As I began preparing to revise several of our entries on the Tygart Valley / Cheat River Campaign, I realized just how many new sources I uncovered over the past several years that never made it onto our website. For such an obscure campaign, an extraordinary amount has been written about it. As the “first campaign” of the war, it lingered in the memories of those who took part, many of whom recognized its historical significance and felt compelled to record their experiences.
Not all of these sources are devoted entirely to the campaign. Many include only a few paragraphs or a single chapter, but they are nonetheless worthwhile.
Unfortunately, much of this material survives only in scattered memoirs and regimental histories, many of which are buried in archives or were issued in limited print runs and are now difficult to obtain. I have spent years combing libraries, searching Internet archives, and requesting titles through interlibrary loan. The list that follows is by no means complete, but it offers a solid starting point for anyone interested in exploring this overlooked and fascinating corner of Civil War history.
Know of a source left off this list? Please leave a comment below!
Secondary Sources
Bell, Mark E. “A Day at the Races: The First Virginia (U.S.) Infantry at the Battle of Philippi.” Civil War Regiments 5, no. 4 (1997): 1-19.
Boeche, Thomas L. “McClellan’s First Campaign” in America’s Civil War (January 1998): 30-36.
Boehm, Robert Blair. “The Civil War in Western Virginia: The Decisive Campaigns of 1861.” PhD diss. Ohio State University, 1957.
Carnes, Eva Margaret. The Tygarts Valley Line, June-July 1861. Philippi: First Land Battle of the Civil War Centennial Commemoration, Inc., 1961. Parsons: McClain Printing Company, 2003.
Evans, Clement, Ed. Confederate Military History, Vol. II. New York: Thomas Yoseloff, 1962.
Hall, Granville Davisson. The Rending of Virginia, A History. Chicago: Mayer & Miller, 1902.
Haselberger, Fritz. Yanks from the South! The First Land Campaign of the Civil War. Baltimore: Past Glories, 1987.
Lesser, W. Hunter. Battle at Corricks Ford: Confederate Disaster and Loss of a Leader. Parsons: McClain Printing Company, 1993.
__________. Rebels at the Gate: Lee and McClellan on the Front Line of a Nation Divided. Naperville: Sourcebooks, Inc, 2004.
McNeil, John A. “Famous Retreat from Philippi in May, 1861.” Southern Historical Society Papers 34 (1906): 280-293.
Merrill, Catharine. The Soldier of Indiana in the War for the Union. Indianapolis: Merrill and Company, 1866.
Moore, George E. “The Battle of Carnifex Ferry: Succession and the War in West Virginia before September 1, 1861.” West Virginia History 7 (Spring 2013): 39-74.
Price, William T. “Guerrilla Warfare: The Ambush on Greenbrier River in Which Seven Troopers were Killed.” The West Virginia Historical Magazine Quarterly 4, no. 3 (1904): 241-249.
Stutler, Boyd B. West Virginia in the Civil War. Charleston: Education Foundation, Inc., 1966.
White, Robert. “West Virginia” in Confederate Military History, Vol. 2, edited by Clement A. Evans. New York: Thomas Yoseloff, 1899, 1962.
Zinn, Jack. R.E. Lee’s Cheat Mountain Campaign. Parsons: McClain Printing Co., 1974.
County Histories
Cutright, William Bernard. The History of Upshur County, West Virginia: From its Earliest Exploration and Settlement to the Present Time. Buckhannon: By the author, 1907.
Fansler, Homer Floyd. History of Tucker County, West Virginia. Parsons: McClain Printing Company, 1962.
Haymond, Henry. History of Harrison County, West Virginia. Morgantown: Acme Publishing Company, 1910.
Hill, N.N., Jr. History of Coshocton County, Ohio: Its Past and Present, 1740-1881. Newark, OH: A.A. Iraham & Co., 1881.
Hornbeck, Betty. Upshur Brothers of the Blue and Gray. Parsons: McClain Printing Company, 1967.
