Battle of Droop Mountain

The Battle of Droop Mountain occurred in Pocahontas County, West Virginia, on November 6, 1863, during the American Civil War. A Union brigade commanded by Brigadier General William W. Averell defeated a smaller Confederate force commanded by Brigadier General John Echols and Colonel William L. "Mudwall" Jackson. Confederate forces were driven from their breastworks on Droop Mountain, losing weapons and equipment. They escaped southward through Lewisburg, West Virginia; hours before a second Union force commanded by Brigadier General Alfred N. Duffié occupied the town.

The Battle of Droop Mountain was one of the largest engagements in West Virginia during the war. Although Averell had a sound victory at Droop Mountain, he did not achieve his objectives of eliminating the Confederate army in Lewisburg and damaging the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad. The pro-Confederate community of Lewisburg was captured, but the Confederate army escaped and returned weeks later. No serious attempt was made to attack the railroad. After the expedition, Averell moved north to near the West Virginia-Maryland border, and Duffié moved back toward Charleston.

Some historians claim the battle ended organized Confederate resistance in West Virginia. Post battle, most of the region's fighting shifted east to the Shenandoah Valley and West Virginia's eastern panhandle region. Other historians believe that the battle was a tactical victory for Echols and Jackson, since Averell did not eliminate the Confederate army in Lewisburg; and more importantly, did not disturb the railroad.

## Background and plans

On April 17, 1861, representatives of the Commonwealth of Virginia held the Virginia Secession Convention, and passed an Ordinance of Secession that declared secession from the United States. The ordinance was ratified by popular referendum on May 23, and Virginia later joined the Confederate States of America. Many people in the northwestern portion of the state preferred to remain loyal to the United States, and delegates from that portion of the state met in June at the Second Wheeling Convention. On June 19, they approved a plan to establish an alternative loyal state government that would be located in Wheeling. Although loyal Virginians approved their own statehood on October 24, 1861, West Virginia did not become a state in the United States until June 20, 1863. After the creation of West Virginia, regular Confederate Army soldiers still operated within the state. Residents of the new state were not all loyal to the union, and the state continued to be plagued by bushwhackers and Partisan rangers practicing guerrilla warfare. Historians estimate that residents of West Virginia provided 20,000 to 22,000 soldiers to each side in the American Civil War. Lewisburg, located in West Virginia near the border with Virginia, was one of the communities that supported the Confederacy. Five skirmishes occurred at Lewisburg during the war, plus a small battle in 1862 and the town's capture and brief occupation in 1863.

The new state had rugged terrain, few good roads, few settlements, and its people were poor. One important asset for the Union Army was the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (a.k.a. B&O Railroad), which had rail line in the northern part of the West Virginia that was often targeted by the Confederate Army and its sympathizers. Army resources were needed for the railroad's protection. Union Army leaders normally considered troops in West Virginia to be a defensive force that should handle Confederate raids and confront guerrillas and bushwhackers. Troops were typically scattered in small detachments.

A significant portion of the fighting in West Virginia was related to railroads. While the Union had an important railroad in the northern part of West Virginia; the Confederacy had the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad, which was located in Virginia close to West Virginia's southern border. This railroad was used by the Confederacy for moving troops and supplies between those states, and connected to more railroads at Lynchburg, Virginia and Bristol, Tennessee. It also had telegraph wires along its line, and important salt and lead mines were located along its route near Wytheville, Virginia. The lead mine was the source for an estimated one third of the lead used by the Confederacy to produce bullets for its armies. Multiple raids on the railroad originated from West Virginia. A mid-July 1863 raid by Union cavalry and mounted infantry, known as the Wytheville Raid or Toland's Raid, failed to inflict permanent damage to the railroad and did not reach the mines. An August 1863 planned raid on Lewisburg, which Confederate leaders worried was a raid on a railroad, ended when Brigadier General William W. Averell was "handsomely repulsed" by a brigade commanded by Colonel George S. Patton in the Battle of White Sulphur Springs.

### Kelley's orders

Brigadier General Benjamin Franklin Kelley was commander of the Union Army's Department of West Virginia. Kelley reported to General-in-Chief Henry Halleck. Through his chief-of-staff, Brigadier General George W. Cullum, Halleck let Kelley know that he wanted the Confederates out of Lewisburg and the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad disabled. On October 23, 1863, Kelley ordered Averell to move his command south from Beverly, West Virginia, and attack a Confederate force stationed near Lewisburg in Greenbrier County, West Virginia. Droop Mountain was not part of the plan. The objective was to capture, or drive away, Confederate forces at or near Lewisburg. A second Union force, which was from Brigadier General Eliakim P. Scammon's Third Division, would move southeast from Charleston to meet Averell in Lewisburg and provide assistance. The Charleston force would consist of two regiments of infantry and two regiments of cavalry, plus artillery.

After Lewisburg, Averell was to attack the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad if practicable. Union infantry that was not mounted would remain in Lewisburg while mounted troops (cavalry and mounted infantry, including Duffié's) would proceed further south to Monroe County and cross into Virginia. Their objective was to destroy the railroad bridge over the New River, which was less than 10 miles (16 km) from the railroad's Dublin Station near Newbern, Virginia. One historian considers the destruction of the railroad bridge and line to be the principal goal of Averell's expedition. At the time, Confederate Lieutenant General James Longstreet was in Tennessee with two divisions of the Army of Northern Virginia—serious damage to the railroad would disrupt his ability to communicate with army leadership and make it difficult to return his troops to the east. If Averell determined that an attack on the railroad bridge was impracticable; he was to send his infantry and one battery back to Beverly. The remaining portion of his command would move to New Creek and get resupplied. New Creek, originally known as Paddytown and later as Keyser, was a stop on the B&O Railroad near the West Virginia–Maryland border. With no attack on the railroad, Duffié's command would hold Lewisburg or fall back to Meadow Bluff, West Virginia.

## Opposing forces

### Confederate army

In November 1863, the Confederate Army controlled much of the Greenbrier Valley in West Virginia. Confederate Major General Sam Jones commanded the Department of Western Virginia and East Tennessee, and his headquarters were about 75 miles (121 km) south of Lewisburg, West Virginia, at the Dublin Rail Depot for the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad in Virginia. Although Jones did not participate directly in the battle, the men and territory were his responsibility, as were the railroad and bridge near his headquarters that were targeted by the Union. He was in eastern Tennessee when Averell began his expedition, and returned to Dublin around November 6. Brigadier General John Echols commanded a brigade that was headquartered in Lewisburg, and Colonel William L. "Mudwall" Jackson had a small cavalry brigade that patrolled in the Huntersville-Hillsboro region of West Virginia. Further east, Brigadier General John D. Imboden commanded the Shenandoah Valley District. Brigadier General Albert G. Jenkins, who was a Cabell County, West Virginia native, was recovering from a wound received at the Battle of Gettysburg—but two regiments and a battery from his brigade were detached in the Greenbrier County area of West Virginia. Colonel Milton J. Ferguson temporarily commanded Jenkins' brigade.

### Union army—Averell

Beginning Union Army commander Kelley's plan, Averell's 4th Separate Brigade departed from Beverly on November 1, 1863. Many of his men were already familiar with the territory and opposition because they had been defeated a few months earlier during August in the Battle of White Sulphur Springs. The brigade consisted of two infantry regiments, three mounted infantry regiments, one cavalry regiment, a portion of an independent cavalry battalion, two light batteries, and a signal corps detachment. The two infantry regiments were the 10th West Virginia and the 28th Ohio, while the mounted infantry regiments were the 2nd West Virginia, 3rd West Virginia, and 8th West Virginia. The infantry was often led by Colonel Augustus Moor, and Colonel John H. Oley usually led the mounted infantry. Moor was a veteran of Florida's Second Seminole War, and colonel of his regiment in the Mexican–American War. Averell's cavalry was the 14th Pennsylvania Cavalry Regiment and a battalion of six companies from West Virginia, Illinois, and Ohio. The cavalry was led by Colonel James M. Schoonmaker, and was armed with carbines. The infantry, mounted or not, had muzzle-loader Enfield muskets. Based on earlier reports, Averell's brigade had a maximum of 3,855 officers and men present for duty.

