1861
The Civil War began when Confederate artillery shelled the
Union-held Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina on
April 12, 1861. Five days later, leaders of Confederate Virginia
decided to capture the United States Armory and Arsenal at Harpers
Ferry for the southern cause. As southern militia marched toward
Harpers Ferry, Union troops set fire to the armory and arsenal,
preventing the weapons from falling into Confederate hands. With a
loud explosion on the night of April 18, the Civil War arrived in
western Virginia. During the war, Harpers Ferry changed hands
numerous times. The intersection of two major railroads, the
Baltimore and Ohio and the Winchester and Potomac, and its military
importance in the Shenandoah Valley made Harpers Ferry a key
strategic stronghold.
During the first weeks of the war, the Confederate government of
Virginia recruited troops in western Virginia, assigning Colonel
George A. Porterfield to Grafton, which was connected to most of
northwest Virginia by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. As Union
troops under General George B. McClellan advanced, Porterfield drew
his forces back to Philippi. As McClellan neared the region, he
sent Colonel Benjamin F. Kelley and the First Virginia Provisional
Regiment (later the First West Virginia Infantry) as an advance
guard. On the morning of June 3, 1861, Kelley's troops attacked
Porterfield's forces at Philippi, resulting in a Confederate
retreat. This is considered by many to be the first land battle of
the Civil War.
To prevent Union troops from advancing further up the Tygart
Valley, reinforcements led by General Robert S. Garnett joined the
retreating Confederates and established strongholds at Laurel Hill
in Tucker County and Rich Mountain in Randolph County. On July 11,
Union General William S. Rosecrans won a decisive battle at Rich
Mountain and days later, the Confederates were pushed from Laurel
Hill. On July 14, the retreating Confederates were routed at their
position at Corrick's Ford and Garnett was killed. This series of
engagements resulted in Union control of northwest Virginia for
virtually the remainder of the war. Control of the transportation
routes made it difficult to supply Confederate units throughout the
war. This also ensured the safety of West Virginia statehood
leaders meeting in Wheeling.
While the Confederates were easily defeated in the northern part of
present-day West Virginia, they mustered a better effort in the
Kanahwa Valley. Former Virginia governor Henry S. Wise, now a
general, had established his forces at the mouth of Scary Creek in
Putnam County. On July 16, Wise pushed back an attack by forces
under General Jacob D. Cox. After the arrival of reinforcements,
Cox's men drove Wise up the valley to Gauley Bridge and eventually
into Greenbrier County. The North suffered a setback in August as
General Rosecrans' advance forces were defeated at Kessler's Cross
Lanes in Nicholas County while marching toward Gauley Bridge.
Another former Virginia governor, General John Floyd, established
his troops on a bluff at nearby Carnifex Ferry. Union troops
attacked Floyd on September 10. Although the Union casualties
totaled 158 compared to 20 Confederate, the larger number of
northern forces drove both Floyd and Wise back into Greenbrier
County. A significant factor leading to the southern defeat was a
long-standing political rivalry between Wise and Floyd. The Battle
of Carnifex Ferry placed the important Kanawha Valley in Union
hands for the early part of the war. In only a few short months,
the North had gained control of northwestern Virginia and the
Kanawha Valley.
In August, Robert E. Lee, in his first assignment of the war, set
up camp on Valley Mountain in Pocahontas County. He first hoped to
put more pressure on northwestern Virginia, but overestimated Union
strength at the Cheat Mountain Summit Fort and elected not to
attack. Many feel that Lee's 15,000 men in the area could have
re-taken all of northwestern Virginia had he pushed forward. In
October, Lee again failed to attack Rosecrans' outnumbered force
following Carnifex Ferry. These early disappointments landed Lee an
administrative post in Richmond until later in the war.
1862
In 1862, the Civil War in Virginia revolved around Clarksburg
native General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's brilliant campaign
in the Shenandoah Valley. His first step was to obstruct Union
access to the valley by cutting off portions of the Baltimore and
Ohio Railroad. In January, Jackson captured the town of Romney, an
important link on the B&O. During the war, Romney is said to
have been captured by Union and Confederate troops at least 56
times.
During the spring of 1862, Jackson moved his men swiftly down the
valley, outracing Union troops. At McDowell, Virginia, Jackson's
forces crushed Union troops and pursued General John C. Fremont's
retreat into Pendleton County. Jackson occupied the county seat of
Franklin briefly before continuing his march down the valley.
