Battle of Corrick’s Ford

Saturday, July 13, 1861

The culminating battle of the Tygart Valley Campaign was a disaster for the Confederacy, resulting in the death of a promising commander and the irrecoverable loss of northwestern Virginia.

Narrative

The Battle of Corrick’s / Carricks Ford was fought on Saturday, July 13, 1861 between Union forces commanded by Capt. Henry Washington Benham and Confederate forces commanded by Brig. Gen. Robert S. Garnett in Tucker County, West Virginia during the American Civil War. The battle was a Union victory, routing Confederate forces in western Virginia and resulting in approximately 670 total casualties, mostly Confederate.

Soon after Virginia seceded from the United States in May 1861 and joined the Confederacy, Union Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan, as commander of the Department of the Ohio, invaded western Virginia. On June 3, he sent Confederate militia fleeing from the town of Philippi, and in July, he smashed a Confederate force at Rich Mountain.

Following defeat at the Battle of Rich Mountain, Confederate Brig. Gen. Robert S. Garnett attempted to retreat from his camp on Laurel Hill to Beverly, but was misinformed about a Union presence there and fled northeast toward the Cheat River. “They have not given me an adequate force,” Garnett lamented. “I can do nothing. They have sent me to my death.” His words would be prophetic.

On July 13th, Garnett arrived at Corrick’s Ford on the Cheat River with 4,500 men. As they crossed, Union Brig. Gen. Thomas A. Morris’ brigade attacked, and while looking for another route to escape across the river, Garnett was shot and killed. His army abandoned its wagons, cannon, and supplies and fled.

Twenty Confederates were killed or wounded at Corrick’s Ford, including Garnett, who was the first general officer to fall in battle during the Civil War. Six hundred went missing and probably deserted. In contrast, Union forces sustained 53 casualties at Corrick’s Ford. McClellan was widely praised for his victory and was given command of the Military Division of the Potomac on July 26, 1861.

Opposing Forces

Confederate

Brig. Gen. Robert S. Garnett, Commanding

Unit	Commander(s)	Strength	Killed	Wounded	Captured / Missing
1st Regiment, Georgia Infantry (Ramsey’s)	Col. James N. Ramsey	944	?	?	1
23rd Virginia Inf. Regiment	Col. William B. Taliaferro	611	14	14	50
31st Virginia Inf. Regiment	Lt. Col. William L. Jackson
37th Virginia Inf. Regiment	Col. Samuel V. Fulkerson		0	0	0
9th Virginia Inf. Battalion	Lt. Col. George W. Hansbrough	221
Charlotte Cavalry	Capt. John G. Smith
Greenbrier Cavalry	Capt. William W. Gordon	80
Danville Battery	Capt. Lindsay M. Shumaker	4 Guns
Eighth Star New Market Battery	Capt. William H. Rice	0 Guns

Union

Capt. Henry W. Benham, Commanding

Unit	Commander(s)	Strength	Killed	Wounded	Captured
14th Ohio	Col. James B. Steedman
6th Indiana	Col. Thomas T. Crittenden
7th Indiana	Col. Ebenezer Dumont
9th Indiana	Col. Robert H. Milroy
1st Ohio Light Artillery	Col. James Barnett

Casualties

Name	Unit	Killed	Mortally Wounded	Wounded	Captured
Brig. Gen. Robert S. Garnett	Army of the Northwest		X
Pvt. Joseph R. Price	1st GA, Co. A				X
Pvt. Thomas B. Walthall	23rd VA, Co. B	X
Pvt. George W. Lockett	23rd VA, Co. C	X
Pvt. James T. Meeks	23rd VA, Co. D	X
Pvt. Henry W. Hagood	23rd VA, Co. E		X
Pvt. James H. Mason	23rd VA, Co. G	X
Pvt. Samson Phillips	23rd VA, Co. H	X
Pvt. John A. Carter	23rd VA, Co. I	X
Pvt. Elijah F. Collins	23rd VA, Co. I	X
Pvt. Joshua Foster	23rd VA, Co. I	X
Pvt. Irby King	23rd VA, Co. I	X
Sgt. Henry Venable	23rd VA, Co. I	X
Pvt. William J. Atwell	23rd VA, Co. K	X
Pvt. Cain Mahoney	23rd VA, Co. K	X
Pvt. Robert Osborne	23rd VA, Co. K		X

Name	Unit	Killed	Mortally Wounded	Wounded
Pvt. Samuel Mills	14th Ohio, Co. A	X
Pvt. Daniel Mills	14th Ohio, Co. A			X
Pvt. John Neihouse	14th Ohio, Co. A			X
Sgt. Henry Reichelderfer	14th Ohio, Co. C	X
Pvt. Casper Sirolff	14th Ohio, Co. D			X

Timeline

• June 16, 1861: Confederate Brig. Gen. Robert Seldon Garnett assigns Col. Jonathan M. Heck to guard the Staunton and Parkersburg Turnpike at Rich Mountain, while he fortifies Laurel Hill.

• July 7, 1861: Union forces commanded by Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan arrive in front of Rich Mountain and Laurel Hill.

• July 7-11, 1861: Skirmishing takes place at Laurel Hill between Garnett’s force and Union forces commanded by Brig. Gen. Thomas A. Morris.

• July 11, 1861: Union Brig. Gen. William S. Rosecrans flanks the Confederate position at Rich Mountain, forcing them to retreat. Garnett abandons his camp at Laurel Hill and attempts to retreat to Beverly. Lt. Col. John Pegram surrenders.

• July 13, 1861: Garnett is killed directing his men across a ford in Shavers Fork of the Cheat River.

Battlefield

In 1926, the Tucker County Historical Society dedicated a bronze plaque affixed to a six-ton boulder at the county courthouse to commemorate the battle, which was moved closer to the actual site in 1938. The American Battlefield Trust has preserved 26 acres of the battlefield, and interpretive signage and a trail is part of Corricks Ford Battlefield Park in Parsons, West Virginia. The Corrick House, where Garnett’s body was taken after the battle, still stands.

Corricks Ford Battlefield Park is located at the end of Poplar Street in Parsons, West Virginia. The Beverly Heritage Center is at 4 Court Street in Beverly, West Virginia, and is open Sunday through Thursday 11am to 5pm and Friday and Saturday 10am to 6pm.

Location

GPS Coordinates — 39.08968, -79.68079

Primary Sources

Reports and Letters

• Jul. 13 Report of Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan
• Jul. 14 Report of Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan (1st)
• Jul. 14 Report of Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan (3rd)
• July 15 Report of Colonel Samuel Beatty, 19th Ohio Volunteers
• Jul. 15 Report of Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan
• Jul. 15 Letter from George B. McClellan
• Jul. 16 Congratulatory address from General McClellan
• July 20 Report of Captain Lindsay Mayo Shumaker, Captain, C.S. Army
• July 24 Statement of Col. Samuel Vance Fulkerson, 37th Virginia
• July 31 Report of Captain John Keys, Ringgold Cavalry
• August 6 Report of Adjutant David W. Marshall, 16th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Militia
• August 10 Report of Colonel W. B. Taliaferro, Twenty-third Virginia Infantry
• Narrative of Brevet Brigadier-General Charles W. Hill, on operations around Cheat River, July 4-17

Secondary Sources

Boeche, Thomas L. “McClellan’s First Campaign” in America’s Civil War (January 1998): 30-36.

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.

Lesser, W. Hunter. Rebels at the Gate: Lee and McClellan on the Front Line of a Nation Divided. Naperville: Sourcebooks, Inc., 2004.

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Updated: 10 March 2025
Created: 12 February 2021