An Eyewitness at Carnifex Ferry
Major Robert Henry Glass, editor of the Lynchburg Republican , witnessed the Federal advance and attack at Carnifex Ferry, Virginia on the afternoon of September 10, 1861, impressed both with the heroism of his comrades and that of his opponents. “The enemy was seen swarming in the woods from one end of our lines to the other,” Glass reported. “He approached us from this point in double-quick time, evidently intending to force our works at the point of the bayonet. At the first crack of our rifles the gallant Colonel who led in front of his men, on a splendid black charger, fell dead to the earth, while the head of his column recoiled in utter confusion. The Colonel's horse, as if unconscious of the fall of his rider, dashed up to our embankments and around them into our camp, and from the inscription upon the mountings of his pistols, proved to be Colonel William H. Lytle of Cincinnati [commanding 10 th Ohio Infantry]. I saw the daring officer fall from his horse, and he was ce