Following his victory at the Battle of Winchester, many suspected
Jackson would continue on to the nation's capital. Rather than
continue chasing the southern troops, the North decided to cut off
Jackson's retreat with a superior force. Confederates advanced as
far as Bolivar Heights, west of Harpers Ferry, before retreating.
Somehow, Jackson's men managed again to outrace Union forces.
West of the Alleghenies, two future United States presidents were
fighting in what is now southern West Virginia. On May 1, as Union
troops neared, Confederates set fire to the town of Princeton.
Union troops under Colonel Rutherford B. Hayes, including
Lieutenant William McKinley, managed to save part of the town.
Earlier in the year, Union forces had burned the courthouses of
Boone and Logan counties.
Another significant skirmish occurred in southern Virginia in May,
as Confederates under General Henry Heth attacked Union troops
under Colonel George Crook occupying Lewisburg. After initial
success on May 23, the Confederates were driven south into Monroe
County. Crook later gained notoriety for capturing the Chiricahua
chief Geronimo.
Although Confederates were unable to control signficant regions of
western Virginia for considerable periods of time during the war,
they were successful in conducting destructive raids. In August
1862, Cabell County's Albert Gallatin Jenkins led 550 men from
Monroe County on the Staunton and Parkersburg Turnpike to the Ohio
River in Jackson County, capturing the towns of Buckhannon, Weston,
Glenville, Spencer, and Ripley on the way. Supposedly, Jenkins was
the first military leader to carry the Confederate flag into the
state of Ohio. Jenkins' raid revealed Union weaknesses in the
Kanawha Valley caused by the transfer of 5,000 troops to eastern
Virginia prior to the Second Battle of Bull Run.
On September 11, Confederates under General William Loring overran
General Joseph A. J. Lightburn at Fayetteville, driving his Union
forces back to Charleston. Two days later, Loring defeated
Lightburn at Charleston, beginning a brief Confederate occupation.
For six weeks, southern forces confiscated salt supplies and
destroyed virtually all of the Kanawha Vally salt works.
Meanwhile, in the east, General Robert E. Lee, now in command of
the Army of Northern Virginia, planned an invasion of Maryland. Lee
divided his forces, sending one of four units to cut off General
McClellan's lines of communication. Stonewall Jackson captured the
town of Martinsburg and then prepared to move on General Dixon
Miles' 12,000-man force at Harpers Ferry. Jackson devised a
three-pronged attacked, dispatching General John G. Walker to
occupy Loudoun Heights and General Lafayette McLaws to capture
Maryland Heights, both overlooking Harpers Ferry. On September 15,
with the support of McLaws' artillery bombardment, Jackson and
General A. P. Hill captured Miles' entire army. Only at Bataan and
Corregidor during World War II have larger United States armies
been forced to surrender. Two days later the bloodiest one-day
battle in the history of the North American continent was fought at
Antietam Creek, Maryland. After the Battle of Antietam, numerous
small skirmishes occurred in the present-day Eastern
Panhandle.
1863
With Union troops in control of western Virginia, Confederate
leaders chose to harrass Union troops and confiscate supplies. In
the spring, General John D. Imboden designed a raid to destroy
portions of the B&O Railroad and break up the Restored
Government of Virginia in session in Wheeling. With a force of
3,400 men, Imboden marched out from Staunton, Virginia, on April
20. General William E. Jones led a group of 1,300 from Lacey
Springs, Virginia, the following day. Imboden's men marched through
Beverly and captured the town of Buckhannon on April 29. Jones
joined Imboden at Buckhannon after failing to destroy the B&O
line at Rowlesburg in Preston County, capturing Morgantown, and
destroying the railroad bridge at Fairmont. On May 6, Jones' troops
marched from Weston through West Union and Cairo. Three days later,
he destroyed 150,000 barrels of oil and the oil works at Burning
Springs in Wirt County. On May 14, Jones joined Imboden at
Summersville before retreating into Virginia. Although it succeeded
in destroying property and industry, driving away livestock, and
occupying the attention of Union troops which might have been used
elsewhere, the Jones-Imboden Raid failed to destroy significant
portions of the B&O or break up the Restored Government of
Virginia.
On October 13, Confederate troops again tried to gain control of
transportation routes by attacking a Union fort at Bulltown in
Braxton County. Southern troops under Colonel William L. "Mudwall"
Jackson charged the fort under the command of Captain William
Mattingly. Outnumbered, Mattingly refused to surrender on the first
day of the battle. On the second day, Union reinforcements arrived
and the Confederates were forced to retreat.
