10 i0i.o /lao 9^0 D 1 pH83 CJ " i ALLEGHAN'IA: A GEOGRAPHICAL AKD STATISTICAL MEMOIR. EXHIBITING THE STRENGTH OF THE UNION, AND THE WEAKNESS OF SLAVERY, IN THE MOUNTAIN DISTRICTS OF THE SOUTH. BY JAMES W. TAYLOE. SAINT PAUL: ■»UBLISHED BY JAMES DAVENPORT. 1862. \ ^0^ THIS MEMOIR IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED TO GENERAL RANDOLPH B. MARCT, U.S.A. AUTHOR OF "THE EXPLORATION OF THE RED RIVER OF. LOUISIANA," "THE PRAIRIE TRAVELLER," Ac, 4c. AS AN EVIDENCE OP THE GENERAL APPRECIATION OF THE VALUABLE CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE NATUBAI. HISTORY OF THE WEST ABOVE NAMED ; AS A SOUVENIR OP GENERAL MARCV's RESIDENCE IN SAINT PAUL, AND THE REGARD IN WHICH HB 13 HELD BY HIS FRIENDS IN MINNESOTA ; AND AS AN ACKNOWLEDGMENT OP HIS CLEAR AND PROPHETIC VIEWS OF THE REBELLION NOW FLAGRANT, AND THE DESIGNS OF ITS LEADERS, WHICH HE WAS ACCUSTOMED TO EXPRESS LONG IN ADVANCE OF THE EVENTS OF 1861. w I / / PREFACE. This pamphlet consists of papers communicated to the " Saint Paul Dailj Press," during the month ending December 15, 1861. As reprinted in the present form, the writer is aware that they are discursive — too much like a diary of current events. Considerable repetition, also, is unavoidable in a serial publication of this kind. The tables have been arrano-ed without the aid of the Census of 1860, still in course of compilation at Washingfon, and which will probably demonstrate that the slave population of the Southern Alleghany region has relatively diminished since 1850. The ratio of slave to free is certainly less, now than then, in West Virginia. The Sapsrintendent of ths Census would furnish a document, valuable politically and for military use, if he would anticipate the publication of this portion of his voluminous budget. The weakness of Slavery, in its war against the Union, will be found in two important facts ; (1.) that within the immense district to which the designation of AUe- ghania is here applied, the slaves are so few and scattered as to suggest the expediency of emancipation to the loyal State legislatures, with whioh the Government and Army of the United States must co- operate ; while (2,) within those districts of the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts, where the Rjballion is obstinate, the number of slaves is so excessive, as to paralyze the military operations of the rebels against a \ yl PREFACE. rapid and vigorous series of coast-wise attacks. Every insurgent State may thus have its Beaufort. The West will, for the present, be content with relief to the loyaj populations of the b'onth, who have distinctly pronounced for the Union. And in what direction do events more decisively point, for the execution of this object, than over Cumberland Gap, to the Heart of the Alleghanies ? The occupation of the Railroad from Memphis to Richmond would be the dismemberment, forerunning the speedy subjugation, of the Rebel Confederacy. This brochure is submitted as a geographical and statistical study merely, without attempting to elaborate some important questions which it suggests. For instances, the Cotton question is closely related to the brief sketch of the AUeghanian Uplands of the Carolinas, Georgia and Alabama ; and the political idea of Representation by Population instead-cf Capital, is of itself sufficient to work a Counter Rovolution in those States ; but the writer is not in a situation to discuss those questions as their importance demands. Fortunately the "Cotton Kingdom," of Frederick Law Olmstead, is just published; and the closing paragraphs of President Lincoln's Message opens the discussion upon the Relations of Labor and Capital to the structure of Government, in a manner to excite popular interest, and to encourage the investigations of those who are competent to entertain and exhaust the subject. It is hoped that the following notes, however imperfect in form and substance, will be admitted to justify the writer's confidence that the Nation holds, within the limits of the insurgent States, very import- ant elements and instruments for a Counter Revolution of those States. The " Back Country," or Alleghany Districts of the States East of the Misissippi, the French and Creole population of Louisiana, and / / 4» PREFACE. vi^ the German or grazing counties of Western Texas, will pronounce for the Union whenever the Army and Kavj of the United States shall afford the protection against insurrection and the guaranty of Re- publican institutions which the Constitution enjoins upon the General Government. In those localities and in the dispositions of the inhabit- ants, the Rebellion has no firm foundation. On the contrary, they are ripe and ready to follow the instructive precedent established in "West Virginia. As in England, a tyrannical dynasty was once assumed to abdicate its authority, so the Constitution of the United States contains ample provision for its own vindication against the existing usurpa- tion; and the policy of the administration, as illustrated at Wheeling, will promptly second the Military arm by an efficient recognition of legitimate action as States by the loyal masses of the South. Thus may it happen most auspiciously and at no distaat dc te, that the patriotic masses of an outraged people will be the foremost agency in the suppression of the insurrection. Shall it not be first in order to give them the opportunity ? " First pure, then peaceable." — James iii, 17. "Not only does tlie Christian religion, but Nature herself, cry out against the state of slavery." — Pope Leo X. " Heaven has allowed us to live long enough to witness the second regeneration of Eussia. * * A new spirit animates us, a new era has commenced. One of our social conditions is on the eve of change. If we consider it in a past light, we may perhaps admit that it was necessary that it should have been allowed to be as it was, from the want of a better administrative organization, and of the concentration in the hands of a government of the means which have since given so great a development to the powder of Russia. * * Let us not, however, suppose that the path traced by history is an avenue of roses without thorns. This would be sheer ignorance. When a new — a more moral and Christian state of things is about to be established, the obstacles that will have to be encountered must not be taken into consideration, except with the hope that the torrent of the new life will sweep them away." — M. Pauloff, of Moscow, upon the Emancipation of the Serfs, 1858. "For thou wert of the mountains: they proclaim The everlasting creed of liberty. That creed is written on the untrampled snow, Thundered by torrents which no power can hold Save that of God, when he sends forth his cold. And breathed by winds that through the free heaven flow." W. C. Bryant — Invocation of fViliiam Tell. / ALLEGHANIA. THE STRENGTH OF THE UNION AND THE WEAKNESS OF SLAVERY IN THE MOUNTAIN DISTRICTS OF THE SOUTH. PORT ROYAL AND CUMBERLAND GAP. Already an American Army, through the entrance of Fort Royal, is encamped upon the cotton fields of South Carolina : while an event equally memorable will be the occu- pation of the Heart of the Southern Alle- ghanies, through the Cumberland Gap, by the Union army of the Northwest. The enemy's frrnt, in the most central seat of the rebellion, is already menaced at Beaufort, and it is no less im- portant, that the Mountain valleys shall be held and organized for an attack in the rear of the confederate conspirators. Let the flag of the republic wave victoriously at Knoxviile in East Tennessee, and a Counter- Revolution will follow, restoring the Union and Constitution in the Alleghany Districts of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama — an area larger than all New England. This region belongs to Freedom, In the language of the St. Paul Pkkss of April 28 : " Freedom has always loved the air of moun- tains. Slavery, like malaria, desolates the low p.lluvials of the globe. The skypiercing peaks of the continents are bulwarks against oppression : and from mountain valleys has often swept most fearful retribution to ty- rants." In May last the Press applied the desig- nations of " Alleghania," " Switzerland of the South " &c., to 13 counties of North Carolina, 3 of South Carolina, 20 of Geor- gia, 1.5 of Alabama, and 26 counties of Ten- nessee, and claimed that the region thus de- fined was loyal — that slavery had no hold upon the people — that it should be free from the curse of bondage and that then was the golden opportunity (Manassas postponed it from July to November) to strike for Lib- erty and Union in all the Highlands of the South. I accept, Mr. Editor, your invitation to exhibit proofs (still repeating your lan- guage in a May number of the Press) " that the Alleghany Districts of Alabama, Georgia and the Carolinas can not only be separa- ted from all co-operation with the Cotton • 2 ALLEGHANIA Districts of those States but can bp made i a base of operations, in connectioti with a | Coast Blockade, for a powerful diversion of \ a hostile character." II. GENKRAL DESCRIPTION. Hamboldt and other writers upon clima- tology, assure us that an elevation of 267 feet above the level of the sea is equivalent, in general influence upon vegetation, to a degree of latitude Northward at the level of the ocean. The fact fuliy conndeied that the altitude of the Alleghanies will average 2,500 feet, we are prepared for the state- ment that it is a land of corn, and not of cotton. " It does not differ greatly," says an intelligent traveler,* *' from the climate of Long Island, Southern New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The usual crops are the same, those of most consequence being corn, rye, oats and grass. Fruit is a more preca- rious crop from a greater liability to severe frosts after the swelling of the buds in the Bpriog. Snow has fallen several inches in depth in April." The apex of the Range is reached in the western counties of North Carolina, where the summits have an altitude greater than the White Mountains of New Hampshire. There is no district in the world more beautiful — more fruitlul in soil, medicinal springs and minerals — so abounding in the physical vigor of the people. The Southern spurs of the Alleghanies constitute the well known Cherokee country — a purchase clamorously demanded by the whites and reluctantly yielded by the Indians. Bancroft, in the History ol the United States, (vol. IV. p, 352) becomes fanciful in his description of the " vale of Keokee," BOW included in West Carolina. '• This lovely region," he says, " was the delight •yroderlck Law Olmstead in his jSaok Ooantry." ' Journejr in the of the Cherokees : the side of the adjacent hills bore their habitations, and on the rich level ground beneath stood their fields of maize, all clambered over by the prolific bean. 