Civil War in Western North Carolina

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THE CIVIL WAR IN WESTERN NC
In Western North Carolina
The following research and annotated bibliography was completed by Rebecca Lamb as part of the essential research for the Western North Carolina Civil War Trail markers that were placed throughout the western region of North Carolina. Various topics were uncovered and revealed by Lamb in the course of her investigation of the Civil War in this area. A brief list of the topics and a more comprehensive description of the topic is included here to assist other researchers. Rebecca Lamb is a candidate for the Master in Liberal Arts degree at the University of North Carolina Asheville and is employed by the university as the Director of Annual Giving, UNC Asheville Foundation, Office of Development. Civil War Trails Buncombe County
TOPICAL RESEARCH 1st U.S. Colored Heavy Artillery Asheville’s Confederate Jails Battery Porter Battle of Asheville Battle of Swannanoa Gap Blake House Confederate Hospital Confederate Tournament Grounds Enslavement During Wartime George Avery Mystery Grave at Swannanoa Gap Palmer’s 15th Pennsylvania Calvary Riley Powers: Mountain Sailor Riverside Cemetery Robert B. Vance Thomas Clingman William Jackson Palmer: Quaker Warrior Zebulon Vance	ADDITIONAL TOPICS Asheville Armory, 1862-1863 (See Noe, Kenneth, ed.) Civil War Camps Confederate Guerrillas Desertion Shelton Laurel Massacre Thomas' Legion [Online web site that is comprehensive in coverage] Unionist Guerrillas
1st U.S. Colored Heavy Artillery In 1864, General Davis Tillson raised an artillery of 1,700 freed men and former slaves from Tennessee and North Carolina. Assigned to Tillson’s 2nd Brigade, they participated in operations in Tennessee and Alabama, joining General Stoneman in Virginia and North Carolina in 1865. Stoneman listed the Artillery with 1,100 “ready to take the field.” Tillson reported, “On the 27th, the… First U.S. Colored Heavy Artillery…were moved toward Asheville, NC…arriving there on [April] 30th.” To many white Southerners, these soldiers symbolized defeat. Foster Sondley wrote, “Negro sentinels were placed at the approaches to the town in order that no insult might be spared to a devoted people.” Sarah Bailey Cain recalled, “We passed through an immense crowd of…privates and insolent Negroes in U. S. uniforms. One of the Negroes called out to my father ‘How do you like this, old man?’” Tillson accepted the surrender of Col. Bradford on May 6, and his Artillery stayed in the region until May 18. A court martial took place in Asheville on May 6, 1865. Col. C.G. Hawley reported, “The Negro soldiers who committed the rape, except one witness, four in number, were shot yesterday, before the whole regiment.” Tillson detailed, “The Negroes…were a party who stole out of camp on the march to Asheville and committed a brutal rape on the person of a young white woman, after nearly killing her uncle and aunt, two very old people, who tried to prevent the outrage. I am much gratified that they have been found and shot.” The execution and burial of Privates Alfred Catlett, Alexander Colwell, Washington Jackson and Charles Turner of Company E, 1st U.S. Colored Heavy Artillery, took place at the junction of Broadway with East and Chestnut Streets (Five Points). Around 1900, work at East Street uncovered their graves. The 1st U.S. Colored Heavy Artillery served in Tennessee until mustered out on March 31, 1866. After the war, Tillson oversaw The Freedman's Bureau in Tennessee and Georgia.