### Union army—Duffié

The mounted portion of Scammon's force, commanded by Brigadier General Alfred N. Duffié, departed from Charleston for Lewisburg on November 3. It numbered 970 officers and men with 1,025 horses, and initially consisted of the 2nd West Virginia Cavalry Regiment, the 34th Ohio Mounted Infantry Regiment, and Simmonds' Battery. Most of the men were familiar with Lewisburg, which was about 110 miles (180 km) away—one soldier from the 2nd West Virginia Cavalry described this excursion as the "Third Expedition to Lewisburg". Both regiments were involved in a July 1863 raid on the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad, where they captured the town of Wytheville but inflicted little permanent damage to the railroad—and lost both of their colonels. On November 4, after crossing the Gauley River at Gauley Bridge, Duffié was delayed by blockades in the road that were so numerous that a new road had to be dug around them in some instances. Two infantry regiments, commanded by Colonel Carr B. White, joined Duffié's mounted men on November 5 at Tyree's Tavern in Fayette County.

## Initial movements

### Contact

In the first few days of the expedition, Averell's Brigade traveled south over the most direct route, and encountered a few bands of guerrillas and small detachments of Confederate Army soldiers. They reached the summit of Cheat Mountain at noon on November 2, and camped that evening in the Greenbrier Valley in Pocahontas County. On November 3, a squadron of the 8th West Virginia Mounted Infantry, which Averell had sent on a different route, was discovered near Green Bank, by a detachment of about 350 men from the 19th Virginia Cavalry Regiment commanded by Lieutenant George W. Siple. After a small clash, the squadron of West Virginians continued south and reunited with Averell's main force near Green Bank and Arbovale, which was about 20 miles (32 km) north of Huntersville.

Siple reported the encounter to Colonel Jackson, who was headquartered with the main body of the 19th Virginia Cavalry just northwest of Hillsboro in Mill Point. Jackson warned Colonel William W. Arnett, who was 8 miles (13 km) north with the 20th Virginia Cavalry Regiment near the Greenbrier River in Marling Bottom. Jackson also sent the news to nearby detachments and Brigadier General John Echols in Lewisburg. Siple's detachment became cut-off and did not rejoin the 19th Virginia Cavalry until days later—depriving Jackson of much needed manpower. While Jackson repositioned his small brigade, Averell moved further south and went into camp. His advance camped about 15 miles (24 km) north of Huntersville. Averell and Jackson were now aware of each other's proximity, and Jackson needed reinforcements for his small brigade. Jackson's brigade consisted of the 19th and 20th Virginia Cavalry Regiments, a cavalry battalion consisting of four companies commanded by Major Joseph R. Kessler, and a battery that consisted of two 12-pounder howitzers. Only 750 men were available to Jackson three days later at Droop Mountain.

### Averell's trap

Averell resumed his march southward at 7:00 am on November 4, and burned two enemy campsites. Arriving at Huntersville and finding no enemy troops, he determined that a portion of the 19th Virginia Cavalry was six miles (9.7 km) west at Marling Bottom—and devised a plan to cut them off from their headquarters at Mill Point. About noon, he sent Schoonmaker and the 14th Pennsylvania Cavalry, with the 3rd West Virginia Mounted Infantry, southwest on Beaver Creek Road. Their objective was to reach the intersection with the Marling Bottom Road before the 19th Virginia Cavalry got there from Marling Bottom, and prevent the Virginians from reaching Mill Point and Hillsboro. Averell was somewhat correct—Colonel Arnett and the 20th Virginia Cavalry Regiment (not the 19th) were at Marling Bottom, which is eight miles (13 km) north of Mill Point.

Four hours later, Colonel Oley and the 8th West Virginia Mounted Infantry, which had been in the rear of Averell's command, arrived in Huntersville. Hoping to trap a portion of the Confederate cavalry between Schoonmaker and Oley, Averell immediately sent Oley west to Marling Bottom with a force that consisted of the 8th West Virginia, the 2nd West Virginia Mounted Infantry, and a section of Ewing's Artillery. Hours earlier, Arnett and his brigade commander Jackson learned of the Union force on Beaver Creek Road. Arnett departed from Marling Bottom for Mill Point to unite with Jackson, setting blockades on the road as he went. Jackson sent a portion of the 19th Virginia Cavalry, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel William P. Thompson, one mile (1.6 km) north on the Beaver Creek Road to blockade the road long enough for Arnett to pass through to Mill Point. Thompson and Schoonmaker began skirmishing around 3:00 pm. Around dusk, Oley entered Marling Bottom, but Arnett was already gone and passed through the intersection near Mill Point after dark while Thompson continued skirmishing—Averell's trap had failed.

Elsewhere, during the afternoon of November 4, two regiments from Jenkins' Confederate cavalry brigade were resting in Greenbrier County while their commander, Colonel Ferguson, consulted with Brigadier General Echols. Ferguson divided his brigade to assist Jackson at Mill Point and to protect Lewisburg. His 16th Virginia Cavalry Regiment was sent five miles (8.0 km) west of Lewisburg to guard one of the approaches to town. A portion of his 14th Virginia Cavalry Regiment guarded a second approach. The remaining six companies from the 14th Virginia Cavalry, commanded by Colonel James A. Cochran, rode north to assist Jackson at Mill Point.

That evening at Mill Point, Jackson's Confederates assumed defensive positions on the southwest side of Stamping Creek, with Arnett commanding the "infantry" (dismounted cavalry). Schoonmaker fought through Thompson's blockade and took a position on the northeast side of the creek. The two camps were separated by 300 yards (270 m) and a creek, and both sides could see each other. Oley was still in Marling Bottom, and Averell remained in Huntersville with the infantry and one battery. Further east in the Shenandoah Valley, Brigadier General John Imboden was notified that Averell was in Greenbrier County with a large force.

### Fight at Mill Point

Early in the morning on November 5, Averell moved his infantry from Huntersville toward Mill Point, and Oley left Marling Bottom for the same destination. Schoonmaker believed he was outnumbered three-to-one, and placed his force in a defensive position. He began skirmishing with Jackson's two regiments around daylight. Jackson also made use of his two howitzers, which made the situation difficult for Schoonmaker because he had no artillery. Oley, who was about nine miles (14 km) away, could hear the artillery—and knew that Schoonmaker had none. He hurried his two mounted regiments and battery toward the front. Upon arrival, he found Schoonmaker facing strong pressure. Schoonmaker had him dismount his two regiments and deploy them on the right (west) while Schoonmaker and his two regiments took the left (east) side. Ewing's battery, which had longer range than Jackson's howitzers, was placed in between.

Jackson was aware of the Union reinforcement, and also knew that his howitzers did not have the range of the Union guns. He chose to fall back to Droop Mountain, which was just south of Hillsboro and about 24 miles (39 km) north of Lewisburg. Arnett led his men to the top of the mountain adjacent to the road, using a route that had forest and hills for cover. Lieutenant Colonel Thompson and 32 men from the cavalry covered the rear and defended against a Union cavalry assault. When Lurty's Battery, already positioned on the mountain, began shelling the pursuing Union cavalry, all fighting ended. Averell and his infantry arrived at Mill Point around the time Jackson was falling back to Droop Mountain. The Union soldiers went into camp around 2:00 pm after fighting stopped. Averell, whose November 7 report said he "attacked Jenkins in front of Mill Point" (actually Jackson), said there was a "trifling loss on either side".

### Confederates prepare

When Jackson and Arnett reached the summit of Droop Mountain on November 5, they deployed Arnett's 20th Virginia Cavalry in a defensive position at a high point next to the road. The crest of Droop Mountain is 3,100 feet (940 m) high, and Jackson could see Union Army camps around Hillsboro. Jackson had about 750 men, since a squadron (Siple's) was cut off further north in Pocahontas County.

About 100 miles (160 km) away, Imboden's Brigade had moved to Buffalo Gap in Virginia's Augusta County, but did not depart from there until November 6. He had about 600 mounted men and a section of artillery. At Lewisburg, Echols decided to bring more reinforcements to Jackson despite his worry that another Union force might attack from the west and cause the entire Confederate force to be surrounded. (Duffié was, in fact, approaching from the west.) Echols covered half the distance to Droop Mountain on November 5, and camped at Spring Creek near the Greenbrier River. That evening, Cochran and six companies from the 14th Virginia Cavalry arrived at Droop Mountain as the first group of reinforcements for Jackson. At 2:00 am on November 6, Echols resumed his march to Droop Mountain. After about two miles (3.2 km), he realized that the road from Falling Springs to Hillsboro could be used by Union soldiers to attack Jackson's extreme right flank. Wary of a Union trap, he detached the 26th (Edgar's) Infantry Battalion, with one piece of artillery, to block the road.

