What Confederate Units Were at Philippi?

Trick question — none of the Virginia militia at Philippi on June 3, 1861 had been sworn into Confederate service. Technicalities aside, the issue of what units were involved in the “Philippi Races,” among the first land actions of the Civil War, is not just a matter of trivia.

Most authors, however, only name units if they played an exciting role. They don’t go into specifics about every unit that George A. Porterfield commanded that day. In order to compile an accurate list of Confederate units involved, I consulted several sources and compared them. Among these were Rebels at the Gate by W. Hunter Lesser, The Tygarts Valley Line by Eva Margaret Carnes, multiple Virginia Civil War regimental histories, and this list put together by Fritz Haselberger, author of Yanks from the South.

Eva Margaret Carnes’ list is among the most comprehensive, but it contains numerous spelling errors and misidentifications. Despite these errors, her list made it onto a historical marker at Philippi’s Blue and Gray Park, highlighting the importance of getting things right.

In the following chart, an “X” means the source mentioned that unit was at Philippi by name.

Unit	Commander	W. Hunter Lesser	Regimental Histories	Eva Margaret Carnes	Fritz Haselberger
Letcher Guard	John A. Robinson	—	—	X “Taylor Co. Infantry”	X
Pocahontas Rescues	Daniel A. Stofer	X	X	X “Pendleton County Company, Captain D.A. Stoner”	X
Upshur Grays	John C. Higginbotham	X	X	X	X
Augusta Lee Rifles	Robert D. Lilley	—	—	X	—
Franklin Guards	John B. Moomau	—	X	X	X
Hardy Blues	J.C.B. Mullin	—	—	X Capt. Anderson?	X
Marion Guards	William P. Thompson	—	X	X	X
Pendleton Minutemen	David C. Anderson	—	X	—	X
Harrison Rifles	Cyrus Vance/ Uriel M. Turner	—	X	—	X
Highland County Highlanders	Felix H. Hull	—	X	X	X
Barbour Grays	Albert G. Reger	—	X	X	X
Potomac Guards or Barbour Mountain Guards	Henry Sturm	—	X	X	X
Barbour Lighthorse Cavalry	William K. Jenkins	—	—	X	X
The Bath Grays	A.T. Richards	—	X	—	X
Churchville Cavalry	Francis F. Sterrett	X	X	X	X
Second Rockbridge Dragoons	John R. McNutt	—	X	X	X

After comparing various sources, I believe Fritz Haselberger’s list is the most accurate. I verified each company he listed (using their official company designations after being formed into regiments) by consulting the regimental histories. I can say with a high degree of confidence that the Augusta Lee Rifles were not at Philippi. Author Richard L. Armstrong places them in Staunton on June 8th, still traveling to northwestern Virginia.

So, Porterfield had under his command 11 infantry companies and 4 cavalry companies, all of which were poorly organized and equipped. The companies ranged in size from a few dozen men to around 100. For now, I can confidently say that the following is an accurate list of the Confederate units at Philippi on June 3, 1861:

• Letcher Guard (later Company A, 9th Battalion, Virginia Infantry)
• Pocahontas Rescues (later Company D, 9th Battalion, Virginia Infantry)
• Upshur Grays (later Company A, 25th Virginia Infantry)
• Franklin Guards (later Company F, 25th Virginia Infantry)
• Hardy Blues (later Company H, 25th Virginia Infantry)
• Marion Guards (later Company A, 31st Virginia Infantry)
• Pendleton Minutemen (later Company B, 31st Virginia Infantry)
• Harrison Rifles (later Company C, 31st Virginia Infantry)
• Highland County Highlanders (later Company E, 31st Virginia Infantry)
• Barbour Grays (later Company H, 31st Virginia Infantry)
• Potomac Guards or Barbour Mountain Guards (later Company K, 31st Virginia Infantry)
• Barbour Lighthorse Cavalry (disbanded)
• The Bath Grays (later Company F, 11th Virginia Cavalry)
• Churchville Cavalry (later Company I, 14th Virginia Cavalry)
• Second Rockbridge Dragoons (later Company H, 14th Virginia Cavalry)