Page News & Courier

Heritage and Heraldry

One Yankee's recollections of marching through Page


Article of January 7, 1999

On May 12, 1862, the 4th Ohio Infantry along with other elements of General James Shield's division made its way from New Market to Luray. One member of the Buckeye regiment took the opportunity to make note of his passage through the Luray Valley. Writing a series of reports for the Cincinnati Daily Times William C. Crippen assumed the pen name of "Invisible."

Upon crossing the Massanutten toward Luray, the Federal soldiers eagerly anticipated the "rich treat" of a view upon reaching the high point of the mountain. Crippen wrote that the site to be held was "one of the most cheering in this part of Virginia." As they made their way down the gap to Luray, Crippen noted that the "whole mountain glistened with bayonets, and the rumbling noise of the artillery and the immense baggage train, echoing and re-echoing, sounded like distant thunder."Twice along the route, the men of the 4th Ohio "stopped to refresh" themselves "at the dashing, splashing natural mountain fountains, as clear as crystal and almost as cold as ice."

Having marched along dusty roads in an unusually hot May climate, the column finally made "a long halt for rest on Cave Hill." According to Crippen, "all gladly sought the shelter of a forest strongly sprinkled with pine. Gen. Kimball and I made a pillow out of a knotty tree root and were lying there puffing our pipes and brushing off mosquitoes . . . ."

In passing through the town that was responsible for sending a large number of men off to war in Confederate gray, "Invisible" seemed surprised at the reception. At one point, the Ohio man was particularly moved by observing one "intelligent, well-dressed citizen sitting in front of his house." As a Yankee band struck up the strains of 'Hail Columbia,' he noticed that this man was "sensibly affected." Ultimately, the Page County gentleman was "very talkative" and was moved to pronounce:

"This is a great army sir. You come down on us like the locusts of Egypt and can destroy us if you choose. This is a dreadful state of affairs in our country, brothers against brothers and fathers against sons, but my conscious is clear. I fought secession, sir, fought it with all my might, but when my State went out of the Union I felt bound to go with her. I had queer feelings when I heard the national air today; I love the old flag and the Union. What a great army this is. If you have many such, you will soon overrun the whole South."

When the Page man was informed that there would be more brigades arriving the following day, he confessed that "the South may as well give up at once. . ." On continuing his sojourn through Luray, Crippen was also quick to note that judging from "various little incidents . . . . there is a good deal of smothered Union feeling in the town." Several people flocked to the streets and "gave bread and other edibles to the soldiers and would not take a cent as renumeration." At one house near the city one local lady was so excited at the Yankee arrival as to express her mood by waving "her cambric quite vigorously as the army passed." While greeted by a number of supporters, the Buckeye also remembered that "The genuine Secessionist, male and female, can be distinguished as soon as seen. They either have a hangdog look or attempt to speak defiance in their demeanor."

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