## Battle

### Averell's plan

Averell was up early in the morning on November 6 planning his strategy, and began moving his troops from Mill Point to Hillsboro shortly after sunrise. Skirmishers went further south on diverse maneuvers for the purpose of confusing the Confederates. As the Confederate skirmishers fell back to the mountain, Averell inspected the terrain and enemy positions. He determined that a frontal assault would be a disaster, and made a plan for a three-sided dismounted attack. While a portion of his troops on his left would divert the attention of the Confederates, a large portion would flank the enemy from the right. In the final phase, more troops would attack from the front and right. Beginning the flanking maneuver, Colonel Augustus Moor departed shortly after 9:00 am with 1,175 men. His force included the 10th West Virginia Infantry, the 28th Ohio Infantry, Company C of the 16th Illinois Cavalry Regiment, and a small group of signalman from the 68th New York Infantry led by Lieutenant Abraham C. Merritt. Colonel Thomas M. Harris led the 10th West Virginia Infantry, and Lieutenant Colonel Gottfried Becker led Moor's 28th Ohio Infantry when needed. Moor's force fell back about one mile (1.6 km), then began an obscure circuitous route of six miles (9.7 km) to nine miles (14 km) that would put them on the enemy's left flank. Schoonmaker and the 14th Pennsylvania Cavalry moved to the left (Confederate right) with the artillery, where they made sure they had the attention of Jackson's men at the top of the mountain. The Union battery was positioned on a hill that was 500 feet (150 m) lower than the Confederate guns, making it difficult to achieve the same accuracy as the Confederate cannons.

### Echols takes over

Brigadier General Echols arrived at Droop Mountain with reinforcements around 9:00 am on November 6, bringing Colonel Ferguson from Jenkins' Brigade with him. Echols brought the 22nd Virginia Infantry Regiment, the 23rd Virginia Infantry Battalion (a.k.a. Derrick's Battalion), Chapman's Battery, and Jackson's Battery from Jenkins' Brigade. Their arrival was acknowledged by loud rebel yells and music from a band—making sure both sides knew about the reinforcement. Echols assumed command of all forces, and Colonel George S. Patton commanded Echols' Brigade. Major Robert A. "Gus" Bailey commanded the brigade's 22nd Virginia Infantry Regiment, and the 23rd Virginia Infantry Battalion was commanded by Major William Blessing. Major William L. McLaughlin commanded the two batteries. Echols placed his two batteries on his right close to Colonel Jackson's two howitzers. Blessing's Battalion (a.k.a. Derrick's Battalion) was placed on the Confederate right on the right side of the road to Lewisburg. Bailey and the 22nd Virginia were placed behind the artillery. The total Confederate force engaged in the battle, mostly dismounted cavalry, numbered 1,700. Throughout most of the battle, Echols would command the Confederate right, Jackson the center, and the left was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel William P. Thompson (not to be confused with Lieutenant Colonel Francis W. Thompson, commander of the 3rd West Virginia Mounted Infantry).

### Battle begins

Although some skirmishing already happened, historians consider artillery shots fired at Droop Mountain by Schoonmaker using Keeper's Battery, which occurred around 11:00 am, as the beginning of the battle. Artillery fire continued all day, but the Union cannons were not able to hit enemy artillery. Confederate artillery was accurate and eventually killed almost all the horses belonging to Ewing's Battery (Battery G). Keeper's Battery (Battery B) had two people killed and five wounded. By noon, Schoonmaker realized he could not hit enemy artillery, so he withdrew two of the three sections of Keeper's Battery to preserve the guns and ammunition.

Between noon and 1:00 pm, Averell readied his men for the center and right-center dismounted assault. In the case of Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Scott's 2nd West Virginia Mounted Infantry, the men dismounted near the front and remained out of sight while waiting for orders. Scott's men were positioned on the right center, between Oley's 8th West Virginia Mounted Infantry on the left and Colonel Francis S. Thompson's 3rd West Virginia Mounted Infantry on the right. Around 1:00 pm, Schoonmaker repositioned two sections of artillery while preparing to assist in the frontal attack on his right. At that time, Lieutenant Joseph W. Daniels of Keepers Battery was decapitated by artillery fire while standing next to Schoonmaker. The main body of Schoonmaker's troops did not get to the foot of the mountain in time to assist the three regiments making the frontal assault, although his advance did.

### Moor finds the Confederate left

On the far right (or Confederate left) Colonel Moor encountered the Confederate left flank at about 1:45 . The 28th Ohio Infantry and Lieutenant Colonel Becker led the way and met Captain Jacob W. Marshall of the 19th Virginia Cavalry, who was reinforced by a group of 50 dismounted cavalry men led by Major Joseph R. Kessler. The Confederate force, numbering about 200, surprised Becker with a charge from close by that drove the 28th Ohio Infantry back. Understanding he was outnumbered, William Thompson sent a request to Echols for more reinforcements. Echols responded by sending 300 men from the 23rd Virginia Infantry Battalion and two companies from the 14th Virginia Cavalry—Company B and Company I. Those two companies were equipped for close-quarters fighting, as they were armed with sabers, pistols, and carbines. Moor responded to the initial Confederate thrust by ordering his Ohio infantrymen to lie down and "fire by file". Colonel Thomas M. Harris and the 10th West Virginia Infantry moved to the front on Moor's right and began pushing their outnumbered enemy back.

### Center attack

Although signals from Moor on the Confederate left were not received, the sounds from the fighting and the Confederate "disturbed appearance in front" led Averell to conclude that it was time for the attack at the center. Averell's three mounted infantry regiments began advancing up the mountain while dismounted, with Francis Thompson's 3rd West Virginia Infantry making the most progress and the 8th West Virginia Infantry struggling with the steep and barren mountainside. They faced sharpshooters, musket fire from breastworks, and battery fire of grape and canister. Schoonmaker briefly advanced two guns from Ewing's Battery partially up the mountainside, where they fired upon the 22nd Virginia Infantry. Return fire from Chapman and Lurty caused the Union guns to back off. The 3rd West Virginia Infantry found Moor's left, and Echols began to face five Union regiments on his left and center. The Confederate center was strongly defended by portions of the 14th Virginia Cavalry commanded by Colonel Cochran and the 20th Virginia Cavalry commanded by Colonel Arnett. When the Union regiments reached the breastworks, the fighting was hand-to-hand at the top as Confederate soldiers used their empty muskets as clubs. After Union soldiers began sticking only their pistols over the breastworks and firing blindly, the Confederates eventually retreated. The 2nd West Virginia Infantry, which had the most casualties of the three center-attack regiments, was the first to enter the Confederate breastworks. Both Jackson and McLaughlin recognized that the Confederate center defense was faltering, and moved most of the artillery to the rear where it could be used to cover a retreat if necessary.

### Resistance crumbles

Although the 23rd Virginia Infantry Battalion helped William Thompson's men stall Moor's large infantry force, the Confederates on the extreme left were being driven back toward the center, forming a dangerous angle in their line. After receiving a report from Thompson, Echols shifted Patton and three companies to the left and joined Jackson at the center. The reinforcements temporarily checked the Union advance, but sustained a high number of casualties and was not strong enough to stop Moor's advance. The Confederate center and right were also in trouble, as Ewing's Battery found a target and some of Jackson's men began fleeing toward the rear. A signalman from the 68th New York Infantry signal corps detachment observed the Confederate disarray, and Averell received the news near 3:00 pm. Averell ordered Major Thomas Gibson, whose Independent Cavalry Battalion was held in reserve almost four miles (6.4 km) back, to advance as quickly as possible. A section of Ewing's Battery was also sent in pursuit. The battle was mostly finished by 4:00 pm, and Echols received news about then that Duffié was at a mountaintop only 18 miles (29 km) west of Lewisburg. With both his left and right flanks breached, Echols ordered Jackson and Patton to fall back. Major Blessing and the 23rd Infantry Battalion (Derrick's Battalion) were ordered to fall back to the road to Lewisburg. Moor's infantry advanced from the Confederate left to the Confederate right where the Confederate artillery had been posted on a hill. Although the Confederates were able to withdraw their last two pieces of artillery that were still on the hill, Moor's presence caused some Confederate panic as men feared being cut off and captured.