'I' he mountain sides blushed with flowers in their season, and resounded with the melody of birds. The river now flowed in gentle meanders, now with arrowy swift- ness, between banks where the strawberry mixed its crimson with the rich verdure, or beat against the bills that rose boldly in cones upon the border of the intervale, and were the abutments of loftier mountains." Hereafter we shall connect with the political statistics of the separate districts, some enumeration of the most striking features of natural scenery, without any expectation, of course, of imitating the florid historian. The order of remark will be — 1. Western Virginia ; 2. Eastern Kentucky and Ten- nessee; 3. West Carolina (North and South); 4. Northwest Georgia ; 5. Northeast Ala- bama. III. WESTERN VIRGINIA. The newspapers inform us that the ordi- nance proposed by a Wheeling Convention (or dividing the old Commonwealth of Vir- giraia, and erecting a new State of the coun- ties west of the Alleghany mountains, has been adopted by the voters by a majority of nearly, if not quite, one hundred to one, and a new Convention, the members of which have just been chosen will assemble at Wheeling on the 26th of November to rat- ify the action of the people. The new State will be called Kanawha, and will contain a population of two hundred and eighty-one thousand, including eight thousand slaves. Elsewhere, than among the people direct- ly interested, a diOerent policy has been adx vocated. It has been urged that the trea- son of Letcher and the Richmond cabal is an abdication of legitimate authority — that under Article VI clause 3 of the Ccnstitu- / THE HIGHLANDS OF THE SOUTH. tion * neither Congress or the President can recognize State oiBcers as having any legal existence, who refuse to take an oath to sup- port the Constitution of the United States, or who violate its terms : and that if the people of Western Virginia, by appropriate demonstrations, step foiward and qualify under the Constitution ot the United States, there exists a legal organization of the State of Virginia, and the Federal Government must respond to a requisition to protect the State " against domestic violence" — against the insurrection of the PCastern district. The Senate of the United States, by the admission of Carlisle and Willey as Vir- ginia Senators, have already assumed the foregoing situation to exist ; and it is to be hoped that the Wheeling Convention will yet express a preference for an authority to be extended to the Atlantic seaboard by the concurrent agencies of ballots and bullets. It is probable, however, that their favorite measure of a new State of " Kanawha" will be presented to Congress, and, pending the question of admission, further discussion of its merits will occur, and may be materially influenced by the events of the southern and Alleghany campaigns. We repeat a table of the counties inclu- ded in the proposed State of Kanawha, ad- ding, on newspaper authority, a column of the present population (1860), and two col- umns compiled Irom the census returns of 1850, which exhibit the proportions ten years ago of Free and Slave Population. In all probability the number of slaves is less now, but until the publication of the census of 1860 it cannot be stated with more * It reads as follows : "The Senators and Representatives before menlioned, [of the United States] awfiJ themem- itn of the several State Legislatures, and all ex- ecutive and judicial otficers, both of the Uni- ted States, and of the several States shall be bound bv an oatti or aflirmation TO SUPPORT THIS CONSTITUTION; but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States." accuracy. We shall have frequent occasion to produce this ratio of Freemen and Slaves, and the present explanation should be borne in mind. It is vital to the argument pro- posed, that the numerical weakness of slave- ry shall be exhibited and the Census of 1850 is sufBeient authority for the purpose. We proceed with the Table, obtained as above of the Counties and Population of " Ka- nawha," -1850- Slovf, 23 . 356 . 78 '. 201 ■ 87 . 176 . 94 . 168 . 58 .2510 '. 82 . 72 . 16 , 164 Counties. Popula'ion. Fr^e Loffao, 4,938 8,533 87 Wyoming 2,865 1.583 61 Raleigh 3,307 1,729 Favetie 5.9V)7 3,780 Nicholas 4,6'26 3,889 . Webster* 1,555 Randolph 4,990 5,003 Tucker* 1,428 Freston 13,312 11,562 Monongalia 13,048 12,092 Marion, 12,721 10,439 Taylor, 7,4fi3 5,130 .Tackson 8,3(i6 6,480 Roanoke 8,048 5,812 Calhoun 2,502 Wirt 3.751 3,319 Gilmer 3,759 3,403 Ritchie 6,847 3,886 Ohio 22,422 17,612 Brooke, 5,494 4,923 31 Barbour, 8,959 8,670 113 Upshur,* 7292 Harrison 13,790 11,213 488 Lewis... 7,999 9,620 368 Braxton, 4,992 4,123 89 (May,* 1,787 Kanawha, 14,575 12,001 3140 Boone 4,840 3,054 183 Wavne, 6,747 4,564 189 Cabell, 8,020 5,902 889 Putnam 6,301 4,693 632 Mason. 9,185 6,841 647 Wood, Il,0i6 9,008 S73 Pleasants, 2,945 Tyler 6,517 5,436 38 Doddridge, 5,203.... . 2,718 31 Wetzel 9,703 4,261 17 Marshall 13,001 10,050 49 Hancock 4,455 4,040 S Total pop 284,796..... 210,554 10820 * The six counri«s uiarted with aa aiteri»k were created between 18aO and 1860. The area of these 39 counties is about one fourth of the surface of Virginia, or 15,335 square miles. This is 4,211 square miles larger than the State of Maryland. There is a District of equal extent, which is often called Middle Virginia or 4 ALLEGHANIA : the Valley of the Shenandoah. It extends east of the main Alleghany Range to the Blue Ridge. On its northern border are Romney, Martinsburgatid Harper's Ferry ; while in the southern counties are the fa- mous Natural Bridge and the Sweet, White, Red and Blue Sulphur Springs. The whole is an Alleghany District, but less free from the inlection of slavery than the counties above enumerated, whose wates flow into the Ohio. Still Central Virginia is broadly distinguishable, in this respect, from the Atlantic counties, where the fanaticism of slavery has always been most insane. I have little doubt, with the first decisive success of the Union army upon the Potomac or Chesapeake, thit the Valley of the Shenandoah will be ranged side by side with the adjacent community of Kanawba. The ground of this confi- dence exists in the .preponderance of Freemen over slaves, as apparent from the following census returns of 1850 : COUNTIES AND POPULATION OF SHENANDOAH. Frff.. Slav?,. Hardy 7,927 1,260 Hiimpshire, 12,379 1,432 Morgan 3,431 123 Jefferson, 10,476 4,341 Berkeley, 9,566 1,956 Clarke, 8,614 3,614 Frederick, 12,769 2,294 Shenandoah, 12,565 911 Warren, 4,493 1,748 I'aue 6,332 957 Eockingham, 17,496 2.331 Pendleton 5,443 322 Augusta, 18,983 5,053 Highland, 3.837 364 Pccahontas, 3,303 267 Greenbrier, 8,5l9 1,317 Bath 2,463 947 Alleghany, 2,763 694 Rockbridge 11,484 4,197 Botetourt 10,746 3,736 Roanoke, 5.812 2,510 Montgomery 6,822 1,471 Craig, (uew county,) Giles, 5,853 657 Monroe 9,062 1,061 Mercer, 4,018 177 Total 200.262 44.742 But there yet remains for our considera- tion a remote region of Virginia,— its south- western angle — reaching into the Curaber- land range of mountains between Tennes- see and Kentucky, and which far more dis- tinctly than in the case of the Shenandoah counties, we are disposed to a:roup with Ka- nawka. Piketon. in East Kentucky — the scene of Nelson's late victory — immediately adjoins this District. How stand its Slave- ry statistics, for, as we proceed with this in- vestigation, these will be found the invariable touchstone of loyalty to the Union. When the baneful shadow grows light — when the ratio of bond and free is reduced to less than a fourth — sympathy and co-operation with rebellion disappear. SOUTHWESTERN VIRGINIA — CODNTIES AND POPULATION IN 1850. Fre.'. Slave, Carroll, 5,726 154 Floyd 6,001 443 McDowell, (new county) Buchanan, do Tazewell 4,310 95 Wythe, 9,618 2185 Smyth 6,898 1064 Grayson H,142 499 Washington 12,369 2131 Russell 10,866 982 Scott 9,322 473 Wise, (new county) Lee, 9,440 787 Total, 76,892 8,693 Here the proportion of freemen is nearly 10 to 1, a circumstance decisive of the atti- tude ot the people in the great contest now impending. Why should the Wheeling leaders exclude these Southwestern counties? Rather let them reconsider their purpose of isolation, and try conclusions with the Rich- mond traitors on the broad arena of the State. The foregoing review exhibits the feeble tenure of slavery, and consequently of the rebellion, upon the larger portion of Virginia, including its coal, salt, and valua- ble minerals; and it will need but a slight degree of patience to restore the Old Do- minion, without dismemberment, to its con- stitutional attitude within the Federal Union. Let the whole question be considered, from no partial or local view, and with due defer- THE HIGHLANDS OF THE SOUTH. ence to the policy of the National Admin- istration for the suppression of the insurrec- tion. We will not doubt that prudenc and patriotic ounsels will prevail at Wheeling CD *Iie 26th ot November. — The above was in manuscript when the telegrams of the Press (November 20th) euggtst a new soIutioL — that " Congress will probably be called on to change the territo- rial boundaries of Delaware so as to give this little State all the land east of Chesa- peake Bay, and to change the boundaries of Maryland so as to give her all the Eastern counties of Virginia, and to leave to the State of Virginia, as organized by the Convention at Wheeling, the territory between the Blue Ridge and the Uhio.'" This proposition, it will be seen, avoids the constitutional