Asheville’s Confederate Jails During the Civil War, there were at least three Confederate prisons in Asheville. The small jail on Public Square (now Pack Square), the Confederate Armory (after it stopped making rifles), and the Asheville Military Academy (renamed William Randolph Elementary School in 1932). Lieut. Alonzo Cooper, 12th N.Y. Cavalry, was imprisoned Asheville in 1864 with 56 Confederate deserters and a slave where, “The room was so full, that it was impossible for all of us to lie down at once, and we were obliged to take turns standing up.” Cooper planned an escape: “It was all arranged that the large, powerful negro should seize the Sergeant from behind and hold him while [we] secured his pistol and the keys.” When the escape failed, the Confederates gave the slave 100 lashes. Cooper recalled, “The shrieks and groans of this poor fellow, was enough to send a chill of horror through the most hardened. He begged for mercy in the most piteous terms, and as the cruel strap laid open the quivering flesh, and the blood trickled down his body, I shouted…that the poor fellow was not to blame, half so much as the white men…. Finding that the infuriated monsters were bound to vent their spite on this poor fellow, I turned away, and by holding my hands to my ears tried to shut out the sound of his pitiful cries for mercy. While reason remains to me I can never forget the scenes of that terrible night.” Other notable prisoners kept in Asheville’s Confederate jails include Hendersonville’s newspaper editor Alexander Jones who wrote, “I endeavored to give the people the benefit of the great arguments in favor of the Union. My editorials were determined and uncompromising.” After imprisonment in Asheville, he was conscripted into the Virginia infantry, but deserted to Cincinnati. Lt. Col. J. A. Keith was also jailed in Asheville following the Shelton-Laurel Massacre. He spent two years awaiting trial, but fearing “Judge Lynch,” he escaped during the night of February 21, 1869 and never returned to the region.

Battery Porter What is now called Battery Park used to be Stony Hill and was the highest point in Asheville. It was here that a Confederate battery under the command of a man named Porter encamped. Some refer to this as a “South Carolina Battery,” but the identity of Porter is unknown. Porter’s Battery included four 12-pounder field guns, popularly called the “Napoleon.” This smoothbore cannon was the “workhorse” of the war, admired for its safety, reliability and killing power. Weighing 1227 pounds and 66 inches long, the Napoleon could shoot a projectile nearly one mile. On April 6, 1865, Porter’s Battery participated in the Battle of Asheville. Then ordered to Greenville, SC, the Battery was captured outside Hendersonville on April 23. General Gillem noted the capture of “4 pieces and 70 of its infantry guard,” recognizing “Lt. Col. Slater for his distinguished gallantry in charging and capturing the enemy’s battery….” When negotiating a truce, Gillem reported, “General Martin demanded the restoration of the battery captured the preceding day, basing his claim on the fact that the capture had been made after the date of the agreement between Generals Sherman and Johnson, though the existence might have been unknown to him and myself. Of course I declined restoring the battery….” Asheville resident John Arthur recalled, “The people of Asheville had the mortification of seeing the guns of Porter’s battery that had guarded the crest of what is now Battery Park hill, just captured, driven through by [the First U.S. Colored Heavy Artillery].” Porter’s Napoleons arrived in Greeneville, Tennessee on April 27. Stony Hill was called Battery Porter Hill after the war, but was renamed Battery Park when a hotel opened there in 1886. E.W. Grove reduced the height of the hill by seventy feet in 1924 when he built today’s Battery Park Hotel. To envision the height of the former hill, count to the seventh floor of Battery Park Hotel.