## Retreat and pursuit

One of the last Confederate officers to leave Droop Mountain was Major Robert Augustus Bailey, of the 22nd Virginia Infantry. Bailey was mortally wounded trying to rally his men. His regiment started the battle with 550 men, and had 113 casualties. The regiment also had three captains wounded (two seriously), and one lieutenant mortally wounded. By the time Bailey was shot, the pike to Lewisburg was "blocked with artillery, caissons, wagons, and horses." The Confederate retreat became even more urgent, and weapons were being thrown away as the men ran. At least one officer is known to have ordered his company to "get out and save yourselves". Many of the Confederate soldiers ran to the woods. Colonel Patton was unable to reorganize his command until he arrived at Frankford—19 miles (31 km) south of the battle. Both Colonel Cochran and Lieutenant Colonel Thompson were thought to be captured or killed, but were unharmed and eventually returned to their units. The 26th Virginia Infantry Battalion, which had been posted on another road before the battle, became cut off from Echols' Brigade.

The first pursuers of the Confederate army were Moor's infantry, who fired into the retreating rebels from the original location of the Confederate artillery. Moor described a scene of dead and wounded horses, a "fast-moving mass" that "melted away by scattering through the woods south of the pike." Moor's infantry pursued the Confederates about six miles (9.7 km), before stopping after dark to go into camp. Other pursuers were Gibson's Independent Cavalry Battalion and Ewing's Battery, who advanced about seven miles (11 km) before falling back one mile (1.6 km) in the dark. Schoonmaker reported going into camp at 8:00 pm.

### Lewisburg

Duffié skirmished with enemy pickets on Little Sewell Mountain on November 6, and continued on to Meadow Bluff—about 15 miles (24 km) from Lewisburg. His advance guard was briefly attacked at 2:00 am on November 7, and his command was moving toward Lewisburg by 3:00 am. The command arrived in Lewisburg at 9:00 am, as the Confederate read guard was departing. Most of the Confederate army passed through 2 hours earlier. The Confederate read guard was the 16th Virginia Cavalry Regiment, which had been guarding the western approach to Lewisburg and had not endured fighting at Droop Mountain. Duffié began a pursuit with the 2nd West Virginia Cavalry as the advance, but returned to Lewisburg after finding blockades and a burnt bridge at the Greenbrier River. The 2nd West Virginia Cavalry captured 110 head of cattle and a small number of the enemy. At Lewisburg the knapsacks and tents of the 22nd Virginia Infantry were captured in addition to supplies. Averell had Schoonmaker's cavalry in the advance on the morning of November 7. Upon arriving in Lewisburg, Schoonmaker found looting that was ended by his provost marshal. Duffié reported that Averell arrived in Lewisburg around 4:30 pm. By the evening, Echols was in Monroe County close to the Virginia border at Salt Sulphur.

### Expedition ends

The pursuit of Echols ended on August 8, and Averell and Duffié appeared to blame each other for the stoppage. Averell reported that he began the pursuit on the morning of November 8, but ended the search because of a "formidable blockade", being "encumbered" with prisoners and captured property, and Duffié's infantry being "unfit for further operations". Duffié's report said he made the pursuit on the morning of November 8 with his cavalry and mounted infantry, and he "received an order from General Averell to return" when he was eight miles (13 km) from Union, West Virginia. One important factor in the decision to end the chase was that Averell was informed that reinforcements would be waiting for Echols at the Dublin Rail Depot. Although he could not have known, only the 36th Virginia Infantry Regiment with a battery was moving toward Echols' destination of Salt Pond Mountain. The 26th Virginia Infantry Battalion, which did not engage at Droop Mountain and became cut off from the main force, was able to reunite with Echols in Virginia by November 10—and had several hundred additional men that fled the battle.

Duffié began a move to Meadow Bluff as ordered, but found that location impractical because of bad weather and difficulties with the supply line. He endured a snowstorm on Sewell Mountain and returned to Charleston on November 13. Moor, with the 28th Ohio Infantry, 10th West Virginia Infantry, and Keeper's Battery, was sent back to Beverly. Moor took the prisoners and wounded, and reached his destination on November 12. Averell moved north with the cavalry, mounted infantry, and Ewing's Battery. They moved through White Sulphur Springs, where Averell learned that enemy troops were nearby.

Imboden reached Covington in Virginia's Alleghany County on November 8. There he found 100 to 200 men from Jackson's command that had fled Droop Mountain. During the night, more men arrived. He also had 800 more men, and two 6-pounder guns from the Rockbridge Home Guard and Cadets about 13 miles (21 km) away at Clifton Forge.

Averell detached two squadrons of the 8th West Virginia Mounted Infantry, under the command of Major Hedgmen Slack, on the evening of November 8. On the next day, Slack had a small confrontation with Imboden's rear guard near Covington, capturing 21 men. However, Slack believed that Imboden was moving his command south toward the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad to reinforce Echols, and neither side pursued each other. Averell reached New Creek on November 17, bringing prisoners and captured horses.

### Casualties

Averell had 45 men killed, including those mortally wounded. He also had 93 wounded and 2 captured. This total of 140 casualties agrees with the National Park Service summary. The original report listed 30 killed as part of 119 casualties, although some of the mortally wounded may not have died at the time of the report. The 10th West Virginia Infantry, followed by the 28th Ohio Infantry, had the most casualties. For Confederate troops, 33 were killed, 121 wounded, and 122 captured. The 19th Virginia Cavalry and the 22nd Virginia Infantry had the most casualties. The total of 276 casualties almost matches the count of 275 reported by Echols and used by the National Park Service.

## Aftermath

Averell reported that his Droop Mountain "victory was decisive and the enemy's retreat became a total rout". However, Duffié reported that "Had General Averell, instead of attacking the enemy in force and making a general engagement, engaged him lightly, detaining him until my command reached Lewisburg, it is my opinion that we might have captured almost the entire rebel force." The Confederates were aware that if they had held their line on the mountain, they would have become trapped between Duffié and Averell. They also knew that if they had not retreated (or ran) when they did, they would have been surrounded by Averell's two wings of infantry led by Moor and Oley. One historian was critical of Averell's decision to end the mission, writing that if Averell had "the drive and the instinct for the jugular" of someone like Philip Sheridan or George Armstrong Custer, he would have continued pursuing Echols and gone on to the railroad bridge.

On November 7, Major General Sam Jones sent a report to General Samuel Cooper in Richmond requesting assistance and saying that Echols was badly defeated, closely pursued, and would probably not escape. By November 15, Jones believed the affair at Droop Mountain was not as big of a loss as he originally thought. On December 11, he reported that Confederate troops had reoccupied their positions held prior to the battle, and the enemy had suffered heavier losses than those inflicted.

After the Battle of Droop Mountain, the only major battles in West Virginia were the Battle of Moorefield, the Battle of Summit Point, and the Battle of Smithfield Crossing. All three battles were in the Eastern Panhandle of the state. Some historians conclude that Confederate resistance in West Virginia collapsed after the Battle of Droop Mountain. However, the Confederates returned to their original positions in December, and fighting may have simply shifted to the Shenandoah Valley. At worst (for the Union cause), the Battle of Droop Mountain can be considered a tactical victory for Echols, since the Confederate army was not eliminated from West Virginia and the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad was unharmed. In December, Halleck again ordered Averell to destroy the railroad and another expedition started. At best, the Battle of Droop Mountain was a sound victory for Averell and a morale booster. President Abraham Lincoln made reference to the battle in a speech, and Major General Ambrose Burnside confirmed that the victory encouraged his Army of the Ohio in Tennessee.

### Future leaders

Averell was often criticized for being too cautious, and was removed in September 1864 as a division commander by General Philip Sheridan for not pursuing the enemy promptly enough. However, Averell was one of the few Union cavalry leaders that achieved cavalry victories in the eastern theater before Sheridan arrived. In addition to Droop Mountain, he soundly defeated the Confederates at the Battle of Rutherford's Farm and the Battle of Moorefield. He also performed well at the Battle of Kelly's Ford. Historian Scott Patchan noted that Averell had successes while "serving as an independent or quasi-independent commander, while his failures arose when his superiors expected him to cooperate within the framework of a larger command structure."

Averell and Echols were the generals on the field at the Battle of Droop Mountain. Of the Union leaders in the battle, Harris, Moor, and Oley eventually became generals. Schoonmaker led a charge against a fort in the Third Battle of Winchester, and was awarded the Medal of Honor. Harris served on the commission that tried the Lincoln assassination conspirators. For the Confederates, Jackson eventually became a general, while Patton would have become a general if he had survived his wounds received at the Third Battle of Winchester. Patton is the grandfather of the famous World War II tank commander, George S. Patton.