difficulty of a new State of Kanawha. The theory is retained — an impregnable theory — that the State of Vir- ginia is represented by tbe loyal body at Wheeling, not by Richmond traitors; and the above programme is in strict accordance with Article IV, Sec. 3 of the Constitution, of the United States, which is as follows : " New States mav be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no new State shall bo formed or erected within the juris- diction ot any other State, nor any State be formed by the junction of two or more States or parts of States without the consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress. " It is unlikely that the Legislatures of Vir- ginia, (convened at Wheeling,) Delaware or Maryland, would withhold assent to the fore- going revision of the map. We read occasionally of a new map of Europe, in the interest of dynasties. May we not expect on behalf of the Union men of the South a revision of Southern limits and boundaries? As we proceed through Alleghania, new combinations of political and physical geogaphy will be forced upon our attention. IV. PHYSICAL FEATURES OF WESTERN VIRGINIA. The pcenery of the AUeghanies, where traversed by mil, is familiar- -the admira- tion of every traveller on the trains of the Erie, the Pennsylvania Central, the Balti- more and Ohio, and not without commemo- ration by artists. The valley of the Grand Kanawha is frequently named for its immeasuable wealth of salt and coal and iron. The grandeur of its mountain scenery has never been ap- preciated as it deserves. And everywhere among the hills of Wes- tern Virginia are Fountains of Health — mineral springs — summoning the invalid by a stronger motive tcian the Love of the Beautiful. Sufifer an enumeration, in the least possible compass, of these and other natural wonders of Southwest Virginia. The White Sulphur Spring is on How- ard's Creek, in Greenbrier county, directly on the edge of the (^reat Western Valley, ar.d near the base of the Alleghany moun- tains. It is the heart of the celebrated group of Western Virginia Springs, with the Hot Sprmg 38 miles distant on the north ; the Sweet Spring 17 miles to the eastward ; the Salt and Red Springs, 24 and 41 miles respectively, on the South ; and the Blue Spring 22 miles away on the West. Appleton's Hand-Book of Ameri- can Travel presents some interesting partic- ulars of each locality. The White Sulphur bubbling in the lowest part of a charming valley, is at an elevation of 2000 feet above tide water, temperature 62° Farenheit, ar.d yielding at all season 30 gallons per minute. The Red Sulphur, in Monroe county, is "in a verdant glen, surrounded on all sides by lofty mountains. The south end of this en- chanting vale," our authority proceeds, "which is the widest portion of it, is about two hundred feet in width. Its course is nearly north for about one hundred and fifty 9 ALLEGHANIA : yards, when it begins gradaally to contract, and changes its direction to the northwest and west until it terminates in a narrow point. This beautifully secluded Tempe is the chosen site of the village." The Sweet Springs, also in Monroe county, were dis- covered as early as 1764, and the waters were analyzed by Bishop Madison, Presi dent ot William and Mary College in 1774. They also lie in a lovely valley, five miles in length, and between a mile and half a mile broud. Fully a dozen more Spas, noted for their medicinal force, are scattered over Western Virginia, always accompanied with a bracing atmosphere and beautiful scenery. The Natural Bridge, in Rockbridge county became familiar in our childhood — a "household word" like Niagara. Caverns abound. Weir's Cave in Augusta county is scarcely inferior in its mysterious grandeur to the Kentucky Mammoth. Look up the details of description in Apple- ton or Lippencott's Gazeteer. Ditto of "Madison's Cave," "The Blooming Cave," 'The Hawk's Nest," "The Ice Mountain," &c., &c. We proceed with our statistics. To the Landscape of Virginia West — Au revoir. THE SITUATION IN KENTUCKY. The Second Minnesota Regiment is on duty for the protection of Louisville and an advance on Nashville ; and we hope to hear that the First Minnesota will soon be under. orders to join the division of Gen Buell — perhaps to follow the retreating rebel army under ZoUicoflfer through Cumberland Gap to the relief of East Tennessee. Kentucky is also the destination of the Third Minne- sota Regiment. May we not therefore anti- cipate that three thousand Mionesotians will find active service in the series of operations Joi' the occupation of the Great Southwest- Railway from Richmond to Memphis ? Meanwhile, Eastern Kentucky — the coun- ties along the western base ot the Cumber- land Mountains — has nobly responded to the cause of the Union. The late success of Nelson at Piketon — although greatly exaggerated by the first statement—has ex- pelled the enemy and secures the left wing of Buell in Rockcastle and Laurel counties. By our latest accounts. Nelson's command will speedily join the left wing of Buell, with its headquarters near Danville — so implicit is the confidence in the voluntary Union organizatis-ns of the Eastern or Mountain counties. They constitute the only exten- sive district of the State, which can hence- forth dispense with the presence and aid of the Northwestern troops. In the battle at Piketon, the Kentucky volunteers under Colonels Marshall, Metcalfe, Apperson and Grigsby, were uiost exposed. These gallant mountaineers were hastily lecruited during Gen. Nelson's march from Cynihlara,throogh Ovvingsville, Olympian Springs, West Lib- erty and Prestoriburgh, to Piketon. They represent a population which, from the first outbreak, have been on fire with loyal zeal — repudiating all sympathy with this War of Slavery against the Uoion. Our favorite test— it might properly be termed the Slaveometer — would indicate such a state of things. For example, from the census ef 1850, we have the following division of the population in two tiers of counties, constituiing the Eastern Highlands of Kentucky : Coun'ies. Free. Slave. Letcher, 2,440 62 Floyd 5,503 149 Harlan .4,108 123 Whitley, 7,222 201 Knox, 6,238 612 Ferry, 2,072 117 Clay, 4,734 615 Breathitt 3,603 170 Morgan, 7.395 187 Joimson 3,843 30 Lawrence 6,142 137 Carter, 5,960 207 — In contrast to this exhibit of Eastern Kentucky — a portion of the great central THE HIOHLANDS OF THE SOUTH'. 1 district of mountain slopes and valleys, which it is the object of this publication to illus- trate — turn for a moment to the region of Southern Kentucky which is the rebel cen- tre. Bowling Green is Buckner's Elead- quarters, and at Russelville, in an adjoining county of Logan, almost simultaneously with the exploit of Nelson, Marshall and Metcalfe, on the sources of the Big Sandy, a conclave of Kentucky traitors were enact- ing the farce of a paper transfer of their native State to the Southern League of Treason, fs it by accident only that the scene of their conspiracy is the largest slaveholding district of Kentucky? By no means. Where the cause ot the Rebellion most palpably exists, there will the fruits of treason be manifested. In Logan coun- ty, of which Russelville is the seat, the pro-* portion of free and slave in 1850, was 10,750 to 5,467 -in Todd, next south, 7,361 to 4 810. Space will not allow any detail of ope- rations on the line from Louisville to Nash- ville.* Our concern is with Buell's left wing under Gen. Thomas on the route from Cincinnati to Cumberland Gap. Shall it advance ? We hear with exultation that Secretary Chase in a recent interview with Eastern capitalists, disclaimed on behalf of the Government and General M'Clellan any purpose to send the army into winter quar- ters, and he remarked with mu(,h signifi- cance, that "a glance at the map will perhaps * Tho reader, having access to a map of Kentucky, may be iuteruited to trace the local- ities Dunied in the t'ollowint; paragraph from the Louisville correspondeuce of the Oincinnati (Jommerdul: " Exaniioe the Hue of the Union army in ITen'ucky, and nut'Ci the xn»in body iseDCampeo at Bacon Ciefii, waiting tbe results of movements in the left wing, ann anxious to move fo-waid The right wirg has its 'Xtreiae at Morgantown, in Butler county and is iu furoe at Wooff berry. Immediately on l he left o Mc- Cook, is General Ward's brigade, theadvaLceot which i3 at liricrfburp. The left veiDff, under General Thorn as, havioi^ the incuiubiance, Zollicoffer, has assumed its position at i»aiiville. wi h its extreme as fai South as Monticeilo. Ihos a complete line oi outposts is eg tablitihcd, each post occupieii bj an army of itself." astonish those who have never reflected, Tiow short is the distance from East Tennessee to Port Royal Harbor, and may suggest a possibility of cutting a great rebellion irito two small pieces."* Why shall not this be the key to the Winter campaign of the West ? "Protect Louisville !" of course, as we have protected Washington ; but snfifer no premature move- ment in other directions to divert us from our great duty to the loyal population of East Tennessee. "To Cumberland Gap !" la a cry which would arouse the Northwest as with the blast of a trumpet. In advance of the Army of the TJnion, let us take our stand in this grea' highway — the South Pass of the Alu Range — and thence survey the land a thousands whose most earnest aspirtitiop is for the victorious advent of the Stars and Stripes upon the aummits of the Cumber- land.f VI. EAST TENNESSEE. "Where is Cumberland Gap ?' The most explicit answer I have found to the inquiry now so often repeated, is a paragraph from the Louisville Democrat: "Cumberland Gap is situated about ten miles from Cumberland Ford, in Tennessee, and has been celebrated for a century as a great de- pression in the mountain ridge which traversea the continent from New Hampshire to North Alabama. Tl)v«ugh this gap, very similar in appearance and characteristics to the South Puss of the Rocky Mountains, formerly the emigrants from Virginia and North Carolina passed, on their way to the virgin wilds of the * To the same effect is the language of the Richmond J)isvatch, of Nov. 14. It says, "If East Tennessee is lost, the empire of the South is cut in twain, and we become a fragmentary organization, fighting in scattered and segre- gated localities for a cawse which can no longer boast the important attribute of geographical unity." + As we leave Kentucky, the tramp of the Union legi(>ns is greeted by a song of Mother Country, from William D, Gallagher, the pioneer poet of the West. It is transferred to the Appendix, No. 1. 