Maxwell, Hu. History of Tucker County, West Virginia. Kingwood: Preston Publishing Company, 1884.
Morton, Oren F. A History of Rockbridge County, Virginia. Staunton: The McClure Co., Inc, 1920.
Diaries & Memoirs
Beatty, John. The Citizen-Soldier, or Memoirs of a Volunteer. Cincinnati: Wilstach, Baldwin & Co., 1879.
Benham, Henry Washington. Recollections of West Virginia Campaign with ‘The Three Months Troops’. Boston: Privately Printed, 1873.
Bird, Jacob, ed., Narrative of Two Perilous Adventures Recently Made into Dixie’s Land. Also an Account of Six Months’ Imprisonment in a Secession Jail. Pittsburgh: W.S. Haven, 1862.
Brigham, Loriman S., ed. “The Civil War Journal of William B. Fletcher” in Indiana Magazine of History. Vol. 57 (March 1961): 41-76.
Brock, R.A., Ed. “A Narrative of the Service of Colonel Geo. A. Porterfield in Northwestern Virginia in 1861-‘2.” Southern Historical Society Papers. Vol. 16 (Richmond: Southern Historical Society, 1888): 82-91.
Cammack, John Henry. Personal Recollections of Private John Henry Cammack: A Soldier of the Confederacy, 1861-1865. Huntington: Paragon Ptg. & Pub. Co., 1920.
Hill, Charles W. Comments on Major-Gen. McClellan’s Account of his West Virginia Campaign. Toledo: By the author, 1864.
Keifer, J. Warren. The Battle of Rich Mountain and Some Incidents. Cincinnati: The Ohio Commandery of the Loyal Legion, 1911.
Leib, Charles. Nine Months in the Quartermaster’s Department; or the Chances for Making a Million. Cincinnati: Moore, Wilstach, Keys & Co., 1862.
McClellan, George B. Report of the Organization and Campaigns of the Army of the Potomac: to Which is Added an Account of the Campaign in Western Virginia. New York: Sheldon & Company, 1864.
Phillips, Marcia L. My Poor Dear Syl: The Upshur County Civil War Diary and Letters of Marcia Louise Sumner Phillips. Buckhannon: Upshur County Historical Society, 2013.
Poe, David. Personal Reminiscences of the Civil War. Charleston: The News-Mail Publishing Company, 1908.
Reminiscences of the Cleveland Light Artillery. Cleveland: Cleveland Printing Co., 1906.
Rosecrans, William S. “The Battle of Rich Mountain” in Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, Vol. 6. Champaign: University of Illinois Press, 2004.
Skidmore, Richard S., ed., The Civil War Journal of Billy Davis from Hopewell, Indiana to Port Republic, Virginia. Greencastle: The Nugget Publishers, 1989.
Taliaferro, William B. “Folly and Fiasco in West Virginia” in Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, Vol. 5. Champaign: University of Illinois Press, 2002.
Three Months in Camp and Field Diary of an Ohio Volunteer. Cleveland: By the author, 1861.
Westfall, Henry F. Diary of Henry F. Westfall, 1861, transcript by Beatrice Arnold Giffin in Robert F. Kidd Library Archives, Glenville State University, Glenville, WV.
Woodley, Willis H. “Woodley’s Reminiscence of Rich Mountain” in A History of Randolph County West Virginia, by Albert Squire Bosworth. Elkins: By the author, 1916.
Regimental & Unit Histories
Armstrong, Richard L. 25th Virginia Infantry and 9th Battalion Virginia Infantry. Lynchburg: H.E. Howard, Inc., 1990.
Ashcraft, John M. 31st Virginia Infantry. Lynchburg: H.E. Howard, Inc., 1988.
Chase, J.A. History of the Fourteenth Ohio Regiment, O.V.V.I. Toledo: St. John Printing House, 1881.
