The Action at Greenbrier River was fought on Wednesday, July 17, 1861 between Union forces commanded by Sgt. William D. Gault and an unknown Confederate irregular unit in present-day Pocahontas County, West Virginia.
Opposing Forces
Confederate | Commander(s) | Strength | Killed | Wounded | Captured |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Unknown irregular unit | unk | unk | unk | unk | unk |
Union | Commander(s) | Strength | Killed | Wounded | Captured |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
H.W. Burdsall’s Ind. Company Ohio Cavalry (Burdsall’s Dragoons) | Cpt. Henry W. Burdsall Sgt. William D. Gault | 7 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
Casualties
Name | Unit | Killed | Mortally Wounded | Wounded |
---|---|---|---|---|
Sgt. William D. Gault | H.W. Burdsall’s Ind. Company Ohio Cavalry | X | ||
Pvt. Seelay C. Minch | H.W. Burdsall’s Ind. Company Ohio Cavalry | X | ||
Pvt. William A. Kennedy | H.W. Burdsall’s Ind. Company Ohio Cavalry | X | ||
Pvt. Bernard Straight | H.W. Burdsall’s Ind. Company Ohio Cavalry | X |
Timeline
July 11, 1861: Confederate Lt. Col. John Pegram surrenders his entire command when he finds himself cut off from the Army of the Northwest after the Battle of Rich Mountain.
July 13, 1861: Union forces score a decisive victory over the Confederate Army of the Northwest at the Battle of Corrick’s Ford in Tucker County and kill its commander, Brig. Gen. Robert S. Garnett. Several thousand Confederate soldiers are captured or scatter into the mountains.
July 16, 1861: Union forces begin establishing Fort Milroy at White Top on Cheat Mountain in Randolph County, astride the Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike.
July 17, 1861: A seven-man patrol from Burdsall’s Dragoons is ambushed while scouting near the Greenbrier River.
Primary Sources

[Correspondence Cincinnati Commercial.]
A Scouting Party from Burdsall’s Cavalry Fired Upon–Several Killed and Wounded.
The following dispatch contains melancholy news:
CHEAT MOUNTAIN,
Via Beverly, Va., July 20th
JAS. BURDSALL:–A scouting party of six of our men was, this morning, fired upon by a concealed foe, near Green river, and Sergeant Gault killed. Private Mench, of Hamilton, mortally wounded; Straight [son of S. S. Straight, of this city,] dangerously wounded; and Kennedy, badly wounded.
H.W. BURDSALL
Daily Ohio Statesman (Columbus) 23 July 1861.
