What Units Fought at the Battle of Scary Creek?

Uncover the full story of the Battle of Scary Creek as we piece together the most accurate records of involved units and casualty figures available.

The Battle of Scary Creek holds significance as one of the earliest substantial engagements prior to the First Battle of Bull Run. Although involving only about 2,100 men, it included an artillery duel and relatively high casualties compared to earlier skirmishes. Yet, because it occurred in what was then western Virginia, away from the limelight, it has received limited historical attention. Terry Lowry’s book, first published in 1982 and revised in 1998, remains the only in-depth study of this battle and its broader campaign.

Unlike most major Civil War battles, which have been extensively analyzed with readily available information on units, commanders, troop numbers, and casualties, the Battle of Scary Creek lacks clear records. Conflicting or inaccurate details can often be found online. Our objective is to provide the most accurate account of the units involved and the casualties sustained in this early and dramatic Civil War conflict.

While casualty figures for both Union and Confederate forces exist, they require careful research. Brigadier General Jacob Cox’s official report on the battle is either missing or nonexistent, which means the exact number of wounded may never be fully known. In his memoir, Cox noted that his attacking force sustained 10 killed and 35 wounded. It’s unclear whether his total for the wounded included four soldiers who were mortally wounded and later died, bringing the number of fatalities to 14.

In Ground Forces Attrition in Modern Warfare, Trevor N. Dupuy and his co-authors found that the ratio of surviving wounded to killed in the American Civil War was approximately 2.38 to 1. By this measure, Union forces should have had around 33 wounded at Scary Creek, and I have identified 37 by name—roughly matching Cox’s memoir and this ratio.

For the Confederate forces, identified casualties (4 killed, 13 wounded) yield a ratio of 3.25 to 1, which suggests a high degree of accuracy in our list. The Confederates’ defensive advantages, including high ground, rifle pits, and wooded cover, likely contributed to their higher wounded-to-killed ratio.

The following is a detailed breakdown of the units involved and their casualties.

Union Units

Determining which Union units fought at the Battle of Scary Creek is straightforward, yet there is still incorrect information floating around. For example, the National Park Service Battle Unit database lists “Scarrytown July 17” on its page for the 2nd Regiment, Kentucky Infantry. The 2nd Kentucky did not fight at the battle, but four of its officers were captured when they wandered into Confederate lines.

Unit Name	Commander	Strength	Killed	Wounded	Captured/Missing
21st OH Infantry Regiment, Companies D & K	Col. Jesse S. Norton	178	4	4	1
12th OH Infantry Regiment	Col. John Lowe	1,000	8	33	5
Cotter’s Ind. Battery Ohio Light Artillery	Capt. Charles S. Cotter	2 guns, 51 men	1	0	0
George’s Ind. Company Ohio Cavalry	Capt. John S. George	85	1	0	0
		1,314	14	37	11*

Detailed Casualties

The following list of names comes from Terry Lowry’s book The Battle of Scary Creek: Military Operations in the Kanawha Valley April – July 1861 and the Official Roster of the Soldiers of the State of Ohio in the War of the Rebellion, 1861-1866, volumes 1 and 2. An article in the Cincinnati Daily Gazette, July 22, 1861, included a detailed list of killed and wounded, mainly from the 12th Ohio Regiment. It lists nine killed, 37 wounded, and eight missing. Some of the missing were, in fact, dead, and some of the men listed as killed were very much alive. Names were misspelled in some instances and company designations were mixed up. Comparing the list to published muster rolls, I was able to verify most of the names. For some men, the published roster says something like “Died in Rebel prison”, but not where they were captured. This newspaper article indicates they were captured at Scary Creek.

