Raiders In Harrisville

Raiders In Harrisville. "They Were Astounded to See Us". , Gunfire crashed out in the streets around you at noon on May 7, 1863, as hundreds of mounted Confederate raiders commanded by Col. Asher Harman stormed into town from your right. Waiting for them were 75 woefully outmatched members of the Harrisville Home Guard, "old men, boys, and misfits" who maintained the peace in town during the war., The guard members quickly scattered. "We dispers[ed] some militia and capture[ed] several home guards [and] also some mounted infantry..." Confederate Sgt. William L. Wilson recalled. "They were astounded to see us." The captured men were soon paroled and released, since prisoners would only slow down the fast-moving raiders., Harman's force was part of Confederate William E. "Grumble" Jones's cavalry command that was taking part in the Jones-Imboden Raid. Jones and Imboden moved throughout northwestern Virginia to recruit new troops, collect cattle and horses, destroy railroad bridges and tunnels, and disrupt the West Virginia statehood movement. Jones had split his force in two to cover more ground., After the Confederates gained control of Harrisville, they badly damaged the printing shop, Pierpoint's store, and the U.S. Post Office, throwing the postage stamps into the mud., Jones's and Harman's troops reunited that night and moved on towards Cairo, continuing their destruction of railroad tunnels and bridges, including several here in Ritchie County., (Captions):, Confederate Col. Asher Harman , Courtesy Li Harman, 1898 image of William L. Wilson, who helped wreck the Post Office in Harrisville. After the war he became a U.S. Congressman and, in 1895, the Postmaster General of the United States. , The Calyx '98, Washington and Lee University