An Encyclopedia of Early Civil War Virginia
An accurate accounting of Civil War casualties is often difficult, especially when record keeping was spotty at best. Newspaper articles, personal reminisces, and official reports are exaggerated and unreliable. This seems particularly true for the Action at Righter’s House, which was among the first deadly exchanges in the Civil War. On Friday, June 21, 1861,…
Continue reading ➞ Who Died at Righter’s House? An Early Civil War Mystery
A few days ago, I shared a map of the Confederate camp at Laurel Hill in Barbour County, West Virginia drawn by a Union spy named William Fletcher. I found the map on an interpretive sign at the Laurel Hill Battlefield. Though flawed, the map is the only detailed representation of the Confederate camp I…
Continue reading ➞ Origin of the Laurel Hill Spy Map Revealed
Yesterday, I shared a re-created map of Laurel Hill Camp drawn by a Union spy named William Fletcher. The Confederate Army of Northwestern Virginia occupied this position from June 16 to July 11, 1861. The camp didn't leave much in the way of physical remnants except for a small cemetery, so identifying its boundaries is…
The Battle of Belington (Laurel Hill) was fought from Sunday, July 7 to Thursday, July 11, 1861 between Union forces commanded by Brig. Gen. Thomas A. Morris and Confederate forces commanded by Brig. Gen. Robert S. Garnett. It was a small skirmish but played a role in the more consequential Battle of Rich Mountain. Laurel…
From around June 16 to July 11, 1861, several regiments under the overall command of Brig. Gen. Robert S. Garnett fortified a camp at Laurel Hill southeast of Belington in what is today Barbour County, West Virginia. Life in a military camp could be dangerous. Even without an enemy nearby, accidents and disease were ever-present…
Back in 2021, I thought I had stumbled upon a skirmish along the Ohio River in Western Virginia fought between Confederate forces commanded by Capt. Obadiah Jennings Wise and Union forces commanded by Col. Jesse S. Norton. It took place somewhere around Ravenswood in what is today Jackson County, West Virginia. This was based on…
The Ambush at Greenbrier River occurred on Friday, July 19, 1861 between Union forces commanded by Sgt. William D. Gault and an unknown Confederate irregular unit in present-day Pocahontas County, West Virginia. But where, exactly? It's hard to know for certain, but we can make an educated guess based on the primary sources. Most contemporary…
Continue reading ➞ Where did the Ambush at Greenbrier River take place?
Finding a few new sources regarding the Action at Greenbrier River seems to have opened the floodgates, as I've now also discovered an obituary for Private Seeley E. Mensch, who was mortally wounded in the ambush. The obituary, posted on his Find a Grave page, contains a detailed account by a surgeon of the 14th…
The Action at Greenbrier River is among those "minor" incidents in the early months of the American Civil War that got lost among more dramatic events. It occurred a few days after Confederate resistance collapsed in northwestern Virginia and a few days before the First Battle of Bull Run. In summary, Sgt. William D. Gault…
Soon after Virginia seceded from the Unites States in May 1861 with the intention of joining the Confederacy, Union Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan, as commander of the Department of the Ohio, invaded western Virginia. On June 3, he sent Confederate militia fleeing from the town of Philippi, and in July, he smashed a Confederate…
Continue reading ➞ 160 Years Ago Today: The Battle of Corrick’s Ford
Spirit of '61 