In November, the North won a decisive victory at Droop Mountain in
Pocahontas County. Confederate forces, previously under the command
of William Loring and now led by General John Echols, had
controlled the Greenbrier Valley for most of the war. Following the
northern defeat at the Battle of Chickamauga in Georgia, the North
hoped to break up the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad in
southeastern Virginia. In the first phase, the Union sent General
William Averell from Beverly and General Alfred Duffie from
Charleston to remove the Confederates from the Greenbrier Valley.
On November 6, both columns converged on Echols on the summit of
Droop Mountain. The Confederates retreated, allowing General
Averell to conduct a raid on the Virginia and Tennessee depot at
Salem, Virginia, in December.
During 1863, the North continued its hold on western Virginia,
withstanding several raids. In addition to the Jones-Imboden Raid
and the Battle of Droop Mountain, several other skirmishes
occurred, including Hurricane Bridge in Putnam County, the first
use of indirect artillery fire at Fayetteville, General John
Morgan's raid through Jackson and Wood counties, White Sulphur
Springs, and a variety of encounters in the Eastern Panhandle
following the Battle of Gettysburg. Western Virginia soldiers
played significant roles on other fronts as members of the 4th West
Virginia Infantry took part in the siege of Vicksburg,
Mississippi.
1864-1865
The year 1864 in West Virginia's Civil War history is best
remembered by the actions of Mason County's John McCausland. During
the summer, General McCausland battled Union leader David Hunter in
southern Virginia. Hunter led a raid on the Virginia and Tennessee
Railroad. He was stopped at Lynchburg, but not before destroying
much of the town of Lexington. In retaliation, McCausland later
rode his cavalry into the town of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, and
demanded a ransom. When the people refused to pay, McCausland
burned the town.
Nationally, 1864 marked the year Confederate cavalry rode to the
outskirts of Washington, D.C. After a series of victories in the
Shenandoah Valley, Jubal Early's Confederate troops attacked Union
positions on Bolivar Heights near Harpers Ferry on July 4. The
northern troops were forced to abandon Harpers Ferry for the first
time since September 1862. However, following the surrender of
Dixon Miles' army, the Union had improved its fortifications
overlooking this strategic area. After three days of fighting, the
North was able to re-take and hold Harpers Ferry for the remainder
of the war. Southern forces later won an important battle at
Monocacy Creek in Maryland prior to being stopped at Washington.
John McCausland was one of the few Confederate military leaders who
could brag that he stood within the city limits of the nation's
capital during the Civil War.
As northern control of western Virginia strengthened later in the
war, southern military support was found more often in the form of
irregulars, troops never mustered into the Confederate service.
West Virginia's first governor, Arthur Boreman, considered these
irregulars the most serious threat to the new state. West
Virginia's most famous band of these guerrillas was McNeill's
Rangers, organized in Hardy County. During 1863 and 1864, they
wreaked havoc on the B&O Railroad in the Eastern Panhandle,
seizing numerous Union supplies. However, on February 21, 1865, the
rangers executed their most daring raid. A small group of men rode
into Cumberland, Maryland, kidnapped generals Crook and Kelley, and
delivered them to General Jubal Early. At the end of the war,
McNeill's Rangers surrendered to Union troops under General
Rutherford B. Hayes on May 8, one month after Appomattox.
Conclusion
The Civil War has often been referred to as a war of brother
against brother and father against son. No other state serves as a
better example of this than West Virginia, where there was
relatively equal support for the northern and southern causes.
Often families were split down the middle over their beliefs on the
war. There are many instances of divided loyalties and even of
individuals fighting for both sides. During the Battle of Scary
Creek, a Confederate soldier supposedly saw his brothers fighting
on the other battle lines, decided he was in the wrong place, and
changed sides on the spot.
While many historians have traditionally placed the number of Union
troops enlisted in West Virginia at a much higher figure than
Confederates, more recent studies suggest there were almost as many
southern troops as northern. Traditional sources have placed Union
strength as high as 36,000 compared to only 7,000 to 10,000
Confederates. At least one recent study has raised the southern
number to over 20,000 and lowered the Union figure to about the
same. Part of the problem with early studies is they ignored
numerous southern sympathizers who fought in militias or as
irregulars.
The divisions caused by the Civil War lasted long afterward. These
were usually fought out in political arenas but occasionally
developed into violence. Military service in the Civil War became a
badge of honor, as both Union and Confederate veterans attended
reunions and participated in parades well into the twentieth
century. West Virginia was the only state to send relatively the
same number of Union and Confederate veterans to the Battle of
Gettysburg reunion, another symbol of the divided state created by
the Civil War.
The Civil War in West Virginia