He was very glad to have the Kanawha valley in the possession of the National troops, now that Wise had made the effort to occupy it for the Confederacy; though he had tried to procure the adoption of a policy which should leave it neutral ground,--a policy as impossible here as in Kentucky.

The result was that he was distrusted by both sides, for in civil war each acts upon the maxim that "he that is not for us is against us." I renewed my acquaintance with him in the winter, making his house the limit of an occasional ride for exercise.

I appreciated his feelings, and respected his desire to set an example of obedient private citizenship with renunciation of all other or more active influence.
There were other men of social prominence who had less hesitation in throwing themselves actively upon the National side.

Mr.Patrick was an elderly man, of considerable wealth, whose home was a very similar one to Mr.Summers', a little nearer to Charleston upon the same road.

His wife was of old Virginia stock, a relative of Chief Justice Marshall, and a pronounced Southern woman, though too good a wife to make her sympathies give annoyance to her husband or his guests.