ON THIS DAY: Monday, Sept. 23, 1861

Four companies of the 47^th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, a regiment formed in southern Ohio, are moving southwesterly through western Virginia [later to become West Virginia]. They are marching from Weston to Cross Lanes, where they will join the other six companies of their regiment. The men must endure a hard march of nearly a hundred miles in mountainous terrain, slogging along a primitive, muddy road, up hill and down. The marchers include an ambitious young captain named Tom Taylor. Prosecuting attorney for Brown County, Ohio, Taylor (like many other new soldiers) hankers for a battle—but for the moment, can do no more than trudge through the mud.