Upon reaching the intersection of the Clifty Road and the old turnpike, General Lee dispatched Colonel Chapman with three hundred troops out the Clifty Road to cut off any retreat toward Carnifex Ferry and prevent any attack from the rear. The road would also return to the old turnpike below the Tyree Inn, placing the colonel and his men closer to the Gauley.
General Lee had hoped to surprise the company of Gray Dragoons at the old inn and make them prisoners. His progress was impeded by a number of sharp skirmishes along the road, and picket post after picket post was dislodged. These skirmishes bought time, allowing the dragoons to scatter, and General Lee found the camp deserted when he arrived.
The whole force had retreated from the mountain and was beyond the intersection where the Ramsey Road joined the old turnpike when Colonel Chapman arrived. Following them to the heights overlooking the valley, Chapman placed a battery of cannons in sheltered spots along the beetling cliffs on the mountainside and began hurling bombs intermittently on Cox’s position across the Gauley.
After a quick inspection of the Tyree Inn and the surrounding area, General Lee, with nearly fifty troopers and Molly, started riding slowly down the lane toward the Pines. The guards fired a volley and then barely escaped with their own lives.
Andy heard the shots, got up from the bed, and made his way into the front room. Peering through the window, he saw the horsemen in gray surrounding the building. When he saw the men in gray, he was sure that Molly had gone to General Lee. For nearly a week he had quizzed Rubin and Nanny, but they were silent, not by choice, because they didn’t know what happened to Molly.
Then he saw three horsemen coming down the lane. The one in the middle wore a Union uniform! Andy thought, Who have they taken prisoner? They reached the gate. The figure in the blue uniform jumped to the ground, lunged through the gate, and was running toward the house.
“Andy! Andy! Your dream has come true,” screamed Molly.
Then he realized the black horse was Black Demon, but where did Molly get the Union uniform? Instantly he knew. It was his uniform. He met her on the porch. Instantly they were in a deep embrace. “Thanks to General Lee and the South. Thanks to General Lee and the South,” Molly was saying.
“I will still be a prisoner,” answered Andy.
“Yes, I guess you are, but they have no cause to shoot you,” replied Molly.
“Thanks to Molly Campbell, it was she who brought General Lee. It was she who risked escape,” Andy answered.
“Yes, but I am of the South. You must remember that,” she said with a slight demand in her voice.
“I almost forgot. Colonel Hayes said you were the worst and most dangerous little Rebel in Western Virginia. Molly, I surrender unconditionally,” replied Andy.
She snuggled in his arms, and he kissed her again and again.
CHAPTER XII
General Lee remained in the area for a few days riding over the area, thinking about the people who wanted to make it a separate state from Virginia. He rode down the mountain to the rock[4] where hawks built nests and in abundance raised their young. There he stood in silence and awe at the breathtaking view of New River Gorge, surrounded by sheer cliffs as far as he could see to the east and to the west. Then he continued across the mountain to where Colonel Chapman was camped. Inspecting the troops and the placement of cannons, he remarked, “You can pester the hell out of Cox from here.” He could hear sounds of cannon fire downriver and knew that Wise was in position. Immediately he thought of Floyd at Carnifex Ferry, Wise below Kanawha Falls, Chapman on top of the mountain. They had Cox in a trap and could crush his army. But where was Rosecrans? If still in Clarksburg, his plan would succeed, but if he marched down the Gauley, he would be trapped. Also, he knew that a state militia was being formed with men from Raleigh, Mercer, and Fayette Counties. This posed more danger.
The opportunity was tempting, but he was first a commander under orders from Jefferson Davis to withdraw from western Virginia. “Colonel Venable,” he called. “I want you to withdraw your men from here by September 20th. Also dispatch a messenger to General Wise, reminding him to leave when you do.”
He rode back to the Pines. Upon arriving, he found Molly and Andy sitting on the porch. He dismounted and asked, “Enjoying the autumn evening?” Before they answered, he continued, “My men and I will be pulling out three days from now, and you will have to accompany me. It will not be safe to leave you behind. Andy, if you are not able to ride, we will make a wagon available and comfortable.”
“I feel up to riding, sir,” answered Andy hesitantly.
Nanny met General Lee at the door with a cold glass of water. Thanking her, he stepped inside.
“Andy, we will have to go with General Lee where he goes,” Molly said tacitly. “My memories and life are all here. My mother and dad are both buried just beyond the springhouse on the east side of the small knoll. But there is nothing else left for us to do. When General Lee leaves, the people here will be at the mercy of the Union troops. That will be bad enough, but they would hang both of us.”
“I suppose we will, Molly,” Andy answered.
Previously they talked together and came to a complete understanding on the matter of the war and the situation in which they found themselves. They discussed plans for the future—the far distant future was, of course, vague and uncertain.
“We’ll come back sometime and an-an-and I hope it will be soon,” she said.
“We will come back to the Pines when the war is over,” Andy assured her. “I found you here. I found happiness here. I want to live here always.”
“Andy, I’ll go with you anywhere. Here or wherever,” she whispered.
“I would be happy anywhere with you, Molly,” he said, as he put an arm around her. “We’ll have to move our plans up, so let us go to bed, and I’ll meet you in the morning.”
The next morning at sunrise, Andy saddled Black Demon and one of the army’s mounts for him, and they rode to the Fayette Courthouse. It was August 30; they obtained a marriage license and were married by a local preacher, disregarding the advice given by General Lee.
When they returned and informed General Lee, he offered best wishes. Nanny and Rubin cried—their tears were both from joy and sadness.
That night they lay in bed, both very silent until Molly turned over facing Andy and whispered, “Andy, I do want us to come back, but I am afraid you would tire of the mountains. You have lived a fuller life, and that isn’t possible in these mountains. You will seek better opportunities than the mountains can afford. Wherever you go, I’m going with you, dear.”
“Molly, put that foolishness out of your pretty head. I can be happy with you anywhere,” he replied.
She laughed, smoothed his hair, and kissed him as their arms circled in a deep embrace.
The next morning at breakfast, Molly informed General Lee that they would be going with him and then continue to Richmond, where they would stay with her aunt.
After breakfast she asked Nanny to have Rubin go to the house, where she informed them of their plans.
“Nanny,” she said, “you are like a mother to me. In fact, you have done for me everything a mother could do except giving me life. I now have a new life before me. I have promised to take you and Rubin with me, but now, and until this war is over, you and Rubin will have to remain here at the Pines. Andy and I are going to my aunt’s in Richmond.”
4
Southwest of Ansted, West Virginia, still stands the rock where hawks build their nests. It is a beautiful state park named Hawk’s Nest, built in the mid-1900s by the CCCs. At the foot of this stately large rock is a dam that my father helped build that crosses New River, backing water behind it and forming a large lake. On the northwest side of the dam begins a tunnel that is carved through three miles of solid rock, with water flowing through turning hydroelectric generators supplying electric power for the community of Alloy, West Virginia. The water rejoins the river bed approximately four miles from the beetling cliffs, where Colonel Chapman placed the cannons he used to bombard Gauley Bridge, West Virginia, during this period of history. The writer remembers seeing New River from Hawk’s Nest before the dam was built and as it is today. Even with the dam at its foot, it is still an awe-inspiring and breathtaking view for many a traveler.