August 10, 1863
On Saturday evening one of the Pennsylvania militia regiments, which has been on duty in Western Virginia for a couple of months, passed through the city, en route for their homes. There was a man in the ranks about six feet three inches high, who carried, in addition to his musket and knapsack, a negro baby about four months old, which he had picked up down in Hampshire county. The little piccaninny stared up at the houses and seemed to be very much surprised. The sun shone fairly down upon its unprotected face, while everybody laughed at the rather novel sight, the man who carried the infant never smiled but moved along under his burthen as solemnly as if going to a funeral.
Timeline of West Virginia: Civil War and Statehood: August 1863