Engagement at Barboursville

The Engagement at Barboursville was fought on Saturday, July 13, 1861 between Union forces commanded by Lt. Col. George Neff and Confederate forces commanded by Capt. James Corns and Capt. James Ferguson in Cabell County, West Virginia.

In his memoir, Jacob Dolson Cox mentions the engagement in passing. He writes:

“From Guyandotte a portion of the regiment [2nd Kentucky], under command of Lieutenant-Colonel Neff, had gone to Barboursville and had attacked and dispersed an encampment of Confederates which was organizing there. It was a very creditable little action, in which officers and men conducted themselves well, and which made them for the time the envy of the rest of the command.”

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

Primary Sources

• Jul. 2 Instructions to Brig. Gen. Jacob D. Cox
• Jul. 6 Report of Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan
• Jul. 14 Report of Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan (2nd)
• Jul. 19 Report of Major-General George B. McClellan of Skirmish at Barboursville

Sources

Cox, Jacob Dolson. Military Reminiscences of the Civil War. Vol. I. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1900.

Geiger, Joe, Jr. Disorder on the Border: Civil Warfare in Cabell and Wayne Counties, West Virginia, 1856-1870. Charleston, WV: 35th Star Publishing, 2020.

Phillips, David L. War Diaries: The 1861 Kanawha Valley Campaigns. Leesburg: Gauley Mount Press, 1990.

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Updated: 21 April 2023
Created: 24 March 2021