Name	Unit	Killed	M/W	Wounded	Captured/Missing
Col. Jesse S. Norton	21st Ohio			X	X
Cpt. Thomas G. Allen	21st Ohio, Co. D	X
2Lt. Guy Pomeroy	21st Ohio, Co. D		X
Cpl. William Bishop	21st Ohio, Co. K			X
Pvt. George W. C. Blue	21st Ohio, Co. K	X
Pvt. James M. Miller	21st Ohio, Co. K			X
Pvt. Barton Smith	21st Ohio, Co. K		X
Pvt. John Mercer	21st Ohio, Co. K			X
Pvt. James Shaffer	12th Ohio, Co. A			X
Pvt. David B. Fairchilds	12th Ohio, Co. A			X
Pvt. Hector McKinnon	12th Ohio, Co. A			X
Pvt. John Homan / Noman	12th Ohio, Co. A			X
Pvt. Fritz Coundart / Coondarf	12th Ohio, Co. B			X
Pvt. Alexander Brown	12th Ohio, Co. B			X
1st Sgt. John U. Hiltz	12th Ohio, Co. C			X
Pvt. Frederick Kerner / Koerner	12th Ohio, Co. C			X
Cpl. Adam King	12th Ohio, Co. D			X
Pvt. William P. Taylor	12th Ohio, Co. D	X
Pvt. Warren C. Timberlake	12th Ohio, Co. D		X
Pvt. Francis G. Barber / Barbour	12th Ohio, Co. D			X
Pvt. John Cerdingby / Cordingly	12th Ohio, Co. D			X
Pvt. John W. Chine / Kline	12th Ohio, Co. D			X
Pvt. William C. Shoupe	12th Ohio, Co. D			X
Pvt. James Ross	12th Ohio, Co. D			X
Pvt. John F. Harris	12th Ohio, Co. D			X
Pvt. George W. Beard	12th Ohio, Co. D				X
Pvt. Simon Hughes	12th Ohio, Co. E			X
Pvt. David H. Hollister	12th Ohio, Co. E			X
Pvt. Jabez Turner	12th Ohio, Co. F	X
Pvt. James M. Bailey	12th Ohio, Co. F			X
Pvt. John H. Smith	12th Ohio, Co. F			X
Capt. Joseph L. Hilt	12th Ohio, Co. G			X
Lt. Robert Wilson	12th Ohio, Co. G			X
Cpl. Frederick Hanford	12th Ohio, Co. G	X
Cpl. Jacob Banker	12th Ohio, Co. G		X
Pvt. Benjamin Hebbel	12th Ohio, Co. G	X
Pvt. John McNeeley	12th Ohio, Co. G	X
Pvt. Emanuel Boor	12th Ohio, Co. G			X
Pvt. John Van Note	12th Ohio, Co. G			X
Pvt. Joseph White	12th Ohio, Co. G				X
Pvt. John Bauman / Bowman	12th Ohio, Co. G			X
Pvt. Thomas Edings / Eddings	12th Ohio, Co. G				X
Lt. Ashley Brown	12th Ohio, Co. I				X
Cpl. Gottfried App	12th Ohio, Co. I			X
Cpl. Peter Smith	12th Ohio, Co. I			X
Pvt. William Jackson	12th Ohio, Co. I	X
Pvt. Patrick Marks	12th Ohio, Co. I			X
Pvt. Valentine Daum	12th Ohio, Co. I			X
Pvt. Ferdinand M. Dugan	12th Ohio, Co. I			X
Pvt. Paul Van Winkle	12th Ohio, Co. I			X
Pvt. Michael K. Carawan	12th Ohio, Co. I				X
Capt. James Sloane	12th Ohio, Co. K			X
Pvt. Theodore K. Church	12th Ohio, Co. K			X
Pvt. Cornelius McGuire	12th Ohio, Co. K			X
Pvt. John R. Haven	Cotter’s Ind. Battery Ohio Light Artillery		X
Pvt. Richard Lambert	George’s Ind. Company Ohio Cavalry	X

Confederate Units

Determining which Confederate units fought at the Battle of Scary Creek is challenging. The companies from the Kanawha Valley, initially organized under John McCausland and Henry A. Wise, were consolidated into combined arms regiments known as the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Kanawha Regiments, each comprised of infantry, cavalry, and artillery companies. When the Virginia Militia transitioned to Confederate service, these units were largely reorganized into the 22nd and 36th Virginia Infantry Regiments. Eventually, the cavalry and artillery were separated, and some infantry companies disbanded entirely. Adding to the confusion, this reorganization was underway at the time of the Battle of Scary Creek.