The Battle of Asheville April 3, 1865, the 101st Ohio Infantry under General Kirby left Tennessee for Asheville. On April 6, Nicholas Woodfin spotted the Union scouts on the Buncombe Turnpike and rushed two miles to Asheville to sound the alarm. Col. George Clayton was the highest ranking officer in Asheville and was under-manned because General Martin was in pursuit of Kirk’s cavalry. Scout Lt. W.H. Greenwood captured “five rebels, a mule wagon and team of mules” and saw enough to report “400 troops and six guns only” to Kirby. The Confederates had previously placed trenches and breastworks along Woodfin’s Ridge (now Lookout Mountain) east and north of Glen’s Creek and the Buncombe Turnpike (Broadway Avenue). Preparing for battle, Clayton entrenched on Woodfin’s Ridge with 300 men, including 175 remaining members of his 62nd NC Infantry, Asheville’s Silver Greys home guard, a local fire company, and two cannons from Porter’s Battery. Around 3 p.m. the Confederates released a hailstorm of musket balls upon the approaching Federals. Over the next six hours, the forces hammered each other with little movement between the two armies. The ferocity of the engagement led Kirby to report, “I ordered the withdrawal of the brigade at 8 p.m. In my opinion General Martin had under this immediate command at Asheville not less than 1000 men and six guns….” Kirby retreated to Tennessee, abandoning guns, bayonets and other equipment. Asheville was defended against 900 Federals with just 300 men, including convalescing soldiers, a 14-year old and a 70-year old Baptist preacher. No one on either side was killed, and only two to four were wounded. After the battle the Confederates found “one leg in a boot” amongst the deserted Union equipment. When Robert E. Lee surrendered on April 9, the men of the 62nd in Asheville withdrew and returned to their homes. They never swore the oath of allegiance as required by Federal authorities.

Battle of Swannanoa Gap On April 20, 1865, Stoneman’s Raiders under General Alvan Gillem tried to cross the Blue Ridge to Asheville via Swannanoa Gap. Gillem wrote, “I regarded the possession of one of the gaps of the Blue Ridge as being absolutely necessary to the safety of my command.” General James Martin sent his entire command to the gap, stopping the Raiders at Royal Gorge. Charles White recalled, “Our Home Guard got busy on the mountain sides and cut big trees across the roads leading to Swannanoa and Lakey’s Gaps. We succeeded in making a barricade that no cavalry force would soon cross or clear away, but those of us (25 or 30) working on the road to the Swannanoa Gap were trapped in the gorge by a too early appearance of a part of Stoneman’s men and were quickly taken prisoners.” After two days, the Raiders retreated to “a forced march of sixty-nine miles” to approach Asheville by a southern route through Rutherford, Polk and Henderson Counties. Then, “The Yankees got word of General Lee’s surrender and soon all of their prisoners were given freedom to go where they chose.” Seventeen-year-old White returned to his home on the Broad River. Stoneman’s Raiders continued toward Asheville.

Blake House Confederate Hospital The house of Dr. Frederick R. Blake in Arden is often said to have been used as a Confederate Hospital during the Civil War. This tradition maintains that in addition to Confederate troops, Union soldiers also received treatment, hiding in the basement to elude detection. However, there is no evidence to back up this tradition. During the war, Blake served as a Captain in the Company H of the 25th North Carolina Infantry. In 1864, Kellogg’s Connecticut troops fought with Clingman’s North Carolina brigade at Cold Harbor, Virginia. As the Union forces surged, Clingman later recalled in the Official Records that his aide Captain Fred R. Blake called out, “Here they are, as thick as they can be!” Blake was later recommended as an aide for General Lee and, in that capacity, he was present at the surrender at Appomattox. Thus, the military records reveal that Blake was not running a hospital from his home during the war. Because there are three houses in the area known as “the Blake House,” it is possible that this tradition relates to another house. This seems especially likely as this house does not have a basement to hide Union soldiers. However, it seems more plausible that the Confederate Hospital tradition originated with a former owner of the Blake House Bed and Breakfast, in an effort to elevate the importance of the historic house.

Confederate Tournament Grounds From 1865 to 1866, returning Confederates used the area near Asheville’s Aston Park as a tournament ground. Foster Sondley recalled these events: “The rider at full speed attempted to catch on his sabre a metal ring of about two inches in diameter suspended from the arm of an upright post which projected about half way over the course…. [In addition], two posts about as high as a house...were surmounted by slender upright wooden pegs about six inches high on top of which were fastened wooden balls four inches in diameter so that the pegs would constitute necks. The rider galloping by attempted to sever these necks with his sabre so that the balls would fall to the ground. … Then the effort was to catch the ring on a long lance. …About the same time was revived once the barbarous old English practice of the days of Shakespeare called a “gander-pulling” in which instead of the ring was suspended a live gander with greased head and neck, while every rider attempted to pull off the bird’s head.” Later, this was Asheville first baseball field and was used for picnics, political speakers, and public gatherings.

