October 12, 1861
FROM THE BIG SANDY. - Some of readers are already informed that on last Saturday week, Major Olmstead and Lieutenant Blaysden, of Col. Zeigler's 8th Virginia Regiment, were shot near Cassville, Wayne county, Va., by a body of concealed secessionists. Two companies of the regiment, with a small party of cavalry, the latter a half a mile in advance, were returning to Camp Peirpoint, after an expedition into the country. Major Olmstead, Lieut. Blaysden and others, had lingered behind the cavalry, not dreaming of danger, when the party was fired upon and the two named killed. The bodies were taken to Catlettsville, Ky., where the deceased officers resided. The arrival of the bodies created the intensest excitement in the village, which continued through the next day and until after the funeral. All of the prominent secessionists of the place were arrested, some twenty in number, and taken to Camp Peirpoint, where they were kept a few days and then sent to Louisville, Lieut. Blaysden's wife was almost distracted. She is said to have fallen upon the grave of her husband, to which she clung with the wildest distress. This, with other similar scenes, aroused the people to the highest pitch of excitement.
Timeline of West Virginia: Civil War and Statehood: September 1861