Photo by M.A. Kleen, Spirit61.info

Action at Fetterman

Wednesday, May 22, 1861

Days before Virginia’s secession referendum, a tense standoff at Fetterman Bridge between secessionist pickets and returning union recruits ended in gunfire, leaving Thornsbury Bailey Brown dead. Though not yet officially enlisted, Brown’s death marked one of the Civil War’s first fatal encounters, setting a violent precedent in a deeply divided region.

Photo by M.A. Kleen, Spirit61.info
Photo by M.A. Kleen, Spirit61.info
Photo by M.A. Kleen, Spirit61.info
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  1. Narrative
  2. Opposing Forces
    1. Confederate
    2. Union
  3. Timeline
  4. Location
  5. Primary Sources
    1. News Articles
    2. Reports and Letters
  6. Secondary Sources

Narrative

The Action at Fetterman occurred on Wednesday, May 22, 1861 between members of the secessionist Letcher Guard commanded by Cpl. Daniel W. S. Knight and unionist Grafton Guards commanded by Lt. Daniel Wilson in Taylor County, West Virginia.

John A. Robinson (1830-1898), a merchant and postmaster, organized the Letcher Guard, named after Virginia Governor John Letcher, in early May 1861. 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.

Grafton was a railroad town and predominantly unionist in sentiment. Around the same time pro-secession forces were organizing in Fetterman, attorney and newspaper publisher George R. Latham (1832-1917) organized the Grafton Guards in answer to President Abraham Lincoln’s call for volunteers.

On the night of May 22, 1861, three members of the Letcher Guard, 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 were returning from a recruiting rally for the Grafton Guards 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.

Opposing Forces

Confederate

Capt. John A. Robinson, Commanding

UnitCommander(s)StrengthKilledWoundedCaptured
Letcher GuardCpl. Daniel W.S. Knight3010

Union

Capt. George R. Latham, Commanding

UnitCommander(s)StrengthKilledWoundedCaptured
Grafton GuardLt. Daniel Wilson2100

Timeline

  • April 17, 1861: Delegates at the Virginia Secession Convention vote in favor of secession, 88 to 55.

  • May 13, 1861: Pro-Union delegates from 27 western Virginia counties open a convention at Washington Hall in Wheeling, Virginia to debate a response to the secession crisis. The pro-secessionist Letcher Guard is sworn into service in Fetterman for 1 year.

  • May 14, 1861: Virginia Col. George A. Porterfield arrives in Grafton to organize the local militia, but finds its residents sympathetic to the Union. Porterfield moves his HQ to Fetterman.

  • May 22, 1861: Members of the pro-union Grafton Guards exchange fire with members of the Letcher Guard at a bridge over the Tygart Valley River. One man is killed.

  • May 25, 1861: Grafton Guards musters into the Union Army in Wheeling and becomes Company B, 2nd Virginia Infantry Regiment (U.S.).

Location

GPS Coordinates — 39.35321, -80.04342

Primary Sources

News Articles

The Wheeling Daily Intelligencer (Wheeling) 25 May 1861.

The Wheeling Daily Intelligencer (Wheeling) 25 May 1861.

The Kingwood Chronicle (Kingwood) 25 May 1861.

Reports and Letters

Secondary Sources

Armstrong, Richard L. 25th Virginia Infantry and 9th Battalion Virginia Infantry. Lynchburg: H.E. Howard, Inc., 1990.

Cammack, John Henry. Personal Recollections of Private John Henry Cammack: A Soldier of the Confederacy, 1861-1865. Huntington: Paragon Ptg. & Pub. Co., 1920.

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.

Haselberger, Fritz. Yanks from the South! The First Land Campaign of the Civil War. Baltimore: Past Glories, 1987.

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

Updated: 15 March 2025
Created: 6 October 2023

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