8 ALLEGHANIA West. For half a century thousands upon thousands poured through this na\ural gateway into the Mississippi Valley from the Atlantic slopes. Bonne, Kenton, and other pioneer confrevs, tirst entered the land of 'cane and turkey' over this pre-Adamite turnpike. It really forms to this hour the best, and, in fact, the only, practicable road for the transporta- tion of troops and heavy munitions of war from Kentucky mto East Tennessee." It has been suggested that there are other practicable passes of the Cumberland Mountains — "Pound Gap," leading from the vicinity of Pilieton, in Eastern Ken- tacky, into the southwestern triangle of Virginia, and "Wheeler's Gap," some thirty-five miles westward of the Cumber- land Gap, It is doubtful whether they are available for army transportation. The Cumberland Hills are the most wes- terly of the Appalachian chain, constitut- ing the western limit of East Tennessee, while the Allegbanies proper, on some maps of Tennessee called the Kittatinny Moun- tains, are the boundary of North Carolina. An equal area of the latter State intervenes before reaching the eastern chain of the AUeghanies, which is an extension of the Blue Ridge of Virginia, and will be subse- quently described. Our immediate narra- tive relates to the counties and population of Tennessee, between the Cumberland and the central Alleghany chains. The following table from the census of 1850, presents the Slave and Cotton statistics of this District, in their relation to the Free Population : Counties. Free, Slave. Cotton AM lb. bales Johnson, 3,485.. 2m6 Carter 5,911.. 353 Washington,. .12, 671.. 930 Sullivan 10,603. .1,004. ... 153 Hancock, 5,447.. 20-2.... 2 Hawkins 11,567. .1,690. . . . Greene, 16,526. .1,093 Cocke........ 7-501.. 719.... 3 Sevier, 6,450.. 403 Jefferson, ....11,458. .1.628.... Granger, 11,170. .1,035. . . . 1 Knox, 16. 385. .2,193 Union, (new countr,.. .... Claiborne, 8,610.. 660 Anderson 6,391., 606 Campbell,.... 6,651.. 818.... 1 Count' es. T^en. Slave. CoUon-AOOlb.bala Scott 1,868,. 37.... Morgan, 3,301.. 101 Cumberland, (new county) .... Roane 10,525. . 1,544. . . . 121 Blount 11,213. 1,084.... 6 Monroe 10,623 .. 1,188. .. , McMinn 12,286. .1,568. . . . 2,821 Polk 5,884.. 400.... 29 Bradley, 11,478.. 744.... 1,600 Meigs, 4,480.. 395.... 2 Hamilton,..., 9,216.. 672 Khea, 3,951.. 436.... Bledsoe 5,036.. 827.... Sequatche, (new county,) .... VanBuren,... 2,481.. 175.... 2 Grundy, 2,522.. 236.... 24 Marion, 5,718.. 551. ..24,413 Franklin, 10,085. .3,623. . . . 637 Lincoln, 17,802. . 5,621 .. . ,2,576 The geographical order of the foregoing list ot counties is from the extreme north- east — Johnson— southwest to Lincoln on the Alabama line. I have included a tier of counties on the west, which embrace the summits and western slopes of the Cumber- land Hills, regarding their physical and po- litical features as more identified with East than Middle Tennessee, Such are Lincoln, Franklin, Grundy, Van Buren, Cumberland, Morgan and Scott counties. I estimate the area of this District as about 17,17.5 square miles, an extent of ter- ritory exceeding the aggregate of the fol- lowing States : Massachusetts, 7,800 square miles. Connecticut 4,674 " Rhode Island, 1 306 13,780 The country reverberates with the proofs of the loyalty and devotion of East Tennes- see. Simultaneously with the achievements at Port Royal, and by Nelson's detachment in East Kentucky (and also, alas ! with the retreat of Thomas from the scene of Zilli- coSer's repulse before Cumberland Gap,) we hear of another rising tor the cause of the Union in the home of Andrew John- son. The railroad bridges over the Hiawaa- se river, at Charleston, and over Lick Creek* both in the county of McMinn, and over the Holston River in JeSerson county — points below and above Knoxville— are re» THE HIGHLANDS OF THE SOUTH. 9 ported to be destroyed, cutting off travel upon the lines of the East Tennessee and Georgia, and Tennessee and Virgiiiia rail roads at three vital points ; while from Northwest Georgia we hear that the great central road of that State is severed by the demolition of a bridge fifteen miles east of Chattenooga, thus interrupting approach from the direction of Georgia and the Car- olinas. Allowing one half of these state- ments for exaggeration, full enough appears to justify our worst apprehensions for the Union men of the Tennessee Highlands, if the nation fails to concentrate an irresistable column fur their efKcient support. Recent information at Cincinnati (assert- ed by the Commercial newspaper of Nov. 22 to be received through " channels worthy tl e most absolute confidence") confirms " the destruction of three important railroad bridges in Tennessee and two in Georgia," and add,^, that '' there are camps of Union men in Tennessee, twelve hundred in one and seven hundred in another, each man with his rifle and a pound of powder, and a cor- responding quantity of balls, and regarding his powder as fir more precious than gold." On the same authority, we learn that at the late Confederate Presidential election no one dared to open the pulls in many counties : in Roane county, where two thousand votes are usually given, less than three hundred and fifty were polled ; in Horace xMaynard's Congressional District, with its 8 000 Union majority on the Ordinance of Secession, all exci^pt a iew hundred refused to vote ; while in Knox ccunty, of which Knoxville is the seat, where the Union men had three thouv sand two hundred votes, a Submissionist candidate received but eighty votes. The Cincinnati journal adds, among other en- couraging statements — " There i^ undoubt- edly a powerful reaction in North Carolina against the Disunionists. It Viould not be surprising to hear at any time of a most de- termined € niou movement in that quarter. 2 The Union men of North Carolina and north Alabama are in communication with those of East Tennessee."* L( t the patient Wi.«t make its final appeal to the Government at Washington and the politicians and journals of the East, '' For the sake of God and Liberty, find or make a way to the re^icue of East Tennessee. How evident that Military Strategy combines with Patriotism, with Humanity, with Jnss tice, to point our flag and arms to Cumber- and Gap 1 Let us see no retreat — no inac- tivity — tiO earthworks — no winter quarters on the Left Wing of the Great Army of the Centre! Hold Buckner at Bowling Green — even postpone for a brief season the retribution of Memphis— bat Forward — Forward to Cumberland Gap!" Otherwise, too soon, the words of him who sang of Paradise Lost, may have a melancholy interest in tneir application to the martyrs of our Alleghany Piedmont : "Avenge, Lord, thy slaughtered saints, whose booes Lie scattered on ttie Alpine mountains cold ; Even them who kefit thy truth so pure of old When all our fathers worshipped stocks and stones Forget not : in thy book record tbeir groan j." VH. PHYSICAL ASPECTS OF EAST TENNESSEE. With an agreeable and healthy climate, exempt alike from the winter severities of the North, and the sultry heats of the South, a great degree of animal vigor is experienced in East Tennessee. Stock-raising is most *Totbe same effect with these statements ire the admissions in a late number of the Rich- mond Dispatch. Describing a skirmish with the Union men, encamped in Carter county, it says: "The Lincolnites were some three hundred strong, and constituted the advance of a body of eight hundred in Elizabethtown, the moun- tain stronghold of the traitors. We may state here that these men (as has since been ascer- tained frotn prisoneis) expected a reinforcement of fine hiiTiiLredmtn from Wa'itaitfia cmnti/, IV. C'., a disirjfecttd region adjoining Johnson couti' tij, lenjunisee," V > 10 ALLEGHANIA profitable, although there is a great range of agriculture, inoluding tobacco, cotti n, corn, hemp, buckwheat, rye, oats, barley, in short the entire growth of the Temperate Zone. This scale of production results f rona the concurrent cultivation of the liver alluvials, and the slopes and plateaux of the adjacent mountains. Captain Howard Stansbury, U. S. A., is accustomed to remark, that, when once sta- tioned at Knoxville, he never ceased to ad- mire the stalwart forms ot the people inhab- iting the Cumberland Hills. No finer ma- tenel for grenadiers can be found on this continent. An immense wealth will yet be accumu- lated Irom the mineral resources of East Tennessee. The coal minesof Marion coun- ty, near the adjoining angles of Alabama and Georgia, constitute the most Southern cape of the immense bituminous deposit of the Mississippi Valley; while in the county of Pulk are copper mines, which are bo sit- uated as to be worked iu three States, Ten- nessee, Georgia and North Carolina. At these mines, a large Cornish population are employed by a Company of London and Boston capitalists. In Roane county and many other localities, a superior quality of iron is found. Gold, too, has been detected, and silver, lead, zinc, manganese, magnetic- iron ore, gypsum of superior quality, a great variety of beautiful marbles, slate, nitre, burrstones and limestone, are enumerated in Appleton.