### Today

The battlefield site is preserved and administered by West Virginia as Droop Mountain Battlefield State Park, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The park was dedicated in 1928, and is West Virginia's oldest state park. Unknown Confederate dead from the battle are buried in the Confederate Cemetery at Lewisburg, which is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Battle in the American Civil War

Battles of the American Civil War in West Virginia

Battles of the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War

Pocahontas County, West Virginia in the American Civil War

Union victories of the American Civil War


Taiwanese Mandarin

Taiwanese Mandarin, Guoyu (Chinese: 國語; pinyin: Guóyǔ; lit. 'National Language') and colloquially as Huayu (華語; Huáyǔ; 'Mandarin Language') refers to Mandarin Chinese spoken in Taiwan. A large majority of the Taiwanese population is fluent in Mandarin, though many also speak a variety of Min Chinese known as Taiwanese Hokkien, commonly called Minnanyu (Chinese: 閩南語; pinyin: Mǐnnányǔ; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Bân-lâm-gú), Southern Min, or Hokkien. This language has had a significant influence on Mandarin as spoken on the island.

Mandarin was not a prevalent spoken language in Taiwan before the mid-20th century. Early Chinese immigrants who settled in Taiwan before Japanese rule mainly spoke other varieties of Chinese languages, primarily Hakka and Hokkien. By contrast, Taiwanese indigenous peoples speak unrelated Austronesian languages. Japan annexed Taiwan in 1895 and governed the island as a colony for the next 50 years, during the duration, Japanese was introduced as an official and educational language. With the defeat of Imperial Japan in World War II, Taiwan was handed to the Republic of China ruled by the Kuomintang (KMT), which by 1950 had been pushed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) out of the mainland. The KMT promulgated Standard Mandarin as the national language while suppressing non-Mandarin languages in the public sphere in Taiwan. At the same time, in the People's Republic of China on the mainland, Putonghua (simplified Chinese: 普通话; traditional Chinese: 普通話; pinyin: Pǔtōnghuà; lit. 'common speech') was likewise promoted as the national language.

Putonghua in mainland China and Guoyu in Taiwan are highly similar and derive from the same standard based on the phonology of the Beijing dialect of Mandarin Chinese and the grammar of written vernacular Chinese in the early 20th century. Standard Guoyu pronunciations tend to be based on prescribed dictionaries of the period, whereas Standard Putonghua integrated colloquial Northern Mandarin pronunciations for some words. Notable characteristics of Guoyu as is commonly spoken in Taiwan, include its somewhat different tonal qualities compared to Putonghua, the lack of the erhua phenomenon, and the lack of retroflex consonants (with zh-, ch-, sh- being pronounced like z-, c-, and s-). Guoyu also incorporates vocabulary from Minnanyu and Japanese. Written Chinese (both Guoyu and Chinese languages like Hakka and Minnanyu) in Taiwan generally uses traditional characters, in contrast to mainland China, excluding Hong Kong and Macau, where simplified Chinese characters were adopted beginning in the 1950s. Some grammatical differences also exist, often due to the influence of Minnanyu. The two forms of Mandarin evolved additional differences over the decades of political separation between the Republic of China in Taiwan and the People's Republic of China in the mainland, though both remain mutually intelligible.

Guoyu spoken in Taiwan exists on a spectrum, from the most formal, standardized variety to the least formal, with the heaviest influence of non-Mandarin Chinese languages, primarily Minnanyu. On one end of the spectrum, there is Standard Guoyu (標準國語; Biāozhǔn Guóyǔ), the official national language of the Republic of China (Taiwan). This variety is taught as the standard in the education system and is employed in official communications and most news media. The core of this standard variety is described in the Ministry of Education Mandarin Chinese Dictionary. Very few people speak purely standard Guoyu, however. Mandarin, as colloquially spoken in Taiwan, can be broadly called "Taiwan Guoyu" (台灣國語; Táiwān Guóyǔ). Taiwan Guoyu diverges in varying degrees from Standard Guoyu, with some speakers being closer to Standard Guoyu than others. These divergences are often the result of Taiwan Guoyu incorporating influences from other languages used in Taiwan, primarily Minnanyu, but also Japanese. Taiwan Guoyu is also mutually intelligible with Putonghua, but when compared with Standard Guoyu, Taiwan Guoyu exhibits greater differences in pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar.

This article uses Taiwan Guoyu to refer to the colloquial varieties of Mandarin in Taiwan, Standard Guoyu for the prescribed standard form, Putonghua to refer to Standard mainland Chinese Mandarin, and simply Guoyu or Taiwanese Mandarin when a distinction is unnecessary.

## Terms and definition

Chinese is not a single language but a group of languages in the Sinitic branch of the Sino-Tibetan family, which includes varieties such as Mandarin, Cantonese, and Hakka. They share a common ancestry and script, Chinese characters, and among Chinese speakers, they are popularly considered dialects (方言 fāngyán) of the same, overarching language. These dialects are often extremely divergent in the spoken form, however, and not mutually intelligible. Accordingly, Western linguists tend to treat them as separate languages rather than dialects of the same language; citing Yuen Ren Chao, John DeFrancis likened the differences among some dialects as like those between English and Dutch, for example.

Mandarin Chinese is a grouping of Chinese languages that includes at least eight subgroups, often also called dialects. In English, "Mandarin" can refer to any of these Mandarin dialects, which are not necessarily mutually intelligible. However, the term is most commonly used to refer to Standard Chinese, the prestige dialect.

Standard Chinese in mainland China is called Putonghua (普通話; Pǔtōnghuà; 'common speech') and in the Republic of China (Taiwan) Guoyu (國語; Guóyǔ; 'national language'). Both of these, as Mandarin languages, are based on the Beijing dialect of Mandarin and are mutually intelligible, but also feature various lexical, phonological, and grammatical differences. There exists significant variation within Putonghua and Guoyu as well. Some scholars have argued that Putonghua and Guoyu are artificial standards that, strictly speaking, do not represent the natively spoken language of a significant number of, or even any, people.

Guoyu exists on a continuum from the most standard, formal version of the language to the form most heavily influenced by Taiwanese Minnanyu. The former variety can be called Standard Guoyu (標準國語; Biāozhǔn Guóyǔ) in contrast to the less standard Taiwan Guoyu (臺灣國語; Táiwān Guóyǔ). More formal settings—such as television news broadcasts—tend to feature speakers using Standard Guoyu, which closely resembles mainland Putonghua, but is not generally used as a day-to-day language. Language falling on the less standard side of the Guoyu spectrum may be stigmatized as uneducated.

This article focuses on the features of both Standard Guoyu, particularly its relationship to Putonghua, as well as non-standard but widespread features of Mandarin in Taiwan, grouped under Taiwan Guoyu.

## History and usage

Large-scale Han Chinese settlement of Taiwan began in the 17th century by Hoklo immigrants from Fujian province who spoke Southern Min languages (predominantly Hokkien), and to a lesser extent, Hakka immigrants who spoke their respective language. Taiwanese indigenous peoples already inhabited the island, speaking a variety of Austronesian languages unrelated to Chinese. In the centuries following Chinese settlement, the number of indigenous languages dropped significantly, with several going extinct, in part due to the process of sinicization.

Official communications among the Han were done in Mandarin (官話; Guānhuà; 'official language'), but the primary languages of everyday life were Minnanyu or Hakka. After its defeat in the First Sino-Japanese War, the Qing dynasty ceded Taiwan to the Empire of Japan, which governed the island as an Imperial colony from 1895 to 1945. By the end of the colonial period, Japanese had become the high dialect of the island as the result of decades of Japanization policy.

### Under KMT rule

After the Republic of China under the Kuomintang (KMT) gained control of Taiwan in 1945, Mandarin was introduced as the official language and made compulsory in schools, although the local population rarely spoke it at the time. Many who had fled the mainland after the defeat of the KMT by the Communists also spoke non-standard varieties of Mandarin, which may have influenced later colloquial pronunciations. Wu Chinese dialects were also influential due to the relative power of KMT refugees from Wu-speaking Zhejiang, Chiang Kai-shek's home province.

The Mandarin Promotion Council (now called National Languages Committee) was established in 1946 by Chief Executive Chen Yi to standardize and popularize the usage of Mandarin in Taiwan. The Kuomintang heavily discouraged the use of Southern Min and other non-Mandarin languages, portraying them as inferior, and school children were punished for speaking their non-Mandarin native languages. Guoyu was thus established as a lingua franca among the various groups in Taiwan at the expense of existing languages.

