The Action at Righter’s House (aka Coon Run) was fought on Friday, June 21, 1861 between Union forces commanded by Capt. David F. Cable and Virginia cavalry commanded by Capt. John Righter in Marion County, West Virginia.
In late June 1861, the 20th Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiment (3 Months) led by Col. Thomas Morton was headquartered at Fairmont, Virginia along the Tygart River and Baltimore & Ohio Railroad in Marion County. Its mission was to protect that strategically important railway connecting Washington, DC with the Midwestern states.
Company I of the 20th Ohio was stationed in the town of Mannington, approximately 13 miles west of Fairmont along the B&O Railroad. Its commanding officer, Capt. David F. Cable, had received several reports from “persons of the highest respectability” that a group of rebels were camped at Coon’s Creek (or Coon Run) and assembled for drill at the residence of a man named Peter Baker Righter, a well-known secessionist, near the Marion/Harrison County line.
Peter B. Righter and John Righter lived on either side of Coon Run in what is today the community of Francis, two miles east of West Fork River and the town of Enterprise in Marion County. Peter B. Righter was a wealthy farmer, and his son John would become a Confederate captain commanding Company No. 4 of the Virginia State Rangers in 1862 (he later commanded Company D, 19th Virginia Cavalry in 1863). But in that early summer of 1861, his troop was an ill-trained local militia.
On June 20th, Capt. Cable took a detachment of 27 men to Shinnston, approximately 13.5 miles south of Fairmont along the West Fork River in Harrison County. There they found several local guides to lead them to Righter’s farm. Cable left ten men in Shinnston as a guard and apparently rejected assistance from the local Unionist Home Guard. At around 3am on the morning of Friday, June 21st, Capt. Cable, 17 of his men, and two or three locals arrived at Righter’s House.
A guide approached the house and encountered a man on guard duty. Both returned to their respective sides and reported what they had seen. Capt. Cable arrayed his men in a semi-circle around the house and knocked on the door. Someone blew a horn, and firing erupted from the house and a nearby orchard. Several men, including a local guide, John Nay, were wounded. Cable ordered his men to withdraw to a nearby house where he sent for reinforcements.
In a letter to the Wheeling Intelligencer, Capt. Cable said four of his men were severely wounded, and they killed four of the enemy and wounded six. He took seven prisoners. One of the prisoners, Banks Corbett (or Corban) was shot and killed trying to escape. When they returned to Righter’s House at daylight, it was abandoned. The Union soldiers confiscated anything of military value, then set fire to the house.
“It is a terrible retribution on a man who lived like a prince, and could have continued to do so, but for an inborn deviltry and sympathy for ruffianism and treason, which has thus worked his ruin,” the Intelligencer editorialized. Peter Righter was arrested by Union troops in May 1862, but President Andrew Johnson granted him a full pardon in 1867.
Like many early skirmishes, newspaper reports of the Action at Righter’s House were exaggerated and full of hearsay and inaccuracies. It was just one of many tragedies to play out in northwestern Virginia as neighbor turned against neighbor.
Opposing Forces
Confederate
| Unit | Commander(s) | Strength | Killed | Wounded | Captured |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Union
| Unit | Commander(s) | Strength | Killed | Wounded | Captured |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Casualties
| Name | Unit | Killed | Mortally Wounded | Wounded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Unit | Killed | Mortally Wounded | Wounded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pvt. William Glero | 20th Ohio, Co. I | X | ||
| Pvt. Andrew Hutterly | 20th Ohio, Co. I | X | ||
| Pvt. Albert Zook | 20th Ohio, Co. I | X |
Primary Sources
- Jun. 19 Telegram to Gen. Winfield Scott
- Jun. 20 Telegram to Brig. Gen. Thomas A. Morris
- Jun. 22 Report of Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan
- Jun. 23 Report of Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan
- Jun. 23 Proclamation to the People of Western Virginia
- Jun. 25 Address to the Soldiers of the Army of the West
Sources
Updated: 19 April 2023
Created: 23 March 2021
Spirit of '61 