Engagement at Romney

The Engagement at Romney was fought on Thursday, June 13, 1861 between Union forces commanded by Col. Lewis “Lew” Wallace and Confederate forces commanded by Col. Arthur C. Cummings in Hampshire County, West Virginia.

Col. Lewis “Lew” Wallace.
Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.

Col. Lew Wallace, commanding the 11th Indiana Infantry Regiment, was a bit of an aberration. He was a lawyer and friend of Indiana Governor Oliver P. Morton, and would go on to write the novel Ben Hur (1880). His regiment, styled in French-inspired “zouave” jackets, were originally stationed in Cairo, Illinois, but Wallace used his political connections to get his men transferred closer to the action.

The 11th Indiana was sent to guard the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad in Maryland, across the Potomac River from Virginia. It technically fell under Maj. Gen. Robert Patterson and the Department of Pennsylvania but operated independently. It arrived in Cumberland, Maryland on June 10, 1861. Patterson gave Wallace leeway to “capture or rout” armed insurgents in the area, and he was happy to oblige.

Wallace heard a body of secessionist forces were camped in Romney, Virginia, 21 miles south along the South Branch of the Potomac River. These were two companies from the 33rd Virginia Infantry Regiment: the Potomac Guards and Independent Greys (Company A and F) under Col. Arthur C. Cummings, and the Hampshire Riflemen, which later became Company F, 7th Virginia Cavalry Regiment.

Five hundred men from the 11th Indiana proceeded by train the night of June 12, then plodded along rough mountain roads the next morning. The 21-mile trip turned into an 87-mile slog. Confederates had advanced notice of their arrival and were posted on a hill behind the bridge Wallace’s men would have to cross to enter Romney.

Despite multiple defensive advantages, including two artillery pieces mounted on the high ground and the difficulty of attacking across a river, the 11th Indiana executed the movement flawlessly suffering only one superficial wound. Wallace personally led several companies to flank the hill, but before they could get into range, the Confederates melted into the flood of Romney’s pro-secession residents leaving town.

Though Wallace pledged not to harass any unarmed citizens, his men did destroy the printing press and offices of the South Branch Intelligencer. Satisfied, Wallace withdrew his troops the next day. Confederate Col. Turner Ashby and his cavalry occupied Romney by June 17th, leading to another skirmish at Frankfort and Patterson’s Creek.

Opposing Forces

Confederate

Col. Arthur C. Cummings, Commanding

Unit	Commander(s)	Strength
Potomac Guards (Co. A, 33 VA IN)	Cpt. Philip T. Grace
Independent Greys (Co. F, 33 VA IN)	Cpt. Abraham Spengler
Hampshire Riflemen (Co. F, 7 VA CAV)	Cpt. George F. Sheetz	16-17