Marcus F. Wright's Civil War Bios - Major-General William W. Averill

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                                  AVERILL
   p.295
   AVERILL, MAJOR-GENERAL WILLIAM W. famous as a cavalry officer in
   charge of mountain raids through Western Virginia during the war, was
   born in New York State in 1830, and received a military training at
   West Point. After his graduation in 1855 he served as lieutenant of
   mounted riflemen on the western frontier, and in warfare with the
   Indians. His first conspicuous feat was the surprise and capture of a
   body of Indians in New Mexico. In 1859 he was severely wounded during
   an engagement with a party of these savages.
   As an officer of the Union army during the Civil War, he took part in
   the Bull Run conflict, July, 1861, and in the same year was chosen
   colonel of the Third Pennsylvania Cacalry. The cavalry-brigade around
   Washington, D.C., was placed in his charge. In the Virginia peninsula
   campaign of 1862, he was present at Yorktown, Williamsburg, Fair Oaks,
   and Malvern Hill. In the same year he was appointed a captain in the
   Third United States Cavalry, with brevets, and chosen
   brigadier-general of volunteers. His subsequent service includes
   Fredericksburg; Kelly's Ford - where he commanded the Union forces;
   Stoneman's cavalry expedition toward Richmond; command of raids, etc.,
   in West Virginia, Tennessee, and Shenandoah Valley; Opequan and
   Fisher's Hill. His pluck and skill when serving under Generals Hunter,
   Sigel, and Sheridan in 1864 were highly commended. After the war,
   General Averill became consul-general in Canada.
   The best remembered work of General Averill was in the mountains of
   West Virginia, where he was operating with General Crook, who
   afterward became so famous as an Indian fighter, and with Hunter in
   his famous raid on Lynchburg. At Saltville, Christiansburg, and
   elsewhere in the neighborhood of Lynchburg, his bold riders, the first
   Union troops that had ever penetrated so far into the heart of
   Confederacy, destroyed a great amount of railroad and telegraph lines,
   bridges, factories, foundries, warehouses, and stores, inflicting very
   serious damages upon the rebels before they could muster force to
   drive them back into the western mountains where they were secure.
   Again, in July, 1864, Averill's prompt and forcible action in leading
   about 1000 cavalry and some infantry to the rear of Early's force near
   Winchester, which was seriously menacing the Union army in the
   Shenandoah Valley, compelled that commander to turn back and show
   fight. Early dispatched a force under Ramseur which far outnumbered
   his, Avrill's, 2700 men, and these were met three miles north of
   Winchester. Scarcely giving the Confederates time to form, Avrill
   deployed his men to the right and left and opened a hot fire with his
   twelve guns placed in the centre. This was immediately followed by a
   vigorous rush upon the enemy's line, which broke and fled
   panic-stricken to Winchester, leaving four guns, their wounded and
   many prisoners in Avrill's hands. The Southern newspapers spoke of
   this affair with an exagerated sense of humiliation.
   Another brilliant incident in Avrill's career in the valley was his
   rush upon the camp and force of the rebel General McCausland, on the
   7th of August, near Romney. The rebels were surprised, demoralized and
   utterly routed, losing all their artillery, wagon-trains, and many
   prisoners. Early reported to Lee that this defeat had a very damaging
   effect upon his cavalry for the rest of the campaign.