A History of Joseph Paul Lewis and the 1st West Virginia Volunteer Cavalry by Jack Walter Lewis February 18, 1997 Addresses: On or before March 28, 1997: On or after March 29, 1997 125 North Acacia Avenue, #2023578 Old Rail Road Solana Beach, California 92075 Eagle Rock, Virginia 24085 Telephone: 619-481-8092 Telephone: 540-567-2000 E-mail: [email protected] Web Site: http://www.surberstation.com/lewis/joseph/jplewis.pdf My Lewis Line Genealogy in Brief: Jack W. Lewis (born Oliphant Furnace, Fayette County, PA, February 11, 1937) son of Lindsay Chester Lewis (born Oliphant Furnace, Fayette County, PA, May 19, 1899) son of James Marshall Lewis (born Gibbons Glade, Fayette County, PA, July 10, 1868) son of Joseph Paul Lewis (born Morgantown, Monongalia County, WV, 1844) son of Benjamin A. Lewis (born Connecticut, 1802) About the Author I was born on February 11, 1937 at Oliphant Furnace, Fayette Co., Pennsylvania where I had eight grades of schooling at the Oliphant Grade School. My family moved to Beaver Falls, Beaver Co., Pennsylvania during the summer of 1951. I attended the Beaver Falls Junior High School for one year (9th grade) and the Beaver Falls Senior High School (3 years) until graduation in 1955. I worked one year as an apprentice Millwright at the St. Joseph Lead zinc smelting works in Monaca, Pennsylvania while attending night school at Geneva College in Beaver Falls. In 1956 I received an appointment to the United States Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut and graduated with honors from that institution in June, 1960 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Science and a commission as an Ensign in the United States Coast Guard. I graduated 7th in a class of 137 cadets and 1st among all engineers. After graduation, I married Ann Long Harwick, whom I met while she was attending the Connecticut College for Women, also in New London. For four years I was assigned to the ocean-going Coast Guard Cutters USCGC OWASCO, based in New London, and the USCGC CASTLE ROCK, based in Boston, Massachusetts. In June 1964, I received orders to attend graduate school at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts. I attended this institution two full years (including summer schools) and graduated with honors and two degrees: Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering and the two year graduate degree of Naval Engineer (naval architecture). Following graduation I was assigned to Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, D. C. where I designed polar icebreakers (ships that transit polar ice fields). In June 1970, I resigned my commission that I held as a Lieutenant Commander in the Coast Guard and started my own engineering consulting business. In 1975 I was divorced from Ann Long Harwick and in 1976 married my wife, Carol Sue Surber. I am a registered professional engineer, have written over 50 technical papers and one book, and have won several best paper awards from engineering societies. I practiced engineering until this year when I decided to retire. I became interested in the Civil War during the time I lived around Washington, D. C. I have toured numerous battlefields and read over one hundred books on the Civil War. This paper is the first I have written about the Civil War. 2 Table of Contents INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................................... 4 PRE CIVIL WAR LEWIS FAMILY HISTORY........................................................................................... 5 A TIME OF CIVIL WAR............................................................................................................................... 6 BACKGROUND OF THE 1ST WEST VIRGINIA VOLUNTEER CAVALRY ................................................................ 6 1863 CIVIL WAR CAMPAIGNS .................................................................................................................. 8 AUGUST 25-31, 1863 - AVERELL’S RAID THROUGH HARDY, PENDLETON, HIGHLAND, BATH, GREENFIELD AND POCAHONTAS COUNTIES, WV......................................................................................................... 10 NOVEMBER 1-17, 1863 - AVERELL’S RAID FROM LEWISBURG TO VIRGINIA AND TENNESSEE RAILROAD ...... 10 DECEMBER 8-25, 1863 - AVERELL’S RAID FROM NEW CREEK TO SALEM ..................................................... 10 1864 CIVIL WAR CAMPAIGNS ................................................................................................................ 13 MAY 5-19, 1864 - AVERELL’S RAID ON VIRGINIA AND TENNESSEE RAILROAD ............................................ 14 MAY 26-JULY 1, 1864 - HUNTER’S RAID ON LYNCHBURG ........................................................................... 