Bruce. She was beautiful, came from a good family, had a sparkling personality, and would often entertain onstage with her singing and acting at the Belvedere Theatre in town.

According to the rumors of the day, young Mary was equally in love with the dashing Jesse. But the couple was thwarted in their efforts to see each other, because Cumberland was held by a strong Union force. Jesse McNeill and his Rangers were based 50 miles away and on the other side of the Potomac River in Moorefield, WV. Moreover, Mary’s father was a colonel in the Union Army, while Jesse was now the leader of the hated and feared McNeill’s Rangers.

Artist and historian John Paul Strain describes how Jesse snuck into Cumberland at dusk one night to see his beloved Mary Clare, with the couple hiding behind a train to avoid the prying eyes of the 4,000 Union soldiers in and about the city. (“Secret Rendezvous” painting courtesy of John Paul Strain.)

True love could never be interrupted by a simple Civil War, of course—but the situation was more complicated. Recall that the commander of the Union forces guarding the B&O Railroad was none other than the hero of Philippi, Gen. Benjamin Franklin Kelley. At 57, he was not a young man. His first wife, Mary, had died of cholera 33 years earlier. His second wife developed a bacterial infection that spread to her brain, and she eventually had to be confined at the Pennsylvania Insane Asylum in Philadelphia. Isabel passed away there in 1860. Despite his much older age, the unhappy widower began courting one Mary Clare Bruce…

Jesse McNeill and Gen. Kelley already hated each other. Their mutual adoration of Mary Clare added considerable fuel to the fire.

The Most Brilliant Exploit of the War?

After his father’s death, Jesse McNeill and the Rangers continued attacking B&O Railroad facilities, raiding Union supply trains, and generally causing havoc. The hard-charging Jesse was also a hard drinker. In January 1865, he imbibed rather too much, fell off his horse, and broke his leg. As he was recuperating, he resurrected his father’s plan to get even with Gen. Kelley.

On the night of February 21, 1865, and with his leg still in a splint, Jesse and about 60 of the Rangers left the vicinity of Moorefield and gathered at this poorhouse near the South Branch of the Potomac River. They finalized their preparations and departed into a severe winter storm, heading for Cumberland.

About 5 miles later, up in the mountains, they passed this scenic view of the South Branch. At night and in the middle of a blizzard, however, they would not have seen much of anything.

The Rangers forded the South Branch near Romney, thereby entering into Maryland. In the process, they would have passed fairly close to Fort Mill Ridge, originally built by the Confederates in 1861. The Rebels did not remain there long, however. In 1963, Union forces occupied the abandoned fort and made substantial improvements to it. The outer earthworks formed an oval about 680 feet long and 360 feet wide. A small central redoubt provided defenses for artillery and trenches for the infantry.

The redoubt and surrounding earthworks remain in surprisingly good condition. Historians consider Fort Mill Ridge to be the best-preserved earthen fort in the country.

Despite the fort’s commanding view of the Mechanicsburg Gap to the west and the South Branch of the Potomac to the east, there was no one there in early 1865 as Jesse McNeill and his men passed by.

Here is the start of the Mechanicsburg Gap. It would be worth defending for its beauty alone. In practice, it was a critical gateway to the west, carrying the Northwestern Turnpike through Mill Creek Mountain.

The Rangers continued to ride toward Cumberland, stopping twice at friends’ houses to rest briefly and receive the latest news from the spies they had sent into Cumberland. In particular, they learned the locations of the thousands of Union troops stationed there—and the location of Gen. Kelley. Moreover, they were told that Gen. Kelley’s commanding officer, Gen. George Crook, was also in town.

Outside of Cumberland, the Rangers encountered three Union sentries, took them by surprise, and persuaded them to reveal the secret countersign. At the next guard post, they convincingly pretended to be Union soldiers and carried on into the city.

As shown in John Paul Strain’s “The Great Cumberland Raid,” they rode into Cumberland and past the Emmanuel Episcopal Church in the early hours before morning, heading for two downtown hotels.