### Post-martial law

Following the end of martial law in 1987, language policy in the country underwent liberalization, but Guoyu remained the dominant language. Local languages were no longer proscribed in public discourse, mass media, and schools. English and "mother tongue education" (母語教育; mǔyǔ jiàoyù) — Minnanyu and Hakka — were introduced as elective subjects in primary school in 2001. Greater time and resources are devoted to both Mandarin and English, which are compulsory subjects, compared to mother tongue instruction.

Mandarin is spoken fluently by the vast majority of the Taiwanese population, with the exception of some of the elderly population, who were educated under Japanese rule. In the capital of Taipei, where there is a high concentration of Mainlander descendants who do not natively speak Minnanyu, Mandarin is used in greater frequency and fluency than in other parts of Taiwan. The 2010 Taiwanese census found that in addition to Mandarin, Minnanyu was natively spoken by around 70% of the population, and Hakka by 15%. A 2004 study found that Mandarin was spoken more fluently by Hakka and Taiwanese aboriginals than their respective mother tongues; Hoklo groups, on average, spoke better Minnanyu, but Hoklo under 50 years old still spoke significantly better Mandarin (with comparable levels of fluency to their usage of Minnanyu) than the elderly. Overall, while both national and local levels of government have taken some measures to promote the use of non-Mandarin Chinese languages, younger generations generally prefer using Mandarin.

Government statistics from 2020 found that 66% of Taiwanese residents use Guoyu as their primary language, and another 31% use it as a secondary language (32% used Minnanyu as their primary language, and 54% used it as a secondary language). Guoyu is the primary language for over 80% of people in the northern areas of Taipei, Taoyuan, and Hsinchu. Youth is correlated with use of Guoyu: in 2020, over two-thirds of Taiwanese over 65 used Minnanyu or Hakka as their primary language, compared with just 11% of 15–24-year-olds.

## Script

Guoyu employs traditional Chinese characters (which are also used in the two special administrative regions of China, Hong Kong and Macau), rather than the simplified Chinese characters used in mainland China. Literate Taiwanese can generally understand a text in simplified characters.

### Shorthand characters

In practice, Taiwanese Mandarin users may write informal, shorthand characters (俗字; súzì; 'customary/conventional characters'; also 俗體字 sútǐzì) in place of the full traditional forms. These variant Chinese characters are generally easier to write by hand and consist of fewer strokes. Shorthand characters are often identical to their simplified counterparts, but they may also take after Japanese kanji, or differ from both, as shown in the table below. A few shorthand characters are used as frequently as standard traditional characters, even in formal contexts, such as the tai in Taiwan, which is often written as 台, as opposed to the standard traditional form, 臺.

In informal writing, Guoyu speakers may replace possessive particles 的 de or 之 zhī with the Japanese particle の no in hiragana (usually read as de), which serves a nearly identical grammatical role. No is often used in advertising, where it evokes a sense of playfulness and fashionability, and handwriting, as it is easier to write.

### Braille

Taiwanese braille is similar to Mainland Chinese braille, though several sounds are represented by different patterns. Both systems represent the sounds of the language (as do Pinyin and Zhuyin), not Chinese characters themselves.

### Transliteration

#### Zhuyin Fuhao

While pinyin is used in applications such as in signage, most Guoyu users learn phonetics through the Zhuyin Fuhao (國語注音符號; Guóyǔ Zhùyīn Fúhào; 'Guoyu Phonetic Symbols') system, popularly called Zhuyin or Bopomofo, after its first four glyphs. Taiwan is the only Chinese-speaking polity to use the system, which is taught in schools (often used as ruby characters to aid young learners) and represents the dominant digital input method on electronic devices. (Before the introduction of Hanyu pinyin starting in 1958, it was also used in mainland China, whereas today in the mainland it is used primarily in language education and in some dictionaries.) It has accordingly become a symbol of Taiwanese identity as well.

#### Romanization

Chinese language romanization in Taiwan somewhat differs from on the mainland, where Hanyu Pinyin is the official standard. A competing system, Tongyong Pinyin, was formally revealed in 1998 with the support of the mayor of Taipei Chen Shuibian. In 1999, however, the Legislative Yuan endorsed a slightly modified version of Hanyu Pinyin, creating parallel romanization schemes along largely partisan lines, with Kuomintang-supporting areas using Hanyu Pinyin, and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) areas using Tongyong Pinyin. In 2002, the Taiwanese government led by the DPP promulgated the use of Tongyong Pinyin as the country's preferred system, but this was formally abandoned in 2009 in favor of Hanyu Pinyin.

In addition, various other historical romanization systems also exist across the island, with multiple systems sometimes existing in the same locality. Following the defeat of the Kuomintang in the Chinese Civil War and their subsequent retreat to Taiwan in 1945, little emphasis was placed on the romanization of Chinese characters, with the Wade-Giles system used as the default. It is still widely used for transcribing people's legal names today. The Gwoyeu Romatzyh method, invented in 1928, also was in use in Taiwan during this time period, albeit to a lesser extent. In 1984, Taiwan's Ministry of Education began revising the Gwoyeu Romatzyh method out of concern that Hanyu Pinyin was gaining prominence internationally. Ultimately, a revised version of Gwoyeu Romatzyh was released in 1986, which was called Mandarin Phonetic Symbols II. However, this system was not widely adopted.

## Phonology

### Standard Guoyu

Like Putonghua, both Standard and Taiwan Guoyu are tonal. Pronunciation of many individual characters differs in the standards prescribed by language authorities in Taipei and Beijing. Mainland authorities tended to adopt pronunciations popular in Northern Mandarin areas, whereas Taiwanese authorities prefer traditional pronunciations recorded in dictionaries from the 1930s and 1940s. Some examples of differences are given later in this section.

These character-level differences notwithstanding, Standard Guoyu pronunciation is largely identical to Putonghua, but with two major systematic differences (also true of Taiwan Guoyu):

- Erhua, the rhotacization of certain morphemes with the suffix -兒 -er, is very rare in Guoyu (and very common in Beijing Putonghua).
- The "neutral tone" (輕聲 qīngshēng) does not occur as often, so final syllables generally retain their tone (e.g., 但是 dànshì, 先生 xiānshēng).
  - This tendency to retain original tone is not present in words ending noun suffixes such as -子 -zi or -頭 -tou; Guoyu speakers would not pronounce 孩子 as \*háizǐ.

In addition, two other phenomena, while nonstandard, are extremely common across all Mandarin speakers in Taiwan, even the highly educated:

- The retroflex sounds zh- , ch- , and sh- merge into the alveolar consonants (z- , c- , s- , respectively).
- The finals -ing and -eng have largely merged into -in and -en , respectively.

### Taiwan Guoyu

Taiwan Guoyu pronunciation is strongly influenced by Minnanyu. This is especially prominent in areas where Minnanyu is common, namely, in Central and Southern Taiwan. Many, though not all, of the phonological differences between Taiwan Guoyu and Putonghua can be attributed to the influence of Minnanyu.

Notable phonological features of Taiwan Guoyu include:

- In addition to the merger of retroflex sounds into the alveolar consonants mentioned above, utterances in Taiwan Guoyu may feature retroflexes (in pinyin, zh-, ch-, sh-, and r-) realized as postalveolar consonants: to , to , to , and to . This phenomenon is not unique to Taiwan and can be found in Mandarin dialects across southern China as well as parts of northern China.
  - The ability to produce retroflex sounds is considered a hallmark of "good" Mandarin (i.e. Standard Guoyu); some speakers may hypercorrect to pronounce alveolar consonants as their retroflex counterparts when attempting to speak "proper" Guoyu.
- The initial f- becomes a voiceless bilabial fricative , closer to a light 'h' in standard English (for example, 反 fǎn → 緩 huǎn).
- The syllable written as eng () after labials (in pinyin, b-, f-, m-, p- and w-) is pronounced ong (). Thus, 風 fēng may be pronounced as fōng.
- The semivowel may change, rendering e.g. the surname 翁 Wēng as rather than . The deletion of also happens in colloquial Putonghua, but less frequently.
- The initials n- and l- are sometimes interchangeable, particularly preceding nasal finals (i.e. -n, -ng). Thus, 男 nán may be pronounced lán.
- The nasal finals -n and -ng tend to merge, so words like 爭 zhēng and 真 zhēn may become homophones.
- The endings -uo, -ou, and -e (when it represents a close-mid back unrounded vowel like in 喝 hē) shift to a mid central vowel or merge into the mid back rounded vowel -o .
- The close front rounded vowel in words such as 雨 yǔ become unrounded, transforming into yǐ.
- The diphthong -ei and the triphthong -ui are monophthongized into .