Enslavement During Wartime By 1860, 15.4% of Buncombe County’s population was enslaved. James Patton housed slaves behind his downtown Eagle Hotel where they worked as waiters, maids, grooms, cooks and trail guides. Other slaves lived in Asheville and worked in James Smith’s Buck Hotel, store, stable, tannery and blacksmith shop. These urban slaves played a vital role in this commercial and tourist center. Asheville’s enslaved population doubled during the war, causing housing and food shortages. Fearing Union forces to the east, Governor Vance decreed, “It is the duty of all slave-owners immediately to remove their slaves able to bear arms.” The Confederate administration issued a similar order for coastal South Carolina. Asheville became a safe haven for refugees who came with their slaves. Some slaves worked in the Confederate rifle factory in Asheville. Sarah Gudger was born a slave in Buncombe County and recalled the Civil War: “When the war came…us darkies didn’t know what it was all about. …One day, I never forget, we look about and see soldiers marching; look like the whole valley full of them. I thought, ‘Poor helpless critters, just going away to get killed.’ The drums were beating and the fifes a playing. …Oh, glory, it was a sight.” Some slaves escaped to Union occupied Tennessee. Others aided Union fugitives, providing food, clothing and directions. One slave helped a New York cavalryman escape from Asheville’s prison. A soldier wrote, “They were always ready to help anybody opposed to the Rebels.” To Asheville’s slaves, Stoneman’s soldiers were liberators when they came April 25, 1865. Fannie Patton wrote, “In the morning, we saw that the troops were going to move and also that a great many Negros were going to leave with them. About 20 of ours went off which, with those that had gone a few days before, made 29.” Mary Taylor Brown wrote, “All of Mrs. J.W. Patton’s servants left her and went with the Yankees…. They even took her beautiful carriage and, crowding into it, drove off in full possession.” Cornelia Henry wrote her husband, “You have no idea how big the [Negroes] feel. Ole Sam and Lena there is no difference, but take care for the others. Even Rose feels her freedom.”

George Avery George Avery joined Company D of the 40th US Colored Infantry as a Private in Greeneville, Tennessee in 1865. Tradition maintains his master, Confederate Major William McDowell, sent Avery to enlist for a post-war pension. However, Avery’s enlistment corresponded with the arrival Stoneman’s Raiders who liberated Asheville’s enslaved population, recruiting around forty “Negroes who were following the column” and taking them to Greeneville. The 40th were railroad guards in Tennessee. Although Avery enlisted for three years, the unit mustered out April 25, 1866. Avery returned to Asheville where the McDowells provided land, lumber to construct a house nearby, and a job as a cemetery’s caretaker that he kept until his death at the age of 96. His tombstone at the South Asheville Colored Cemetery proudly acknowledges his Union service.

Mystery Grave at Swannanoa Gap Confederate veterans told two different stories about a grave at Swannanoa Gap. In one version, a Union scout was stabbed in a scuffle with a home guardsman. Other Union scouts, sensing something was amiss, retreated, calling out “Come on, Bill.” The home guard buried the man with a crude gravestone inscribed “Bill.” In another version, a Union deserter named Carver was being transferred from Asheville to Morganton with other prisoners. While resting at a Swannanoa Gap spring, the prisoners grabbed their guards’ guns. Carver shot a guard named Bledsoe and was killed by another guard. One account says both men were buried on the site, another says Carver was buried and Bledsoe returned to Asheville. In 1914, the Winston-Salem Union Republican claimed Carver was exhumed and buried in a Henderson County churchyard.

