John Monroe Blue was born March 25, 1834, four miles north of Romney, Virginia, now West Virginia, along the banks of the South Branch of the Potomac River, the son of Garret Isaac and Sarah (née Long) Blue. The area, then and now, is referred to as Hanging Rocks. The rock cliff extends over three hundred feet at a point where the South Branch slices through Mill Creek Mountain. Railroad tracks and a narrow road hug the edge of the river at the bottom of the Rocks. He attended school until the eighth grade and then, probably, the Potomac Seminary in Romney for higher education.
At the outbreak of the war, he had a four sisters and a younger brother, age 11. Being the oldest son of the family, John's farming duties were obvious. Hunting and other survival skills were part of his everyday life. These skills, mixed with a keen intellect, created the perfect mix for a soldier and scout during the Civil War. The importance of a soldier with John's skills was immeasurable. Romney and its surrounding territories was a stronghold due to its location to the railroad, Northwestern Turnpike (present day U.S. Route 50). Northern and southern troops alternated in and out of Romney, so much that historians have documented 56 times that Romney had changed hands.
In July 1861, an independent company of mounted men was organized for border service. John and about 29 other men joined up and he was elected 1st lieutenant.
On 30 September 1861, John was appointed acting captain and First Lieutenant of Company B of the 77th Virginia Militia. The company was known as Blue's Mounted Scouts.
On 12 March 1862, Company D of the 11th Virginia Cavalry was organized. It primarily consisted of men from Hampshire County, with a few from Hardy County as well as Maryland and Pennsylvania. Many of the Company's members had previously served with in Company K, 13th Virginia Infantry and the 77th Virginia Militia. The mounted men of the 77th, about 25 of them, including John, were organized into a company of cavalry.
He was often detailed as a brigade courier. While he was furloughed for 10 days, in August 1862, he was captured by Union troops in Romney. He was eventually paroled in Cumberland, Maryland and by January of the next year, he was back in service.
On 20 April 1863, Confederate Generals William E. “Grumble” Jones and John D. Imboden began a raid from Virginia through present-day West Virginia against the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Taking separate routes, they later reported that they marched 1,100 miles, fought several engagements, captured 100 Federals, seized about 1,200 horses and 4,000 cattle, and burned 4 turnpike bridges, more than 20 railroad bridges, 2 trains, and 150,000 barrels of oil. On 29 April 1863, the largest battle of the Civil War in northern West Virginia was fought in Fairmont. A battle of the suspension bridge took place at the site of the Palatine foundry. At that time, John was wounded when he was struck by a spent ball in his shoulder and stunned. His horse was also wounded. They would both recover and return to continue their fight.
John and his men arrived in Gettysburg on the morning of 3 July 1863, and took up a position to the right of General Lee about the time the Confederate artillery barrage began. About two hundred pieces of artillery were fired as fast as they could be loaded in an attempt to weaken or dislodge the Union troops from their position on Cemetery Hill. When the cannonade ceased, Pickett's charge commenced, only to be repulsed. John and the 11th then formed up with the 7th Virginia Regiment to push some Union troops out of an apple orchard. They succeeded in sending them running, but gave up pursuit, fearing a trap. John and his company remained on picket duty as the Confederate army withdrew southward.
On 6 July, during the Battle of Hagerstown, Maryland, John was wounded in his right foot, but his horse was not so lucky and was killed in the engagement.
When he returned to action again, he again suffered bad luck. On 14 October 1863 at Catlett's Station (Warrenton Junction) he suffered a blow to the head that knocked him senseless. He also had 3 broken ribs, a gunshot wound to his left knee and what was described as 3 slight bayonet wounds. In addition, his new horse was also killed by a shell fragment.
John was captured and confined to the Old Capitol Prison and was admitted to the hospital there for his wounds. On 14 November 1863, he was transferred to Johnson's Island near Sandusky, Ohio, and assigned to Block 8. In January 1864, he attempted to escape with a group of other prisoners. He made it about 2 miles, got lost and nearly froze to death before find his way back to the prison where he surrendered. On 2 February, he was transferred to Baltimore, Maryland and confined at Point Lookout on 14 February. His final prison destination was Fort Delaware where he was confined on 25 June 1864. There he sat until the end of the war when he took the oath of allegiance and was released on 12 June 1865.
After the war, he returned home to Romney with little or no money or property to his name. He contemplated leaving the state and going to South America. He eventually decided to stay and on 18 January 1868 he married Ann Eliza Fox. They would raise a family of 7, consisting of 4 sons and 3 daughters.
Soon after his marriage, prosperous cousins in Berryville, Virginia, convinced him to move to the Shenandoah Valley and try his hand at farming. They soon moved back to Romney though, since his wife missed her home and her family. John rented some property and farmed. In 1892 he entered politics, becoming the assessor for the first district, a position he would hold until his death.
The Hampshire Review began publishing John's accounts in the spring of 1898, and the last installment was printed approximately three years later in 1901. During that time he took numerous leaves from writing. One break came on 18 June 1898 after the first sixteen installments. He continued in the fall of 1898 for 51 weeks before stopping again after 15 November 1899. His last writings began on 18 April 1900 and ended somewhat abruptly on 17 April 1901.
On 3 June 1903, while rocking in his chair on his front porch, John passed away quietly of a heart attack at the age of 69. His obituary appeared the next day in the Hampshire Review, writing that "He was a plain, blunt man, of more than ordinary intelligence and sense."
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