#### Reduction

The non-standard Taiwanese Guoyu tends to exhibit frequent, informal elision and cluster reduction when spoken. For example, 這樣子 zhè yàngzi 'this way, like so' can be pronounced similar to 醬子 jiàngzi 'paste, sauce'; wherein the "theoretical" retroflex (so called because it is a feature of Standard Guoyu but rarely realized in everyday speech, as zh- is usually pronounced z-; see above section) is assimilated into the palatal glide .

Often the reduction involves the removal of initials in compound words, such as dropping the t in 今天 jīntiān 'today' or the ch in 非常 fēicháng 'extremely, very'. These reductions are not necessarily a function of the speed of speech than of register, as it is more commonly used in casual conversations than in formal contexts.

#### Tone quality

Like all varieties of Mandarin, Guoyu is a tonal language. Putonghua as spoken in the mainland has five tones, including the neutral tone. Tones in Guoyu differ somewhat in pitch and contour.

Research suggests that speakers of Guoyu articulate the second and third tones differently from the standards of Beijing Mandarin. The precise nature of the tonal differences is not well attested, however, as relevant studies often lack a sufficiently large variety of speakers. Tones may vary based on age, gender, and other sociolinguistic factors and may not even be consistent across every utterance by an individual.

In general, for Guoyu speakers, the second tone does not rise as high in its pitch, according to Jeroen Wiedenhof, and the third tone does not "dip" back up from the low, creaky voice range. Overall, Guoyu speakers may exhibit a lower and more narrow pitch range than speakers of the Mandarin of Beijing. Acoustic analysis of 33 Mandarin speakers from Taiwan in 2008 also found that for many speakers, the second tone tends to have a dipping contour more akin to that of the prescriptive third tone.

### Standard pronunciations compared to Putonghua

In addition to differences in elision and influence from Minnanyu, which are not features that are codified in the standard Guoyu, there are differences in pronunciation that arise from conflicting official standards in Taiwan and the mainland.

Quantification of the extent of pronunciation differences between Guoyu and Putonghua varies. Estimates from graduate-level research include a 2008 study based on the 7,000 characters in the List of Commonly Used Characters in Modern Chinese, which found approximately 18% differed between Guoyu and Putonghua, and 13% for the 3,500 most commonly used characters. A 1992 study, however, found differences in 22.5% of the 3,500 most common characters.

Much of the difference can be traced to the preferences of linguistic authorities on the two sides; the mainland standard prefers popular pronunciations in northern areas, whereas the Taiwanese standard prefers those documented in dictionaries in the 1930s and 1940s. The Taiwanese formal standards may not always reflect actual pronunciations commonly used by actual Taiwanese speakers of Guoyu.

The following is a table of relatively common characters pronounced differently in Guoyu and Putonghua in most or all contexts (Guoyu/Putonghua):

Note that many of the above include tonal differences where a first tone in Putonghua is pronounced second tone in Guoyu. Some pronunciation differences may only appear in certain words. The following is a list of examples of such differences (Guoyu/Putonghua):

- 和 'and' — hé, hàn / hé. In Guoyu, the character may be read as hàn when used as a conjunction, whereas it is always read hé in Putonghua. This pronunciation does not apply in contexts outside of 和 as a conjunction, e.g. compound words like 和平 hépíng 'peace'.
- 暴露 'to expose' — pùlù / bàolù. The pronunciation bào is used in all other contexts in Guoyu.
- 質量 (质量) 'mass; quality' — zhíliàng / zhìliàng. 質 is pronounced zhí in most contexts in Guoyu, except in select words like 人質 rénzhì 'hostage' or 質押 zhìyā 'to pawn'. Zhíliàng means 'mass' in both Guoyu and Putonghua, but for Guoyu speakers it does not also mean 'quality' (instead preferring 品質 pǐnzhí for this meaning).
- 從容 (从容) 'unhurried, calm' — cōngróng / cóngróng. 從 cóng is only pronounced cōng in this specific word in Guoyu.
- 口吃 'stutter' — kǒují / kǒuchī. 吃 is only read jí when it means 'to stammer' (as opposed to 'to eat', the most common meaning).

## Vocabulary differences from mainland Putonghua

Guoyu and Putonghua share a large majority of their vocabulary, but significant differences do exist. The lexical divergence of Guoyu from Putonghua is the result of several factors, including the prolonged political separation of the mainland and Taiwan, the influence of Imperial Japanese rule on Taiwan until 1945, and the influence of Minnanyu. The Cross Strait Common Usage Dictionary categorizes differences as "same word, different meaning" (同名異實 tóngmíng yìshí — homonyms); "same meaning, different word" (同實異名 tóngshí yìmíng); and "Taiwan terms" (臺灣用語 Táiwān yòngyǔ) and "mainland terms" (大陸用語 dàlù yòngyǔ) for words and phrases specific to a given side.

### Same meaning, different word

The political separation of Taiwan and mainland China after the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949 contributed to many differences in vocabulary. This is especially prominent in words and phrases which refer to things or concepts invented after the split; thus, modern scientific and technological terminology often differs greatly between Putonghua and Guoyu. In both Guoyu and Putonghua, for example, 通過 (通过) tōngguò means 'to pass (a bill or inspection)' or 'to pass through' and 透過 (透过) tòuguò means 'to penetrate,' but 透過 also means 'by means of' or 'via' only in Guoyu, while using 通过 to express such meanings is only present in Putonghua.

The differences may be prevalent enough to hinder communication between Guoyu and Putonghua speakers unfamiliar with each other's respective dialects. For instance, Zhang (2000) selected four hundred core nouns from computer science and found that while 58% are identical in Standard and Taiwanese Mandarin, 22% were "basically" or "entirely" different.

As cross-strait relations began to improve in the early 21st century, direct interaction between mainland China and Taiwan increased, and some vocabulary began to merge, especially by means of the Internet. For example, the words 瓶頸 (瓶颈) píngjǐng 'bottleneck' and 作秀 zuòxiù 'to grandstand, show off' were originally unique to Guoyu in Taiwan but have since become widely used in mainland China as well. Guoyu has also incorporated mainland phrases and words, such as 渠道 qúdào, meaning 'channel (of communication)', in addition to the traditional Guoyu term, 管道 guǎndào.

Words may be formed from abbreviations in one form of Mandarin but not the other. For example, in Taiwan, bubble tea, 珍珠奶茶 zhēnzhū nǎichá, is often abbreviated 珍奶 zhēnnǎi, but this is not common on the mainland. Likewise, traffic rules/regulations, 交通規則 (交通规则) jiāotōng guīzé, is abbreviated as 交规 jiāoguī on the mainland, but not in Taiwan.

### Same word, different meaning

Some identical terms have different meanings in Guoyu and Putonghua. There may be alternative synonyms which can be used unambiguously by speakers on both sides.

The same word carry different connotations or usage patterns in Guoyu and Putonghua, and may be polysemous in one form of Mandarin but not the other. For example, 誇張 (夸张) kuāzhāng means 'to exaggerate,' but in Taiwan, it can also be used to express exclamation at something absurd or overdone, a meaning absent in Putonghua. 籠絡 (笼络) lǒngluò in Guoyu means 'to convince, win over', but in Putonghua, it carries a negative connotation (cf. 'beguile, coax'). Another example is 小姐 xiǎojiě, meaning 'miss' or 'young lady', regularly used to address young women in Guoyu. On the mainland, however, the word is also a euphemism for a prostitute and is therefore not used as a polite term of address.

### Differing usage or preference

Guoyu and Putonghua speakers may also display strong preference for one of a set of synonyms. For example, both 禮拜 lǐbài (礼拜) and 星期 xīngqí (xīngqī in Putonghua) are acceptable words for 'week' in Guoyu and Putonghua, but 禮拜 is more common in Taiwan.

Guoyu tends to preserve older lexical items that are less used in the mainland. In Taiwan, speakers may use a more traditional 早安 zǎo'ān to say 'good morning', whereas mainland speakers generally default to 早上好 zǎoshang hǎo, for instance. Both words are acceptable in either dialect.

Likewise, words with the same literal meaning in either dialect may differ in register. 而已 éryǐ 'that's all, only' is common both in spoken and written Guoyu, influenced by speech patterns in Minnanyu, but in Putonghua the word is largely confined to formal, written contexts.

