This unit was among the first to organize in what was then northwestern Virginia and the first to fire a shot in anger.
The Letcher Guard was a Confederate company raised in May 1861 in what is today Taylor County, West Virginia. Captain John Armstead Robinson (1830-1898), a merchant and postmaster, organized the unit. Thirty-two men mustered in at Fetterman, a small town north of Grafton along the Tygart Valley River, for a period of one year on May 13, 1861.
It was among the first units to organize in what was then northwestern Virginia and the first to fire a shot in anger. On May 22, 1861, George E. Glenn, Daniel W. S. Knight, and William Reese were on picket duty along the Northwestern Turnpike at Fetterman Bridge over the Tygart Valley River. Lt. Daniel Wilson and Thornsbury Bailey Brown, members of the Grafton Guards, a Unionist militia, were returning from a recruiting rally in nearby Pruntytown when they attempted to cross the bridge.
The pickets ordered them to halt, but they ignored the warning. According to some accounts, Brown fired his pistol and struck Knight in the ear. The pickets returned fire, killing Brown. Daniel W. S. Knight was accused of firing the fatal shot, and was formally charged with Brown’s murder, though he was acquitted.
The Grafton Guards were not formally sworn into federal service until May 25th, but Thornsbury Bailey Brown is widely considered to be the first Union soldier killed in combat during the Civil War.
The Letcher Guard picked up several new recruits, until it numbered approximately 43 men and officers at the beginning of June.
It was involved in the Action at Philippi on June 3, 1861 and then became Company A, 9th Battalion, Virginia Infantry (Hansbrough’s) in the Army of the Northwest. It was in Leedsville during the battles of Laurel Hill and Rich Mountain, and joined Brig. Gen. Robert S. Garnett’s retreat to Corrick’s Ford.
As part of Hansbrough’s Battalion, The Letcher Guard fought at Cheat Mountain on September 12, 1861, and Camp Bartow on October 3rd. In 1862, it joined the 25th Virginia Infantry Regiment as its 2nd Company A.
Spirit of '61 
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