* Salt and mineral springs, the latter of very valuable character, abound. The upper waters of the Tennessee, and all that portion ol the river in the Eastern and middle portions of the State, are ex- tremely beautiful; varied as the landscape is, ;.y wild mountaio scenes and fertile pastoral lands. In the neighborhood of Chattanoo- ga, where the Look-out Mountain lifts its bold crest, the scenery is especially attract- * Handbook of Arnerican Travel, p. 814. ive. It would be difficult to find a more charming picture than that from th« sum- rait of the Look-out Mountain, over the smiling valley of the Tennessee, and the ca- pricious windings of the river. While Knoxville is the seat of political combinations in East Tennessee, Chattanoo- ga, near the Georgia line, is the railway and commercial centre, being the terminus of the Nashville and Chattanooga route from Nashville, and situated also upon the Geor- gia routes reaching to Knoxville, and thence through Virginia, and upon the great line from Charleston, S. C, to the Mississippi at Memphis. The Tennessee River is naviga- ble two-thirds of the year, and all time^ for small boats, from the Ohio to Chattanooga. The Cumberland mountains are lull of subterranean scenerv — numerous and re- markable caverns. Upon the Enchanted Rock, in one of these localities, are seen some singular impressions of the feet of men and animals : while, every where, the tumuli of a primeval and vanished race meet the trav- eler. VIIL THE ALLEGHANY SECTION OF NORTH CAROLINA. The Carolina Piedmont of the Allegha- nies is mostly within the North State. The following counties, from their relation to East Tennessee, the diminished proportion of slaves, and the physical conditions of soil and climate, would unquestionably organize a Counter Revolution for the restoration of the Union, upon the passage of the Cumber- land Gap by an American army : Counties. Free. Slave. Cotton, 4S0 Ib.traleg, Wilkes 10,733 ... .1,142 I Ashe S.O'JG 595 Watanija 3,242 129 Caldwell o,005 l,-?(i3 42 Alexander... 4,653 513 Rutherford.. 10, 425 2,905 183 Pdlk (new couiitv,) McDowell... 4,771.... 1,262 1 Burke 5.477.. . .2,132 8 Yancey 7,809 316 Ma.dison (uew county,) mmmr" THE HIGHLANDS OF THE SOUTH. 11 Counhea. Frea SJave. Cotton, 400 Ib.balea Buncombe. ..11,601 1,717 Henderson .. 5,S!'2 024 Huvwood.... 6,641 418 . Miicon 5,734 519 Cherokee.... 6,493.... 337 Jaclisou (uew cuunty,) The seventeen counties of North Carolina, above enumerated, contain 11,700 square miles, — a larger area than either of the tol- ovviug States : New Hampshire 9,280 square miles. Verfnonl 10,212 " " NewJerse}' 8,320 ' " '" The mountain district of North Caro- lina," to repeat the laoguage of a hand-book of summer travel, " when it corner to bo better known, will place the State in public estimation among the most strikingly pic- turesque portions of the Union. Two great ridges of the Alieghanies traverse this grand region, some of their peaks rising lo the noblest heights, and one of them reaching a greater altitude tlian any summit east of the Eocky Mountains. Wild brooks innumer- able and of the richest beauty, waterfalls op wonderful delight and valleys lovely enough for loveliest dreams, are seen in thig yet al- most unknown land." Unless this general description is greatly exaggerated, it war- rants some more specific detail. Let ua re- view our geographical authorities for this purpose. Here is the crest of the Alieghanies — an elevation no where reached east of the Rocky Mountains. It is only within a few years that this distinction has been transfer-* red from New Hampshire to North Caro- lina. By barometrical observations, the highest peaks of the entire chain have been found near the bead-waters of the Oconaluf- tee, and Little Pigeon rivers on the line between the States of North Carolina and Tennessee. There are twelve peaks higher than Mount Washington, of the White Mountains, long considered the highest point ea^t of the Mississippi, — iz : Mount Le Conte, 6,670 ; Mount Guyot, 6,734 ; Mount Buckley 6.755 ; Olingman's Peak, 6,941. These are late measurements, of Professor J. Le Conte of Columbia, South Carolina, and Mr. Buckley a New York botanist. Previ /usly, Black Moun- tain, twenty miles northwest of Ashville, and rising to the height of 6,476 feet, bore the crown Excelsior. As late as 1859, however, an unapproach- able rival was discovered — "Old Baisam,"in the veraar ular of the adjacent valleys. Bal- sam Mountain, in the same locality as those last named, is stated on the authority of a barometrical measurement of Professor W. D. Jsines of Tennessee, to be ten thousand and three hundred feet above the sea. The mountain is one of a very lofty range, and the gap between it and the next peak is crossed by a turHpike road. The distance to the top from this road, by a winding and easy ascent, is about fo'ir miles, and its ele- vation above the road, four thousand feet, A very rank growth of weeds and grass cov- ers the ground on nearly all parts of the mountain to the top, which is used as a range for cattle, horses and hogs, and would be very profitably employed in this way, but for the havoc committed on younj cattle, and especially on swine and sheep, by bears, wolves and panthers. These particulars are obtained from "A Journpy in the Back Country," by Frederitk Law Olmstead. That interesting writer thus proceeds with his narrative of an excursion to the summit of Balsam Mountain: ''The mountain, to within less than a mile from the top, is entirely shaded by a forest of large trees, the chestnut predominating. The only change foucd as you ascend, is iu their height; the trunks continually becoming shorter and sturdier. At perhaps baU' a mile (rom the summit, the trees appear gradually more scattered; at length there is a nearly bald zone, covered however, with grass and weeds waist high. Above this, at a quarter ot a mile from the top, begins a forest of 12 ALLEGHANIA balsam Gra (popularly called "balsams.") Id the interval, between the two forests, the ascent was steep and fatiguing — the rarity of the atmosphere, perhaps, producing a rush of blood to the head. This sensation was relieved on entering the balsam forest. The balsams are thirty or forty feet high, and have been cut awaj, at the compara lively levtl surface of several yards in extent, which is the highest point of elevation. * * * * rp[^g peculiarity of this mountain top, distinguishing it from others of equal height, is its roodirate temperature, and consequeut abundant vegetation. The air was soff. and agreeable, (a July day). The ground, a dark, rich soil, with rocks protruding and shaly stones, bore luxuriant coarse herbage. Beside the thick growth of firs, I noticed black birch, chestnut, moun- tain-ash, wild currant, whortleberry, honey- suckle, and a variety of cherry, all growing on the highest point. The air was damp, evi- dently its usual condition. All the dead and broken down trees and the rocks were covered thickly with mosses and lichens, which were charged with water like a soak- ed sponge. * * The general character of the scenery is less grand than that of the White Mountains, but it has impressive sublimity and repose. All the mountains are covered with trees, which, with the lux- ariant herbage beneath them, secures soft- ness of outline. Brooks of clear water are frequent. The mountain sides are often very steep, but actual precipices or even large ledges or masses of rock are not seen. These mountains would therefore be more pleasant to ramble over than the White Mountains, and will probably, when Railroads are com- pleted in their neighborhood, be much re- sorted to for pleasure. At present there is no public conveyance to any point within thirty -five miles of the base of Balsam Mountain." Ex uno disce omncs. This description will convey a sufficient impression of the surface and flora of the region in qnestion — dispensing with further word -painting Appleion's Hand Book may h^ consu'i.ed for the charms and wonders of the " Pilot Mountain" in Burke county— of passes and closes among the giant hills, and of such bold clifiFi or peaks as "The Hawks Bill," «' The Table Rock " and '' Ginger Cake Rock.'' The " Frenth Broad River" will justify special mention. Its wild mountain course from Ashville to the Tennessee line, is a constant succession of admirable scenes. " It is a rapid streim," quoting from Ap- pleton, " and in all its cojrse lies deep down in mountain gorges — now ioaming over its rocky pathway, and now sleeping, sullen and dark, at the base of huge precipitous cliffs. A fine highway follows the banks and often trespasses upon its waters, as it is crowded by the jealous overhanging cliffs. Near the Tennessee boundury and close by the Warm prings, this road lies in the shadow of the bold mountain pre- cipices known as the Painted Rocks and the Chimneys. The Painted Rocks have a perpendicular elevation of between 200 and 300 feet. Their name comes from the Indian pictures yet to be seen upon them. The Chimneys are lofty cliffs, broken at their summits into detached piles of rocks, bearing much the likeness of colossal chimneys." IX. COWPENS AND king's MOUNTAIN. " And what of South Carolina " ? I may be asked. Turn to a common school atlas, \ and there, close upon the Northwest border ! ©f South Carolina, among the Southern I spurs ot the Blue Ridgc^, we lead the names, . «' Cowpens, ' " King's Mountain," and their i inspiration turns the scale against the s'avery ' statistics of the surrounding counties. Those I revolutionary battle-fields shall be the sub- THE HIGHLANDS OF THE SOUTH. '^5 13 stitute for the " ten righteous men " whom Lot vainly sought in t'ne doomed citJea of the plain. Why may not a Provisional Legislature of Carolina (merging the rebel- lious " South " in the more loyal '• North " State) yet assemble on " King's Moudx tain " under the asgis of the old Flag of Sum- ter and Marioti ? The battle-field of the Cowpens (Janua- ry 17. 