Preference for the expression of modality often differs among northern Mandarin speakers and Taiwanese, as evidenced by the selection of modal verbs. For example, Taiwanese Mandarin users strongly prefer 要 yào and 不要 búyào over 得 děi and 別 bié, respectively, to express 'must' and 'must not', compared to native speakers from Beijing. However, 要 yào and 不要 búyào are also predominantly used among Mandarin speakers from the south of the mainland. Both pairs are grammatically correct in either dialect.

### Words specific to Guoyu

Some words in Putonghua may not exist in Guoyu and vice versa. Authors of the Dictionary of Words Which Differ Across the Taiwan Strait (《两岸差异词词典》) estimate there are about 2,000 words unique to Guoyu, around 10% of which come from Minnanyu. Additionally, many terms unique to Guoyu were adopted from Japanese as a result of Taiwan's status as a Japanese colony during the first half of the 20th century.

Some of the vocabulary differences stem from different social and political conditions, which gave rise to concepts that were not shared between the mainland and Taiwan, e.g. 福彩 fúcǎi, a common abbreviation for the China Welfare Lottery of the People's Republic of China, or 十八趴 shíbāpā, which refers to the 18% preferential interest rate on civil servants' pension funds in Taiwan. (趴 pā as "percent" originates from Japanese パーセント pāsento. This usage is also unique to Guoyu.)

#### Particles

Modal particles convey modality, which can be understood as a speaker's attitude towards a given utterance (e.g. of necessity, possibility, or likelihood that the utterance is true). Modal particles are common in Chinese languages and generally occur at the end of sentences, and so are commonly called sentence-final particles or utterance-final particles.

Guoyu employs some modal particles that are rare in Putonghua. Some are entirely unique to spoken, colloquial Taiwan Guoyu, and identical particles may also have different meanings in Putonghua and Guoyu. Conversely, particles that are common in Putonghua — particularly northern Putonghua, such as that spoken in Beijing — are very rare in Guoyu. Examples include 唄 (呗) bei, 嚜 me, and 罷了 (罢了) bàle.

啦 lā is a very common modal particle in Guoyu, which also appears in Putonghua with less frequency and always as a contraction of 了 le and 啊 a. In Guoyu, it has additional functions, which Lin (2014) broadly defines as "to mark an explicit or implicit adjustment" by the speaker to a given claim or assessment. In more specific terms, this use includes expression of impatience or displeasure (a, below); an imperative, such as a suggestion or order, especially a persistent one (b), and rejection or refutation (c).

Wu (2006) argues lā is influenced by a similar la particle in Minnanyu. (Unlike in Putonghua, Guoyu speakers will use lā immediately following le, as seen in (a).)

\(a\) Impatience or displeasure

: !!

: Go to sleep already! [You] have to go to class tomorrow!

\(b\) Suggestion or order

: A: ! I'm so full!

: B: ,! Don't be so polite, have another bowl!

\(c\) Rejection or refutation

: A: ,。 He married so early, it has to be [because of] a pregnancy.

: B: 。 There's no way.

Taiwan Guoyu has functionally adopted some particles from Minnanyu. For example, the particle honh [] functions in Minnanyu as a particle indicating a question to which the speaker expects an affirmative answer (c.f. English "..., all right?" or "..., aren't you?"). Among other meanings, when used in Taiwan Guoyu utterances, it can indicate that the speaker wishes for an affirmative response, or may mark an imperative.

#### Loan words and transliteration

Loan words may differ between Putonghua and Guoyu. Different characters or methods may also be chosen for transliteration (phonetic or semantic), and the number of characters may differ. In some cases, words may be loaned as transliterations in one dialect but not the other. Generally, Guoyu tends to imitate the form of Han Chinese names when transliterating foreign persons' names.

#### From Minnanyu

Guoyu has borrowed words from Minnanyu, such as 蕃薯 fānshǔ 'sweet potato' and 拜拜 bàibài 'to worship'. In Minnanyu, the prefix 阿 a (Guoyu: ā) carries an affection or intimate tone when referring to people, and this has been adopted into Guoyu. Thus, words like 阿妹 āmèi 'younger sister' may be used instead of the standard 妹妹 mèimèi, and public figures like Tsai Ing-wen may be referred to as 阿英 Āyīng.

Whether these loans are pronounced with their Minnanyu or Guoyu reading varies. In general, as a loan becomes more commonly recognized, it is more likely to be read as Guoyu. This may involve the transformation of characters into their Guoyu counterparts. For example, the Minnanyu 烏白講 oo‐pe̍h kóng 'to talk nonsense' now exists in Guoyu as 黑白講 hēibáijiǎng (both literally translate as 'to talk black and white'; 烏 is 'black' in Minnanyu, corresponding to 黑 in Guoyu). Some words may not be represented by well known characters and are instead written with English letters, such as Q, from the Minnanyu word 𩚨 khiū, referring to a soft, chewy texture in foods. Some compound words or phrases may combine characters representing Minnanyu and Guoyu words.

#### From Japanese

Japanese in the early 20th century had a significant influence on modern Chinese vocabulary. The Japanese language saw the proliferation of neologisms to describe concepts, and terms learned through contact with the West in the Meiji and Taishō eras. Thus, the creation of words like 民主 minshu 'democracy', 革命 kakumei 'revolution' and 催眠 saimin 'hypnotize', which were then borrowed into Chinese and pronounced as Chinese words. Both Guoyu and Putonghua retain these words today.

Guoyu was also further influenced by Japanese. As a result of Imperial Japan's 50-year rule over Taiwan until 1945, Minnanyu (and Hakka) borrowed extensively from Japanese, and Guoyu in turn borrowed some of these words from Minnanyu, such that Japanese influence can be said to have come via Minnanyu. For example, the Minnanyu word 摃龜 (Peh-oe-ji: kòngku; ) 'to lose completely', which has been borrowed into Guoyu, originates from Japanese sukonku (スコンク, 'skunk'), with the same meaning. Other examples of Guoyu loans from Japanese via Minnanyu include 運將 yùnjiàng, 'driver, chaffeur', from 運ちゃん unchan and 歐巴桑 ōubāsāng, 'elderly woman', from おばさん obasan.

In general, Japanese loanwords are more widespread in Guoyu than Putonghua. Guoyu continues to borrow words from Japanese in the 21st century, especially among youth, for whom Japanese culture is particularly attractive.

## Grammar

The grammar of Guoyu is largely identical to Putonghua. As is the case with lexicon and phonology described above, salient grammatical differences from Putonghua often stem from the influence of Minnanyu.

### Perfective 有 yǒu

To mark the perfect verbal aspect, Guoyu employs 有 (yǒu) where 了 (le) would be used in the strictly standard form of the language. For instance, a Guoyu speaker may ask "你有看醫生嗎?" ("Have you seen a doctor?") whereas a Putonghua speaker would prefer "你看医生了吗?". This is due to the influence of Minnanyu grammar, which uses 有 (ū) in a similar fashion.

In both Guoyu and Putonghua, 有没有 yǒuméiyǒu can precede a verb phrase to mark a perfective question, as in (1), and in Guoyu, this can be split (2):

\(1\) ("Did you apply for a visa?")

\(2\) (Guoyu only)

### Auxiliary verbs

Another example of the influence of Minnanyu grammar on Guoyu is the use of 會 huì as "to be" (a copula) before adjectives, in addition to the usual meanings "would" or "will". Compare typical ways to render "Are you hot?" and "I am (not) hot" in Putonghua, Guoyu, and Minnanyu:

The use of 會 to express "will" — as in 他會來嗎? Tā huì lái ma? 'Will he come?' — is also a notable feature of Guoyu. It is not necessarily considered ungrammatical in Putonghua, but is very rare. Sanders (1992), analyzing speech by groups of Mandarin speakers from Taipei and Beijing, found that the latter group never used 會 to mean 'will' in this manner spontaneously (preferring instead 他来吗? Tā lái ma?). For them, speakers of Mandarin from Taiwan may be perceived as overusing 會.

### Compound (separable) verbs

Speakers of Guoyu may frequently avoid splitting separable verbs, a category of verb + object compound words that are split in certain grammatical contexts in standard usage. For example, the verb 幫忙 bāngmáng 'to help; to do a favor', is composed of bāng 'to help, assist' plus máng 'to be busy; a favor'. The word in Guoyu can take on a direct object without separation, which is ungrammatical in Putonghua: 我幫忙他 (我帮忙他) 'I help him', acceptable in Guoyu, must be rendered as 我帮他个忙. This is not true of every separable verb in Guoyu'', and prescriptive texts still opt to treat these verbs as separable.

Forms of Mandarin Chinese spoken in Taiwan