Cope, Alexis. The Fifteenth Ohio Volunteers and Its campaigns, War of 1861-5. Columbus, OH: By the author, 1916.
Driver, Robert J., Jr. 14th Virginia Cavalry. Lynchburg: H.E. Howard, Inc, 1988.
Grayson, Andrew J. “The Spirit of 1861”: History of the Sixth Indiana Regiment in the Three Months’ Campaign in Western Virginia. Madison: Courier Print, 1875.
Grebner, Constantin. “We Were the Ninth”: A History of the Ninth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, April 17, 1861 to June 7, 1864. Translated by Frederic Trautmann. Kent: Kent State University Press, 1987.
Hannaford, Ebenezer. The Story of a Regiment: A History of the Campaigns, and Associations in the Field, of the Sixth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Cincinnati: By the Author, 1868.
Kepler, William. History of the Three Months’ and Three Years’ Service from April 16th, 1861, to June 22d, 1864, of the Fourth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry in the War for the Union. Cleveland: Leader Printing Company, 1886.
Landon, William, ed. “The Fourteenth Indiana Regiment on Cheat Mountain.” Indiana Magazine of History 29, no. 4 (1933): 350-371.
Martin, George Winston. “I Will Give Them One More Shot”: Ramsey’s First Regiment Georgia Volunteers. Macon: Mercer University Press, 2011.
Moore, Robert H. The Charlottesville, Lee Lynchburg, and Johnson’s Bedford Artillery. Lynchburg: H.E. Howard, Inc., 1990.
__________. The Danville, Eight Star New Market and Dixie Artillery. Lynchburg: H.E. Howard, Inc., 1989.
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.
Osborne, Randall. Virginia State Rangers and State Line. Lynchburg: H.E. Howard, Inc., 1994.
Rankin, Thomas M. 23rd Virginia Infantry. Lynchburg: H.E. Howard, Inc., 1985.
__________. 37th Virginia Infantry. Lynchburg: H.E. Howard, Inc., 1987.
Reader, Frank S. History of the Fifth West Virginia Cavalry, formerly the Second Virginia Infantry, and of Battery G, First West Va. Light Artillery. New Brighton: Daily News, 1890.
Report of the Adjutant General of the State of Indiana, 1861-1865, Vol. 1-4. Indianapolis: Samual M. Douglass, State Printer, 1866.
Rohrbacher, Walter. “A History of the Letcher Guards and the Twenty-Fifth Virginia Infantry Regiment.” M.A. thesis. Eberly College of Arts and Sciences at West Virginia University, 2005.
Sherwood, G.L. and Jeffrey C. Weaver. 20th and 39th Virginia Infantry. Lynchburg: H.E. Howard, Inc, 1994.
Thompson, William E. First in War: The Hampden-Sydney Boys (20th Virginia Infantry Rgt., Co. G). Farmville: Zebrabooks, 2013.
Biographical
Burton, Matthew W. The River of Blood and the Valley of Death: The Lives of Robert Selden Garnett and Richard Brooke Garnett, C.S.A. Columbus: The General’s Books, 1998.
Ecelbarger, Gary L. Frederick W. Lander: The Great Natural American Soldier. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2000.
Hardway, Ronald V. On Our Own Soil: William Lowther Jackson and the Civil War in West Virginia’s Mountains. Charleston: Quarrier Press, 2003.
McWilliams, Carey. Ambrose Bierce: A Biography. New York: Albert & Charles Boni, 1929.
Noyalas, Jonathan A. “My Will is Absolute Law”: A Biography of Union General Robert H. Milroy. Jefferson: McFarland & Company, Inc., 2006.
Sears, Stephen W. George B. McClellan: The Young Napoleon. New York: Ticknor & Fields, 1988.
Whalen, Charles and Barbara. The Fighting McCooks: America’s Famous Fighting Family. Bethesda: Westmoreland Press, 2006.
Spirit of '61 