After consulting a variety of primary and secondary sources, I can say with reasonable confidence that the following is a comprehensive list of every Confederate company that participated in the battle and their casualties:

Unit Name	Regiment	Future Regiment	Commander	Strength	Killed	Wounded	Captured/Missing
Border Rifles	1st Kanawha	22nd Virginia Infantry	Capt. Andrew R. Barbee		0	6	2
Sweeney’s Company	2nd Kanawha	Disbanded	Capt. James W. Sweeney		0	1	1*
Kanawha Riflemen	1st Kanawha	22nd Virginia Infantry	Lt. Nicholas Fitzhugh		0	1**	0
Kanawha Artillery	1st Kanawha	N/A	Capt. John P. Hale	3 guns	1	0	0
Kanawha Rangers	1st Kanawha	8th Virginia Cavalry	Capt. Charles I. Lewis		0	0	0
Border Rangers	2nd Kanawha	8th Virginia Cavalry	Capt. Albert G. Jenkins	100	0	1	0
Fayetteville Rifles	2nd Kanawha	36th / 22nd Virginia Infantry	Capt. Robert A. Bailey		2	3	0
Charleston Sharpshooters	1st Kanawha	22nd Virginia Infantry	Capt. John S. Swann		0	0	0
Sandy Rangers	2nd Kanawha	8th Virginia Cavalry	Capt. James M. Corns	53	0	0	0
Wise Legion Cavalry	N/A	Unknown	Lt. Col. Francis P. “Frank” Anderson	150	0	0	0
Kanawha Militia / Coal River Riflemen	Unknown	Disbanded	Capt. B. S. Thompson		0	0	0
Border Guards	2nd Regiment, Wise Legion	59th / 46th Virginia Infantry	Capt. Robert G. Crank	59	1	1	0
					4	13	3

Detailed Casualties

Name	Unit	Killed	M/W	Wounded	Captured/Missing
Lt. Col. George S. Patton, Sr.	Border Rifles			X
Capt. Andrew R. Barbee	Border Rifles			X
Sgt. John T. Dudding	Border Rifles			X
Pvt. Beverly O. Markham	Border Rifles			X
Pvt. Madison Craigo	Border Rifles			X
Pvt. John Wallace	Border Rifles			X
Pvt. James (John?) W. Lanham	Border Rifles				X
Pvt. Henry (Harvey?) Burns	Border Rifles				X
Pvt. Charles A. Blake	Fayetteville Rifles		X
Pvt. William C. Fellers	Fayetteville Rifles		X
Pvt. Warren Jones	Fayetteville Rifles			X
Pvt. Jonathan Weaver	Fayetteville Rifles			X
John G. Boggess	Fayetteville Rifles?			X
Lt. James C. Welch	Kanawha Artillery	X
Pvt. John Mallory	Border Guards			X
Pvt. Theophilus Smith	Border Guards	X
Capt. Albert G. Jenkins	Border Rangers			X
Pvt. George H. Bailey	Sweeney’s Company			X
Lt. Nicholas Wills	Sweeney’s Company				X

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Sources

Collins, Darrell L. 46th Virginia Infantry. Lynchburg: H.E. Howard, Inc., 1992.

Cox, Jacob Dolson. Military Reminiscences of the Civil War. Vol. I. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1900.

Daily Gazette (Cincinnati, OH) July 22, 1861.

Dickinson, Jack L. 8th Virginia Cavalry. Lynchburg: H.E. Howard, Inc., 1986.

Dupuy, Trevor N., et al. Ground Forces Attrition in Modern Warfare. Fairfax: The Historical Evaluation and Research Organization, 1986.

Lowry, Terry D. 22nd Virginia Infantry. Lynchburg: H.E. Howard, Inc., 1998.

Lowry, Terry. The Battle of Scary Creek: Military Operations in the Kanawha Valley April – July 1861. Charleston: Quarrier Press, 1982, 1998.

Moore, Robert H. Graham’s Petersburg, Jackson’s Kanawha, and Lurty’s Roanoke Horse Artillery. Lynchburg: H.E. Howard, Inc., 1996.

Official Roster of the Soldiers of the State of Ohio in the War of the Rebellion, 1861-1866, Vol. 1. Akron: The Werner Company, 1893.

Official Roster of the Soldiers of the State of Ohio in the War of the Rebellion, 1861-1866, Vol. 2. Cincinnati: Wilstach, Baldwin & Co, 1886.

Scott, J. L. 36th Virginia Infantry. Lynchburg: H.E. Howard, Inc., 1987.