An Encyclopedia of Early Civil War Virginia
Yesterday, I posted about a mystery skirmish mentioned in Union Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan's July 5, 1861 report to Assistant Adjutant-General E. D. Townsend that supposedly took place around present-day Ravenswood, West Virginia along the Ohio River in early July 1861. The engagement is not listed in any source that I am aware of.…
Just when I thought I'd found every early Civil War skirmish in Virginia and West Virginia, I came across several references to an engagement near what is today Ravenswood, West Virginia along the Ohio River in Jackson County. Union Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan mentions it in his July 5, 1861 report to Assistant Adjutant-General…
Maneuvers and battles in Virginia prior to the Battle of First Manassas were centered around control of major waterways. Virginia had three main waterways that defined its antebellum borders: the Ohio, Potomac, and Chesapeake rivers. Whoever controlled these rivers could rapidly transport troops and supplies and prevent the enemy from crossing over into friendly territory.…
Robert E. Lee's General Orders Number 24, issued at the Headquarters of Virginia Forces in Richmond on June 1, 1861, sought to clarify Virginia's militia organization as it continued to mobilize throughout the state. A Civil War Era regiment consisted of smaller units called companies raised from the same general geographic area (sometimes several adjacent…
Continue reading ➞ Organization of Virginia Militia Units in June 1861
Spirit of '61 