As an aside, this church is itself quite interesting. It was built in 1849-1851 on the stone foundations of what had once been Fort Cumberland. The fort was built in 1755 as part of George Washington’s chain of forts, designed for protection during the French and Indian Wars.

The Emmanuel Church has several massive Tiffany stained-glass windows, as well as the only known collection of Louis Comfort Tiffany’s original drawings.

Equally impressive, the old stone and earthen tunnels from beneath Fort Cumberland are still there, underneath the church! Oral history relates that these tunnels served as a station on the Underground Railroad, helping enslaved African Americans move from the south into Pennsylvania (which is only 5 miles north of Cumberland). For a tour, including the tunnels, contact the Emmanuel Parish Episcopal Church. It’s well worth the time and the modest cost.

Meanwhile, back in 1865, Jesse McNeill and his men split up into several groups. One went to the telegraph office and quietly destroyed the equipment there. Another group entered the nearby stable and appropriated several fresh horses—including Gen. Kelley’s beloved mount “Philippi.”

While McNeill stayed astride his own horse, unable to easily dismount due to his broken leg, another of his teams entered the Barnum Hotel. Capturing the sentry and an upstairs guard, they entered Gen. Kelley’s room where he was asleep in his bed. The general was quickly taken prisoner, so quietly that no one else in the hotel even woke up.

Nearby at the Revere House hotel, the remaining team entered and captured Gen. Crook, in the same manner. The first of Gen. Crook’s aides to notice his disappearance was a young William McKinley—who became President of the United States 32 years later. (In the historical photo from 1862, the large building on the right, closest to the camera, was the Revere House.)

Reuniting outside, Jesse McNeill, the Rangers, and their captives rode quietly out of town and away from Cumberland, crossing back into West Virginia at Wiley’s Ford. They convinced the sentries that they were a scouting party, pursuing rumors of nearby Confederate activity. The raiders joked to the sentries about the ineffectiveness of Gen. Kelley and said that they would prefer to have Gen. Crook as commander—to which the sentries agreed!

It is said that Gen. Crook himself had quite a good laugh at this exchange. In fact, he seemed to treat the entire affair as a bit of a lark. He later told his captors, “Gentlemen, this is the most brilliant exploit of the war!”

Traveling through the snow and dark, the raiders were four miles outside of Cumberland before an alarm was sounded. Union cavalry set off after them but were repulsed in a brief exchange with the Rangers’ rear guard. Near Moorefield, McNeill spotted another Union force and the group dodged into the surrounding mountains without a fight.

The next day, the two generals were turned over to Confederate Gen. Jubal Early and sent by train to the notorious Libby Prison in Richmond (photo). The capture prompted a national outcry. As the New York Times wrote, “Much indignation is felt and expressed about the transaction: that two experienced Generals could be thus spirited away in one morning from the same post while occupying different houses, seems almost incredible. The plot was a bold one and well executed.”

Two weeks later, at Robert E. Lee’s direction, the generals were paroled in exchange for a group of Confederate prisoners. As for Philippi, Gen. Kelley’s horse, I could not ascertain whether he was given back or remained a prize of war.

Thus, in one fell swoop, the insult to Jemima McNeill was avenged, and Jesse McNeill humiliated his rival for the affections of Mary Clare Bruce.

The Last Laugh

About two months the raid, the Civil War had ended. McNeill’s Rangers were decommissioned and went back to their homes.

Gen. Kelley proposed to Mary Clare Bruce, and she accepted. He served in several Federal positions until his retirement in 1882. Gen. Kelley and Mary Clare lived happily on the general’s farm near Oakland, MD until his death in 1891. Thereafter, she lived in Cumberland and Washington, DC until her own death in 1910. They are buried together in Arlington National Cemetery. (Photo of the Kelleys’ memorial courtesy of Find A Grave.)

And as for Jessie McNeill, the impetuous young leader of the Rangers lived to the ripe old age of 70, happily married to nurse Sarah Sherrard who had cared for him after he broke his leg.

Finally, this story clearly lends support to the old adage that “All’s fair in love and war.”

Rick F.