1781) is on the hill-range in Spar- tanburg county, South Carolina, called the Thickety Mountain. In the olden time the cattle were puffered to graze upon the scene of the conte?t — hence the name. It was a brave fight, that of the Cowpens, resulting in the defeat and retreat of the British under Tarleton, with a loss of 10 officers and 90 privates killed, and 23 otHcers and 500 pi'i« vates taken prisonera. The American loss was about 70, of whom oiJy 12 were killed. A day's journey eastward is King's Mountauibattlt-fieid. in York county, only a mile and a half south ot the North Caro lina line. The King's Mountain range ex- tends aboat sixteen miles southward, sending out lateral spurs in various directions. The scene of the memorable battle iought in this strange jiaee is just below the summit of the hill. A simple monument to the mem- ory of Ferguson and others marks the spot and on the right there is a large tulip tree, upon which it is said ten tories were hanged. The patriot forces here engaged were hastily recruited from the Alleghany districts ot Virginia and North Carolina — their match upon the tory Ferguson's position, having followed and forded the Catawba river of North Carolina. * I give precedence to these historical asso- ciations of the Hill-Region of Sojth Caro - lina. Otherwise, many paragraphs might * The contemporary account of the Battle of King's Mountain is so suggestive in respect to the details of an Alleghany campaign m the rear of tlie Cotton Disiricts of tbe rebel States, that it is transferred to the Appendix, (No. 2,) for reference. be pleasantly occupied with tbe natural scenery. Pickens county boants its " Table Rock," (Niagara by no means hadamonr.p- oly in this designation) 4,300 feet above the sea, with a long extent en one side of per. pendicular cliSs 1,000 feet in height, and di- versified by the Fall of Slicking. In Pick- ens also are the beautiful vales of Keokee and Jocassee, beloved of tbe vanished Cher- okee and preserving the Indian names of their streams. Crowder's Knob, the highest peak of King's Mountain, is about 3.000 feet above the sea : while the Mountain rior m natural resources to the Mountain Districts of the South, whose voice and des- tiny have hitherto b?en suppressed by the Slave Aristocracy of the Lowlands. As these papers pasg throngb the press, a "V\ heeling Convention gives indications of firm adherence to their favorite organizati^-n of a Slate of Kanawha. East Tennessee may insist on like independence of the Slave- ry-ridden counties of the Mississippi. And the example may be still more contagions. Is New England prepared to neutralize her excessive representation on the floor ol the Senate, by political organizations along the Southern sp'irsof the Alleghanies? — Perhaps a Revision of the Map of the United States, State and Territorial, may yet suggest a practical solution, a political equilibrium, of vital interest to the restora- tion of the Union. XIII. FACTS OF AGRTCULTURK. Hitherto, social statistics and natural scenery have been prominently presented, in i connection with the Highlands of the South. Incidental jusiice has been done to thtir mineral resources. A supplementary sec- tion, oa the autberity of Olmstead, seems requisite to show the agricultural capacity of the mountain districts of Alabama, Geor- gia, Tennessee and the (Jarolinas. As already stated, the climate of this re- gion, as a result of altitude, resembles that of Long Island, Southern New Jersey and Pennsylvania. It is perhaps more variable, but the extremes of heat and cold are leas than are reached in those more Northern and less elevated regions. The crops are the sanoe. The summer pasture continues about six months The hills generally afford an ex- cellent range, and the mast is usually good, much being provided by the chestnut, as well as the oak and smaller nut-bearing trees. The soil of the hills is a rich dark vegetable deposit, and they are cultivated upon very steep slopes. It is said to wash and gully but little, being very absorptive. Even the central countits of Kentucky are not more favorable to the abundant growth of the richest, grasses. Horses, mu.es, cattle and swine are raised extensively, and sheep and goals in small numbers throughout the mountains, and af- ford almost the on'y articles of agricultural export. Mining and stock-raising will al- ways be the leading forms of industry. Often upon the mountain summits, pla- teaux occuf", which, cleared ot the noble growth of forest trees, can be cultivated. Although these valleys have been, for a century, the h'ghway of emigration from the Southern Atlantic to the Miwoissippi States, yet slavery has made no permanent lodg-. ment in them. Unquestionably, thirty years ago, the proportion of slave to free was greater than in I860, We have ob- served this feebleness of tenure in 1850. Its continuance was possible, if Slavery had not precipitated rebellion. Now there will be no other result than the complete dedication of the Alleghanies to Free Labor, of which the armed columns of the Union are an irre- Bistable crusade. THE HIGHLANDS OF^THE SOUTH. 17 XIV. THE PROSPECT OP MANUFACTURES. Closely allied to the natural advantages for the cheap production of bread and wheat is the prospect of a Home Market when the mineral wealth of the Alleghany ranges shall be developed by the introduction of Manufactures. For these establishments of skilled industry, the innumerable cascades, linking cliffs to valleys, are an important fa- cility. Indeed, what raw material is wanting, in this great central crown of our Atlantic coast, to the most diversified application of manufacturing skill. The soil is burthened with a profuse and valuable sylva — coal- fields exceeding the supply of Great Britain are accessible from Virginia to the border of Alabama, and are flanked on the eastern slope of the mountains by an extension of the anthracite treasures of Lehigh and Read- ing — salt-springs, with hundreds of me- dicinal fountains, constantly meet the trav- eler — while gold, copper, iron, slate, zinc, and marble, have already been discovered, in quantity and quality amply remunera-? tive. No reason can be assigned why the con~ centration of population and the accumula- tion of wealth, experienced within the last twenty years in Pennsylvania and Ohio, should not be the development of another generation, through the whole extent of the Southern Highlands. All analogy justifies the expectation, if Free Institutions shall be the boon of this eventful period to AUe- ghania.* * In corroboration of the statements above and previously, of the physical geography and political sympathy of the great Alleghany in- terior of the country, an eminent divine of Kentucky has lately published a sketch of the "Mountain Empire" of the South which is annexed us Appendix No. 3, under the title of " Geographical Obstacles to Disunion." 3 XV. THE UNI^^N MEN OP THE SOUTH. " Abdiel, faithful found Among the faithless, faith lul only he ; Among the innumerable false, unmoved, Unshaken, unseduced, unlenified, His loyally he kept, bis love, his zeal ; Nor number, nor example, with liiiu wrought To swerve from truth, or change his constant mind." — Paradise Lost, BookV. How suggestive these words, lioru the an- gel Raphael's " full relation " to ihe " prime of men," of the secession of the Rebel An- gels. They have passed into a shibboleth of truth and loyalty, in every great emer- gency of nations. Nor is it inappropriate to illustrate the firm constancy of the Aiou men of the South by these memorable nnes of Milton. As we read of Andrew Johnson, and his " hope deferred" of an advance upon "Cum- berland Gap :" of the uprising lor the Union iQ East Tennessee, Western Caroaaa and Northern Georgia : and of Brownlow's de- cisive victory, at the head of 30U0 troops, over a rebel entrenchment, our hearts beat tribute to these noble men of the Allegha- nies " unmoved Unshaken, unseduced, unierrified:" and we welcome the assurance of President Lincoln's late message, that a military high- way will be opened between •' the loyal re- gions of East Tennessee and Western North Carolina, and other faithful parts of the Union." The object of this publication will be sat- isfied if I convince the reader, that an im- mense Highland promontory, with an area equal to Pennsylvania and Ohio, extends from the borders of those States into the heart of the Rebellion : and that within this Switzerland of the South, Nature is at war with Slavery, and the People are ready to strike for Liberty and Union. If so, will not the Government recognize Relief to the Lojal South as the first great emer- 18 ALLEGHANIA. gency, and as the most urgent expediency in the suppression of the insurrec m. As we review the events of lUe year, we find a satisfactory illustration of a policy so obvious, in the campaign of Western Vir- ginia. There, with the first outbreals of hostilities, the nation responded to the Ma- cedonian cry of loyal Yirginia for arms and a leader : McClellan's strategy and the energy of Ohio and Indiana troops sup- pressed Secession within sixty days : and, as a political result, a Convention now sits at Wheeling and will decree the regenera- tion of the «' Old Dominion" by an act of emancipation. Who can doubt, with ade- quate protection ii:om the general authority, th^iPl Cumberland Convention, assembled at Knoxville or Jonesborough, would make a similar record ? " Counter-Revolution " is the key to the speedy and permanent restoration of the Republic one and indivisible. It is the great responsibility of this crisis that the President and his j^inisters shall omit noth- ing, and do every thing possible, to advance this great result. Of course, the strength of the Nation, even to a Million of Men and a Thousand Millions of treasure, muse be •wielded, promptly and resolutely. " The Union must be preserved and hence all in- dispensable means must be employed." But, with our manifestations of force, calm and far-sighted statesmanship must be combin- ed, Onr rulers must be encouraged and sustained, not passionately denonnced, if they show solicitude and care " that the inevitable conflict for the suppression of the insurrection shall not degenerate into a violent and re- morseless revolutionary struggle." In accordance with these suggestions, let the work of reconstruction go on, concur rently with the heroic struggle of the Army of the Union. And what an opportunity is presented by the situation of the Alleghany Districts, which we have passed in brief re- view ? While Martial Law and the utmost vigor of constitutional methods, will be in- dispensable, for yet a considerable period, in the pacification of the alluvial coasts of the Atlantic, the Mexican (iulf, and the Lower Mississippi, a far diSerent succession of events will follow the victorious advance of the Army of the West through the Cum- berland Gap. With the consideration of these contin- gencies, I propose to terminate the present discussion. XVI. CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS. By order of the President of the United States, bearing date November 14th , 1861, " any person attempting, within the State of Virginia, under the alleged authority of the said Commonwealth, to execute any official powers of a civil nature, within the limits of any of the commands of the occupying forces of the United Siates, unless in pursuance of the declaration and ordinances of the Con- vention assembled at Wheeling, on the 13th day of June, and the acts of the General Assembly held by authority of said Conven-i tion, shall be treated as hostile to the United States, and such person shall be taken into military custody." This brief missive from the office of the Adjutant General, countersigned by Major General McClellan, U vital to the progress of counter-revolution in the South. Give the country a victory upon the Cumberland Mountains, and what might we not expect within sixty days ? 