An Encyclopedia of Early Civil War Virginia
On Wednesday, I posted an article I came across in the Richmond Dispatch, July 4, 1861, which described a previously unidentified skirmish near Alexandria, Virginia. The article is full of inaccuracies and partial information, which means I had to do a deep dive to figure out what happened. Information on the Confederate force is scarce.…
Continue reading ➞ New Facts Found in Skirmish Near Alexandria
I was searching through newspapers.com for casualty announcements in June and July 1861, and came across a previously unknown skirmish near Alexandria, Virginia that took place on or around June 30th. At first I thought it was referring to the Engagement at Arlington Mills, but that happened almost a month earlier. I haven't seen this…
It had been over a month since Union Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan invaded northwestern Virginia, and every week, additional volunteer regiments arrived to reinforce him. It had been over three weeks since Confederate forces fled from Philippi. Their commander, Col. George A. Porterfield, was replaced with Robert E. Lee's adjutant general, Brig. Gen. Robert…
Continue reading ➞ 160 Years Ago Today: Skirmish at Bowman’s Place
At the end of May, the Union Potomac Flotilla failed to silence a Confederate shore battery near Aquia Landing on the Potomac River. Nearly a month later, Flotilla Commander James H. Ward sought to clear Mathias Point of Confederate skirmishers, who were using the woods as cover to harass passing ships with small arms fire.…
Continue reading ➞ 160 Years Ago Today: Engagement at Mathias Point
In mid-June, Col. Lewis “Lew” Wallace, commanding the 11th Indiana Infantry Regiment, arrived in Cumberland, Maryland across the Potomac River from Virginia with a mission to guard the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. His 11th Indiana routed a Confederate force out of Romney, Virginia on June 11, then withdrew. Confederate reinforcements under Col. Ambrose Powell Hill…
Continue reading ➞ 160 Years Ago Today: Skirmish at Frankfort and Patterson’s Creek
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…
Continue reading ➞ 160 Years Ago Today: Action at Righter’s House
On June 11, 1861, Union Col. Lewis “Lew” Wallace, commanding the 11th Indiana Infantry Regiment at Cumberland, Maryland, attacked several companies of ill-trained militia at Romney, Virginia (today West Virginia) along the South Branch of the Potomac River. The Confederates fled in disorder. This, and the threat of McClellan's army coming over the mountains from…
Continue reading ➞ 160 Years Ago Today: Skirmish at New Creek
On May 24, 1861, Union troops crossed the Potomac River into northern Virginia and brushed aside a token defense at Arlington Heights and Alexandria. A few days later, on June 1st, a Union cavalry patrol was chased out of Fairfax Courthouse and a small skirmish erupted at Arlington Mills. Though minor, these incidents convinced Union…
Continue reading ➞ 160 Years Ago Today: The Engagement at Vienna
Col. Lewis "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). Wallace used his political connections to get his regiment, styled in French-inspired "zouave" jackets, transferred closer…
Continue reading ➞ 160 Years Ago Today: Engagement at Romney
Fought on June 10, 1861, Big Bethel was among the American Civil War's first pitched battles. Since the Virginia Secession Convention passed an ordinance of secession in May, Union forces had steadily reinforced Fort Monroe, a federal fort at the tip of the Virginia Peninsula between the James and York rivers. It was the only…
Continue reading ➞ 160 Years Ago Today: The Battle of Big Bethel
Spirit of '61 
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