14 The Battle of Lynchburg - June 17-18, 1864....................................................................................... 17 Skirmish at Hanging Rock - June 21, 1864 ........................................................................................ 20 JULY 2 - AUGUST 7, 1864 - EARLY’S RAID ON WASHINGTON, D. C............................................................ 21 August 7 - November 28, 1864 - The Shenandoah Valley Campaign ................................................ 22 Cavalry Fight at Moorefield, WV - August 7, 1864............................................................................. 22 Battle of Winchester (Opequon) - September 19, 1864 ...................................................................... 24 Battle of Fisher’s Hill - September 22, 1864 ...................................................................................... 24 Battle of Cedar Creek - October 19, 1864............................................................................................ 26 Cavalry Fight at Nineveh - November 12, 1864................................................................................... 29 DEC 19-28, 1864 - EXPEDITION TO GORDONSVILLE.................................................................................... 30 1865 CIVIL WAR CAMPAIGNS ................................................................................................................ 36 FEBRUARY 27 TO MARCH 28 - EXPEDITION FROM WINCHESTER TO FRONT OF PETERSBURG ........................ 36 The Battle of Waynesboro - March 2, 1865......................................................................................... 36 MARCH 28 TO APRIL 9, 1865 - APPOMATTOX COURT HOUSE CAMPAIGN.................................................... 38 Battle of Dinwiddie Court House - March 29-31, 1865...................................................................... 38 Cavalry Fight at Namozine Church - April 3, 1865 ............................................................................ 40 Battle of Sailor’s Creek - April 6, 1865 ............................................................................................... 40 Fight at Appomattox Station - April 8, 1865....................................................................................... 41 Surrender at Appomattox Court House - April 9, 1865...................................................................... 41 POST CIVIL WAR LEWIS FAMILY HISTORY ...................................................................................... 44 BIBLIOGRAPHY......................................................................................................................................... 46 APPENDIX A................................................................................................................................................ 55 SERVICES OF THE 1ST WV VOLUNTEER CAVALRY AS LISTED IN DYER’S COMPENDIUM OF THE WAR OF THE REBELLION WITH NOTATIONS REGARDING JOSEPH PAUL LEWIS INTERSPERSED APPENDIX B ................................................................................................................................................ 58 NATIONAL ARCHIVES PENSION AND MILITARY RECORDS FOR JOSEPH PAUL LEWIS, FIRST WEST VIRGINIA VOLUNTEER CAVALRY, COMPANY A 3 Introduction My father Lindsay Chester Lewis (born 1899), and mother, Margaret Mae McCormick (born 1902), were divorced when I was six years old (born 1937). I grew up without a father and lost connections with the Lewis side of my ancestry. I have vivid memories of my mother talking about the “dumb hillbillies” who lived in Morgantown, West Virginia not far from where I was born in Oliphant Furnace, Fayette County, Pennsylvania. Mom told me this so many times that, upon graduation from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in 1960, I had to go to Morgantown to see first hand all of the “dumb hillbillies" who lived there. I was in for a real shock. Instead of “dumb hillbillies” in Morgantown, I found a modern town with a renowned university and medical school. As I pondered my mother’s remarks and what I saw before my eyes, I wondered if some of my Lewis ancestors weren’t from Morgantown and that Mom, whose feelings must have been severely hurt during the divorce from my father, was simply lashing out at him and his ancestors. It would be many years later before I was given a chance to establish links to my Lewis family ancestors. I was attending the funeral of my sister Eleanor’s husband, Edgar Miller, when a woman who I did not know approached me. She introduced herself as Kathryn Cooley Miller and said she had heard that I was interested in researching my ancestors. She told me she had information about my Lewis family in her book and files. The information Kathryn provided me