1. A loyal State Government of Tennes- see instantaneously sustained by the voices and arms of three Congressional Districts, with its Legislature assembled at Knoxville, and the United States District and Circuit Courts in full operation : 2. In quick succession, the adjacent dis- tricts of Carolina, North and South, would organize and assemble a Convention of the THE HIGHLANDS OF THE SOUTH. 19 people, perhaps meeting in Mecklenburgh county, of old Revolutionary memory :* 3. It would only be necessary to " hold occupy and possess " Dahnolega, where a Mint of the United States is established, to inaugurate a loyal organization of the State of Georgia, supported throughout the High- lands of the State, and co-operating eEFect- ivfcly with the military and naval occupation of the Atlantic coast : 4. While we have already assigned the grounds of expectation, that at Huntsville, in Madison county, a similar Assembly, pop- ular and Legislative, would speedily vindi- cate the Constitutional attitude of the State of Alabama against the Montgomery usurp- ation. In all these ^!tates there is a question of local policy, which constitutes a line of cleav- age between the slave aristocracy of the plantations and the free white population of the mountains. As in "Western Virginia, so in the Southern Alleghany districts, it is a powerful ally of the Union in the present crisis. The Highlands demand the white basis of representation — the Lowlands grasp at the coHtrol of government through the representation of slave property. Hitherto, the " effort to place capital above labor in the structure of government," has been but too successful, exciting profound dissatisfac- tion amono: the disfranchised counties of the *Charlotte, the seat of Mecklenburgh, is within the hill-region of North Carolina, not more than a day's journey from King's Moun- tain battle field. interior ; and since the |rebellion, the slave aristocracy propose further restrictions upon the people. Thus it will be seen, that a conflict of ideas, fundamental and irrepressible, will find expression by the re-establishment of the governments of Ten- nessee, Carolina, Georgia and Alabama, and their potential support by the National Government against the domestic violence of the rebel leaders. If, in July, the country had been content with a defensive attitude on the Potomac, and McClellan had rapidly pushed the success of West Virginia to the Relief of Tennessee, we would now witness the suc- cessful accomplishment of such a Counter Revolution again- 1 the despotism of Slavery and Disunion. I have presented the geographical argu- ment. Its social and political correlatives — the extinction of slavery and the triumph of the Union in AUeghania — are facts clearly imminent, and soon to be accomplished. With the march of the Legions of the Union, and the stern logic of Martial Law — with a proper response lo McClellan's ap- peal for " confidence, patience, and forbear- ance" on the part of the American People— and finally, with the important cooperation of State Legislation at Wheeling, Knoxville, Mecklenberg, Dahlonega and Huntsville, this Rebellion will first be banished from the Highlands of the South, to be crushed forever on the Cotton and Rice fields from which it sprung. May such be the Record, as it would be the Nemesis, of its History 1 APPENDIX. I. From the Louisville Journal. GRANDPA NATHAN, RESPECTFULLY IN3CKIBED TO GEN. COIIBS. LESUE BY W, D. GALLAGHER. I. By the beech and hickory fire Grandpa Nathan sat at night, With details of march'nj armies, Aai the news ofmany a fight. When he laid aside the paper, Though its contents he had told. He was plied with many questions By the young and by the old. It's a war the most infernal ! (Grandpa Nathan made reply,) But the Legions of the Union Soon will crush it out, or die 1 If I only had the vi^or Of just twenty years ago. How I'd leap into my saddle I How I'd fly to meet the foe I n. Nannie Hardin, dearest daughter, There's a spirit now abroad That's akin to whatsoever Is at enmity with God. It has wrought upon a portion Of the people of the land, Till they almost thiok they're honest In the treason Ihey have plann'd. It has struck the sea with rapine. It has tinged its shores with blood, And it rolls and surgen inland Like ades lating flood. It has rent the nearest kindred — E'en tie mother and the son ; Bat, as God's a God of Justice, Its career will soon be run, in. There's a camp in Wickliffe's meadow, Less than eighteen miles away— John, at your age I coula make it Twice 'twixt now and break of day ;— Fill yoar buggy up with baskets, Fill each basket to the brim. Sweep the pantry of its choicest. Till the ohelves are lean and slim ; Take a jug or two of apple, For these chill November damps Oft benumb the weary sentries As they guard the sleeping camps ; Drive the get of old Sarpedon — For the glory of his sires He will make the camp at Wicklifife's Ere they stir the morning firss. IV. Tell the soldier of Kentucky, And the soldier from abroad Who has come to fight the battle Of his country and his God — Tell them one who on the Wabash Fought with Daviess when he fell. And who bled at Meiga, where Dudley Met the painted hosts of hell — One who fought with Hart at Raisin, And with Johnson on the Thames, And with Jackson at New Orleans, Where we won immortal names, Seads them from his chimney corner Such fair greeting as he may. With a few small creature comforts For this drear December day. V. Tell them, he has watched this quarrel From its outbreak until now. And, with hand upon bis heart- beat, And God's light upon his brow. He invokes their truest manhood, The fall prowess of their youth. In this battle of the Nation For the right, and for the truth. //?» APPENDIX 21 Thus enjoins each T&liant spirit That would scorn to he a slave : " By ths toll and blood your fathers In the cause of Freedom spent, By the memory of your mothers And the noble aid they lent ; — VI. By the blessings God has showered On this birthright of the free, Give to Heaven a reverent spirit, Bend to Heaven a willing knee, And in silence, 'mid the pauses Of the hymn and of the prayer. To the God of Hosts appealing. By the God of Battles swear — Swear to rally 'round the standard With our nation that was born. With its stars of world-wide glory, And the stripes that non« may scorn I Swear to Bght the fight forced on us. While an armed foe stirs abroad ; Swear to fight the fight of Freedom, Of the Union, and of God 1 " VII. Ah I he drives the young Sarpedon— Drives the son of glorious sires. And he'll make the camp at Wicklifife's E'er they build the morning fires. Do you know, child, I am prouder Of the spirit of your boy, Than oi any other grandson That e'er brought his mother joy ? And so now, good Nannie Hardin, For the night you'd best retire : Ab for me, my child, I'm wakeful, And I'll still sit by the fire. Oh, my soul is in the battles Of the Wabash and the Thames, Where the prowecs of Kentucky Won imperishable nimes I VIII. I must see the cimp at Wickliffe's — Nannie, you as well can go ; I must ming'e with the soldiers Who have come to meet our foe ; I must talk to them of battles By the ranks of freedom won. And of acts of valor ventured , 4nd of deeds cf daring done. Oh, I'll take them to the ramparts Whece their fathers fought of old. For my spirit now surveys them. As a chart that is unroU'd, — And I'll show them in the mirror Of the clouds and of the skies, Where the hosts of glory marshal, And the flag of glory flies. IS. Take a blanket, dear, from Effle, And a comfort here and there. And from my good bed and wardrobe Strip whatever I can spare. Hunt the house from top to bottom ; And let all the neighbors know What they need , the men who shield them From the fury of the foe. Be up early in the morning ; Ask of all what they will send To the camp in WickliSe's meadow Where each soldier is a friend. 