Palmer’s 15th Pennsylvania Calvary William Palmer raised his 15th Pennsylvania Calvary in 1862. These men served at Antietam, Tullahoma, Chickamauga, Chattanooga and Nashville, joining Stoneman’s Raid to Virginia and North Carolina in 1864. On April 27, two days after the truce in western North Carolina, the men enjoyed their journey west from the Catawba Valley to Asheville, as reported by Captain Harry Weand: “…We marched sixteen miles, to the top of Blue Ridge, on our way back to East Tennessee, wither we were ordered. Our march today was through the grandest scenery we have looked on during our term of service. …As we roade [sic] along we plucked the fragrant magnolia from the forest trees…. Our camp was at the entrance of the present “Biltmore” grounds, near Asheville….” The 15th’s riverside camp was in sight of the McDowell plantation on the bluff across the river. McDowell family tradition says that convalescing Major William McDowell hid in the woods to avoid capture by the Federals. His wife, Sarah Lucinda McDowell, protected her silver flatware by burying it. However, Palmer’s men were reported to conduct themselves properly, which cannot be said for Gillem's men who ransacked Asheville on April 26. Promoted to General, Palmer halted the “pillaging and destroying of property” and sent a letter of apology to General Martin, characterizing the incident as “unbecoming to the Honor of the United States.” From Asheville, the 15th Pennsylvania Calvary went to South Carolina in search of Confederate President Jefferson Davis and the legendary Confederate gold. Their final contribution was capturing General Braxton Bragg and his staff. They disbanded and mustered out in Nashville, TN on June 21, 1865.

Riley Powers: Mountain Sailor In early1861, Buncombe County farmer William Riley Powers joined the Rough and Ready Guards (Company F, 14th NC) who were assigned to southeastern Virginia. General Benjamin Huger discharged Privates Riley Powers and William Pleasant Craig, also of Buncombe, sending them “to go on board the Merrimack” on February 18, 1862. The Merrimack was a deserted Union frigate raised by the Confederates. Renamed the CSS Virginia, the ship was refitted with four-inch thick iron sheeting and a gun turret. Lacking qualified sailors, the Confederates transferred soldiers to the Navy to man the Virginia. Powers and Craig received the rank of Landsman, inexperienced naval recruits assigned the dirtiest, heaviest and most menial tasks aboard ship. The Virginia was poorly ventilated and very crowded. Ship surgeon Dinwiddie Phillips wrote, "Most of our crew being volunteers from the army and unused to ship-life, about twenty per cent of our men were usually ashore at the hospital, and our effective force on the 8th of March was about 250 or 260 men.” March 7-8, 1862, the Virginia successfully engaged the warships Cumberland and Congress, part of the Union blockade of Norfolk. However, the Union also created an “ironclad” ship. On March 9, the USS Monitor engaged the Virginia at Hampton Roads, the first battle ever between armor class ships. Both left the battle believing they were victorious. To avoid her loss to the Union, her crew sunk the Virginia in May 1862. Powers served with the Virginia from launch to destruction. After the war, he returned to Buncombe County where he resided until his death.

Riverside Cemetery More than 250 Civil War veterans are buried at Asheville’s Riverside Cemetery. In addition to Thomas Clingman, Robert Vance, and Zeb Vance, other notables include: Colonel Allen Davidson (1819-1905) served with the Haywood County militia, attended the North Carolina Secession Convention, and served as a CSA Congressman from 1862 to 1864. General James Martin (1819-1878) was a West Point graduate, nicknamed “Old One Wing” because of an arm lost in the Mexican-American War. He resigned his commission to serve the Confederacy. He was present at the “Last Shot” of the Civil War east of the Mississippi and formerly surrendered the western district of North Carolina. Colonel Andrew McGonnigle (1829-1901) was a warded the Congressional Medal in 1864 at Cedar Creek, Virginia. His citation reads, “While acting as chief quartermaster of General Sheridan’s forces operating in the Shenandoah Valley, McGonnigle was severely wounded while voluntarily leading a brigade of infantry and was commended for the greatest gallantry by General Sheridan.” Captain James Posey served with Company D, 16th Regiment Union Virginia Volunteers and Company D, 5th Battalion District of Columbia Infantry which defended Washington D.C. His family claimed he was a bodyguard to President Abraham Lincoln. However, this is not verifiable. It is possible that Posey was one of the guards for Lincoln’s grave, but again, this has not been confirmed. Private Allen Christian Redwood (1844-1922) was one of the few Confederate illustrators and writers of the Civil War, providing fifty illustrations for Scribner’s “Battles and Leaders of the Civil War.” During service with the 55th Virginia and the 1st Maryland Cavalry, he was wounded three times and taken prisoner twice.

