Allow me to take a moment to explain how Spirit of 61’s battle entries are organized to convey the principal events in a specific geographic area (what we call “fronts”).
While each entry is a standalone article, it should also summarize the events leading up to the main conflict to provide the necessary background. This will create some overlap between articles covering events in close chronological proximity. For instance, the articles on Fetterman, Glover’s Gap, and Philippi all reference the April 17 secession vote in Richmond because it was the inciting incident for all the events that immediately followed.
Anyone should be able to read our entries on Philippi, Middle Fork Bridge, or Rich Mountain and understand the sequence of events leading up to them, even with some repeated information. While this repetition may make reading our Battlelog slightly awkward, the value of the information conveyed outweighs any inconvenience. Future campaign studies will contain a more traditional, beginning-to-end narrative.
Excluding the repeated background information, the following is a list of the “battle” entries for the Tygart Valley /Cheat River Campaign and the dates they principally cover. The battles of Belington and Rich Mountain occurred somewhat concurrently, so while their date ranges are similar, each article will focus on events in its geographic proximity.
- Fetterman (mid-April to May 22)
- Glover’s Gap (May 23 to May 28)
- Philippi (May 29 to June 3)
- Righter’s House (June 4 to June 21)
- Buckhannon (June 22 to June 27)
- Bowman’s Place (early June to June 29 along the Cheat River)
- Middle Fork Bridge (June 30 to July 7)
- Belington / Laurel Hill (June 30 to July 11 in front of Laurel Mountain)
- Rich Mountain (July 8 to July 11 in front of Rich Mountain)
- Corrick’s Ford (July 12 to July 13)
- Greenbrier River (July 14 to 19)
Each military action serves as an “anchor” for telling the larger story of events in northwestern Virginia during the early spring and summer of 1861.
Spirit of '61 