An Encyclopedia of Early Civil War Virginia
While I was browsing the Ohio muster rolls for detailed casualty lists, I came across a previously un-reported engagement near the Greenbrier River between a Union scouting party from Burdsall's Dragoons and Confederate guerillas in present-day Pocahontas County, West Virginia. The Union patrol was ambushed and suffered one killed, one mortally wounded, and two wounded.…
Continue reading ➞ Page Added for Action at Greenbrier River
Accuracy and detail is what will set this encyclopedia apart from other early Civil War resources, and a big piece of that is detailed and accurate casualty lists. Books and articles often cite figures from other works that are not primary sources. Even official reports and contemporaneous newspaper articles tend to exaggerate or downplay casualties.…
I almost wrote this one off. For a long time, I questioned whether the Skirmish at Bowman’s Place, which is listed in The War of the Rebellion, Series I, Vol. II and elsewhere by simply a name and date, even happened. The usual sources revealed few other details besides the Union regiments involved and a…
Continue reading ➞ Page Added for the Skirmish at Bowman’s Place
The Confederate Army of the Kanawha was formed on June 6, 1861 under the commander of former Virginia governor Henry A. Wise. Its mission was to defend the Kanawha River Valley in what was then western Virginia (today the state of West Virginia). Despite its name, the Army of the Kanawha was never more than…
Of the 27 separate engagements I'm tracking in Virginia prior to the Battle of First Manassas, I’ve completed stub pages for all but one. I found mention of a skirmish at Harper's Ferry when Union troops re-occupied the town after crossing the Potomac River, and two closely-related engagements near Newport News that took place in…
I'm now tracking 27 separate engagements in Virginia prior to the First Battle of Bull Run, and I've completed stub pages for all but four. Information is hard to come by for some of these and fully researching them will be difficult. The new pages are: Skirmish at New CreekSkirmish at Middle Fork BridgeSkirmish at…
My goal this month is to at least publish a stub page for every Civil War engagement in Virginia prior to the First Battle of Bull Run. Each page will contain a short description and a map to where it was fought. I am tracking 20 separate engagements from May 7, 1861 to July 17,…
The Battle of Blackburn’s Ford was fought on July 18, 1861 between Union forces commanded by Brig. Gen. Daniel Tyler and Confederate forces commanded by Brig. Gen. James Longstreet in Prince William and Fairfax Counties, Virginia during the American Civil War. The battle, a prelude to First Manassas, was a Confederate victory and resulted in…
For many years, photos of Robert S. Garnett were often mistaken for those of his more famous cousin, Richard Brooke Garnett (1817-1863), who was killed in Pickett's Charge during the Battle of Gettysburg. The existing images and illustrations (at least available online) leave something to be desired. Like many early-war Confederate officers who didn't go on to win fame, these images are grainy and low resolution.
When it comes to military operations in Virginia prior to the First Battle of Manassas, Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan was most prolific in his writings. McClellan was commander of the military Department of the Ohio, which made him responsible for the first large scale operation in what was then western Virginia. So far, I've…
Spirit of '61 