Robert B. Vance Robert B. Vance (1828–1899) was Governor Zebulon Vance’s older brother. Like Zeb, Robert was a unionist, but volunteered for confederate military service in 1861. He served as Colonel of the 29th NC Regiment and was promoted to Brigadier General. Vance was placed in command of Western North Carolina, but was captured by union forces in eastern Tennessee in 1864. Paroled on the orders of President Lincoln, he was granted a pardon and allowed to return home to Buncombe County. In 1872 he was elected to the US Congress and served until 1896. Vance died in 1899 and is buried in Asheville’s Riverside Cemetery.

Thomas Clingman Thomas Clingman (1812-1897) was one of the most outspoken politicians of the pre-war era. His proslavery and states’ rights positions climaxed when he said to Congress, “Do us justice and we stand with you; attempt to trample on us and we separate.” He was the last southern senator to leave Washington D.C., but refused to resign his seat and, thus, was one of ten expelled from the Senate in absentia. Clingman served as Brigadier General of the 8th, 31st, 51st and 61st NC Infantry Regiments. His military service ended May 1864 when wounded at the Battle of Cold Harbor, Virginia. He returned to Asheville and is buried at Riverside Cemetery. Camp Clingman, one of Asheville’s Confederate training camps, was named in honor of Clingman and was located between today’s French Broad Avenue and Phillip Street.

William Jackson Palmer: Quaker Warrior Col. William Jackson Palmer, leading the First Brigade of Stoneman’s Raiders, set up headquarters at Sherrill’s Inn in Fairview on April 27, 1865. The 15th Pennsylvania, the 12th Ohio and the 10th Michigan made up his brigade. About 1,300 soldiers and their horses camped about the countryside. The Sherrill family fed the officers, and one of the daughters shook her stocking over the cooking eggs and declared, “Those Yankees can eat the dust off my feet and think it’s pepper.” Captain Harry Weand of the 15th Pennsylvania described their journey up the nearby Hickory Nut Gorge: “Our March today was through the grandest scenery we have looked on during our term of service. We went up through the Hickory Nut Gap in the mountains, along the Broad River, up to its source. Towering above us, almost to the clouds, were the precipitous crags of the Hickory Mountains, and at High Falls the water drops 300 feet from the summit. It was so imposing that the usual chat of the riders was hushed, as they gazed with awe on the sight. As we rode along we plucked the fragrant Magnolia from the forest trees, and the wish of all was to stay longer with it, but that could not be done, and we went on up to the top, where plenty of forage was found.” Palmer was promoted to Brevet Brigadier General, probably while at Sherrill’s Inn, giving him authority to command the two brigades already in Asheville that had participated in pillaging on April 26. Palmer, a “Quaker warrior,” joined the army as a way to express his abolitionist views. He was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.
Zebulon Vance Zebulon B. Vance (1830-1894) is known as “North Carolina’s Civil War Governor.” Born in Buncombe County into a family with a long tradition of military and public service, Vance continued that legacy throughout his life. In 1861 at the outbreak of war, he was a staunch unionist, but nevertheless gave up his congressional seat. He raised a company of volunteers, “The Rough and Ready Guards” and joined the Confederate Army. Elected Colonel of the 26th NC Regiment in August, 1861, Vance served in the field until he was elected governor in 1862. Vance’s wartime administration was marked by his efforts to guide his state through the conflict while balancing the needs of his people with the national needs of the Confederate States. His leadership and concern for the citizens of North Carolina ensured his place in the hearts of his constituents. At war’s end, on his 35th birthday he was arrested, briefly imprisoned in Washington D.C., and then paroled. Pardoned in 1867, he was elected governor in 1876 and then to the U.S. Senate in 1879. He died while in office in 1894. His funeral services were held in the chamber of the United States Senate, and he is buried in Asheville’s Riverside Cemetery.