'Twere a sin , whilst there is plenty, (Let us never feel the taunt !) That the Legions of the Union, Braving danger, were in want. X. Write at once to Hatty Shelby. And — for both ot them are there — Send a line to Alice Dudley, And a word for Kuth Adair ; Then to morrow write to Dorcas, And anon to MoUie Todd : Say they've work now for their country, For their freedom and their God : And if only half the spirit That their mothers had is theirs. There'll be rapid work with needles And sharp rummaging up stairs, Oh, it stirs the blood of seventy. Wherever it survives. Just to touch the chain of memory 01 the old Kentucky wives 1 XI. In a day or two — at farthest When the present rain is done — You and I will take the carriage, With the rising of the sun, And we'll spend a day or longer With the soldiers in their camps. Taking stores that best may shield them From the chill November damps. Oh, I'll cheer them on to battle— And I'll stir each lofty soul As I paint the fields of honor Where the drums of giory roll I And I'll bid them never falter. While there's treason still abroad, In this battle for the Nation For our Union and for God. xn. One who fought upon the Wabash By Joe Daviess when he fell. And who bled at Meigs with Dudley, Where we met the hosts of hell, — 22f APPENDIX. Tell them on9 whose years are sinking To the quiet of the grave, One who fought with Hart at Raisin, And with Johnson on the Thames, And with Jackson at New Orleans, Where we won immortal names, Will he listened to with patience. By the heroes now at hand, Who have rush'd on to our rescue. In this peril of the land. By the memory of our Fathers, By the Brave, and by the Just, This Rebellion shall be vanquish'd, Though each traitor bite the dust I 11. REVOIiUTIONAKY BATTLE OF KIXG'S WlOUNTAirV. The story of the battle of King's Moun- tain is thus told in the words of the com- manding officer: "On receiving intelligence," he says in his report, "that Major Ferguson had advanced up as high as Gilbert Town, in Rutherford County, and threatened to cross the mountains to the western waters, Col. William Campbell with 400 men from Washington County, Yirginia, Colonel Isaac Shelby with 240 men from Sullivan County, N. C, and Lieut. Colonel John Sevier with 240 men of Washington Coun- ty. "N". C assembled at Watauga, on the :-L>tJiOt rj ,)tember (1780), where they were joined by (Jol. Charles McDowell with 160 'rtvn froiii lue counties of Burke and Ruth- ford, having fled before the enemy to the western waiters. We began our march on the 26th, and on the 30th we were joined by Col. Cleaveland, on the Catawba River, with 3.50 men from the counties of Wilkes and Surry. No one officer having properly a right to the command in chief, on the 1st of October we despatched an express to Major General Gates, informing him of our situation, and requesting him to send a gen- eral officer to take command of the whole. "In the mean time Col. Campbell was chosen to act as commandant, until such general officer should arrive. We marched to the Coiopens on Broad River, in South Carolina, where we were joined by Col. James Williams, with 400 men, on the eve- ning of the 6th of October, who informed us that the enemy lay encamped somewhere near the Cherokee Fork of Broad River, about 30 miles distant from us. By a council of principal officers it was then thought advisible to pursue the enemy that night with 900 of the best horsemen, and have the weak horses and footmen to follow as fast as possible. We began our march with 908 of the best men about 8 o'clock the same evening, and marching all night, came up with the enemy about 3 o,clock, p. M., of the 7th, who lay encamped on the top of King's Mountain, 12 miles north of the Cherokee Ford, in the confidence that they would not be forced from so advanta- geous a pass. Previous to the attack, on our march the following disposition was made: Col. Shelby's regiment formed a column in the centre on the left, Col. Camp- bell's regiment another on the right, while part of Col. Cleaveland's regiment, headed in front by Major Joseph Winston and Col- onel Sevier formed a large column on the right wing. The other part of Cleaveland's regiment, headed by Colonel Cleaveland himself, and Col. Williams' regiment com- posed the left wing. In this order we ad- vanced, and got within a quarter of a mile of the enemy before we were discovered. Col. Shelby's and Col. Campbell's regiments began the attack, and kept up a fire on the enemy, while the right and left wings were advancing to surround them, which was done in about five minutes, and the fire be- came general all around. The engagement lasted an hour and five minutes, the greater part of which time a heavy and incessant fire was kept up on both sides. Our men in some parts where the regulars fought, were obliged to give way a distance, two or three times, but rallied and returned with additional ardor to the attack. The troops upon the right having gained the summit of the eminence, obliged the enemy to retreat along the top of the ridge to where Col. Cleaveland commanded, and were there stopped by his brave men. A flag of truce was immediately hoisted by Captain Depeyster, the commanding officer (Major Fergerson having been killed a little before), for a surrender. Our fire immedi- ately ceased, and the enemy laid do^Ti their arms (the greater part of them charged) and surrendered themselves prisoners at discretion. It appears from their own pro- vision returns for that day, found in their ^a APPENDIX. 23 camp, that their whole force consisted of 1,125 men. * * Total loss of the British, 1,105 men, killed wounded, or made pris- oners." " No battle during the war," says Mr. Lossing, in his Field Book where we find the preceding report of the struggle at King's Mountain," was more obstinately contested than this : for the Americans were greatly exasperated by the cruelties of the Tories, and to the latter it was a ques- tion of life and death. It was with diffi- culty that the Americans, remembering Tar- leton's cruelty at Buford's defeat, could be restrained from slaughter, even after quar- ter was asked. In addition to the loss of men on the part of the enemy mentioned in the report, the Americans took from them 1,500 stand of arms. The loss of the Americans in killed was only twenty, but they had a great number wounded." Bat- tle fought Oct. 7, 1780. III. GEOGRaPHICAIi OBSTACLES TO OISUNION. The last number of the Danville (Ky.) Review contains an able article from the pen of the Rev. Robert J. Breckinridge, D.D., in which the distinguished writer thus forcibly restates the grounds on which it may be affirmed that the geography of the continent forbids a permanent separation of the United States, on any line commonly suggested as the possible basis of a territo- rial partition between the National Gov- ernment and the insurgent " Confederacy :" " Whoever will look at a map of the United States will observe that Louisiana lies on both sides of the Mississippi river, and that the States of Arkansas and Missis- sippi lie on the right and left banks of this great stream— eight hundred miles of whose lower course is thus controlled by these three States, unitedly inhabited by hardly as many white people as inhabit the city of New York. Observe, then, the country drained by this river and its affluents, coro- mencing with Miesouri on its west bank and Kentucky on its east bank. There are nine or ten powerful States, large portions of three or four others, several large Terri- tories — in all a country as large as all Eu^ rope, as fine as any under the sun, already holding many more people than all the re- volted States, and desticed to be one of the most populous and powerful regions of the earth. Does any one suppose that these powerful States — this great and energetic popuiaiion — will ever make a peace that shall put the lower course of this single and mighty national outlet to the sea in the hands of a foreign Government far weaker than themselves ? If there is any such per- son he knows little of the past history of mankind, and will perhaps excuse us for remindiug him that the people of Kentucky, before they were constituted a State, gave formal notice to the Federal Government, when Gen. Washington was President, that if the United States did not require Louisi- ana they would themselves conquer it. The mouths of the Mississippi belong, by the gift of God, to the inhabitants of its great val- ley. Nothing but irresistible force can dis- inherit them. "Try another territorial aspect of the case. There is a bed of mountains abut- ting on the left bank of the Ohio, which covers all Western Virginia, and all Eastern Kentucky, to the width, from east to west, in those two States, of three or four hun- dred miles. These mountains, stretching southwestwardly, pass entirely through Ten- nessee, cover the jback parts of North Carolina and Georgia, heavily invade the northern part of Alabama, anr^ "-'/ , r;o. ure even in the back parts of 's Una and the eastern parts of having- a course of perhaps se\. ^... hundred miles, and running far roqw. of the northern limit of profitable cotton culture. It is a region of 300,000 square miles, trench- ing upon eight or nine slave States, though nearly destitute of slaves itself ; trenching upon at least five cotton States, though rais- ing no cotton itself. The western part of Maryland and two-thirds of Pennsylvania are embraced in the northeastern continu- ation of this remarkable region. Can any thing that passes under the name of states- manship be more preposterous than the no- tion of permanent peace on this continent, founded on the abnegation of a common and paramount Government, and the idea of the supercilious domination of the cotton 24t APPENDIX. interest and the slave trade over such a mouDtaiu empire, so located and so peopled ? " As a further proof of the utter irapos- sibili:y of peace except under a common Government, and at once an illustration of the import of what has just been stated, and the sufjgestion of a new and insuperable difficulty, let it be remembered that this great mountain region, throughout its gen- eral course, is more loyal to the Union than any other portion of the slave States. It is the mountain counties of Maryland that have held treason in check in that State ; it is forty mountain counties in Western Vir- ginia tbat have laid the foundation of a new and loyal commonwealth ; it is the mountain ^^~ "of Kentucky that first and most fdy took up arms for the Union ; it is fue mountain region of Tennessee that alone in that dishonored State, lurnished martyrs to the sacred cause of freedom ; it is the mountain people of Alabama that boldly stood out against the Confederate Govern- ment till their own leaders deserted and be- trayed them. Now, is the nation prepared under any imaginable circumstances, to sac- rifice these heroic men, as a condition of peace conquered from them by traitors? Will the nation sell the blood — we will not say of a race of patriots — but of even a single one of them ? The representatives of these men sit in Congress ; their Senators are in the Capitol. Will the rebel States dismember themselves that cotton may have peace ? Will the nation turn its back on the five border slave States, deliver over Western Virginia to the sword, and cover its own infamy under the luins of the Con- stitution ? Never, never I Our sole altern ative is victory. To know this is to render victory certain. ' LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 013 703 926 6