Civil War Records See: Ancestry.com

General Bibliography: An extensive annotated bibliography prepared by Rebecca Lamb, UNC Asheville.
Inscoe, John C. and Gordon B McKinney. The Heart of Confederate Appalachia: Western North Carolina in the Civil War, Chapel Hill & London: The University of North Carolina Press, 2000. Noe, Kenneth W. and Shannon H.Wilson, eds. The Civil War in Appalachia: Collected Essays. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1997. O'Brian, Sean Michael. Mountain Partisans: Guerrilla Warfare in the Southern Appalachians, 1861-1865. Westport, CN & London: Praeger, 1999. Stringfield, William W., *"North Carolina Cherokees," The North Carolina Booklet, Vol. 3, No. 2, July 1903.* Trotter, William R.. Bushwhackers!: The Civil War in North Carolina, Vol. II, The Mountains, Greensboro: Signal Research ,Inc., 1988.

	MILITARY ACADEMIES Early discussion of a Military Academy at Asheville is included in this exchange in the Legislative Acts or Legal Proceedings in the National Advocate, Volume: IV;Issue: 956; Page: [2], January 6, 1816. The National Advocate existed from (December 15, 1812 to December 31, 1820) The House, according to the order of the day, again resolved itself into a committee of the whole on the bill for establishing three additional military academies. The amendment on the table at the former sitting on this subject (vis. on motion of Mr. Pickens was to limit the increase to two academies; one in the District of Columbia and one in Asheville, Buncombe County, N.C.) was taken up and rejected. Mr. Wilde then proposed to amend the bill so as to establish one additional academy only, and that one within the District of Columbia. This motion was supported by arguments going to show the expediency of such an institution being as much as possible of a national character and under the eye of the the government. His object was not to diminish the number of cadets, but to give to the institution of the military academies, as far as possible, a national character, which he thought would be assisted by depriving them of local or sectional features, &c. Mr. Pickering was in favor of so much of the proposed amendment as went to limit the number of additional academies to one, but opposed to the location of that one in the District of Columbia. He preferred that it should be located at Harper's Ferry, a point which he appeared to consider as invested with great advantages, from its being already the scite [sic] of an armory, from it situation being very healthy, and in the midst of a country fertile in all the necessaries of life. Mr. Sheffey required a division of the question , so as to place the question simply before the house whether the additional number of Academies should be one or three. On this question an animated debate took place, a sketch of the prominent points of which shall be given in our next. Suffice it for the present to state the results. The question to strike out three and insert one, was decided in the affirmative, ayes 91. The question to make the corresponding amendment in the section, viz. to strike out all respecting the location of the Academies except what relates to the one proposed to be established in the District of Columbia, was also decided in the affirmative. Mr. Pickering then moved to strike out the words, "within the District of Columbia," and insert "at or near Harper's Ferry, on the Potomac." On suggestion of Mr. Clay, Mr. Pickering varied his motion so as to confine it to striking out the District of Columbia, leaving a blank to be filled as the House might think proper. The motion, so varied, was decided in the affirmative by a large majority. So the District was put out of the question. Mr. Clay then moved to fill the blank in the section with the words "Pittsburgh, at the junction of the Allegany and Monongahela rivers." This motion being under consideration -- The committee rose and obtained leave to sit again; and the house adjourned.