An Encyclopedia of Early Civil War Virginia
The Skirmish at Glenville was fought on July 7-8, 1861 in present-day Gilmer County, West Virginia. The dramatic episode proved to be a sideshow in the larger campaign of Union Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan to wrest control of Northwestern Virginia from the Confederacy. It's often forgotten against the backdrop of the Battle of Rich…
Continue reading ➞ What Confederate Unit was Engaged in the Skirmish at Glenville?
Largely forgotten today, Thornsbury Bailey Brown was among the first Union casualties of the Civil War.
This unit's colorful commander was known for giving bellicose speeches, but his courage was of the liquid variety. The Pocahontas Rescues was a Confederate company raised in May 1861 in what is today Pocahontas County, West Virginia. “Count” Daniel A. Stofer (1821-1891), a boisterous attorney, organized the unit. Fifty-seven men mustered in at Huntersville, a…
The Letcher Guard was a Confederate company raised in May 1861 in what is today Taylor County, West Virginia. It was involved in the Action at Philippi on June 3, 1861 and then became Company A, 9th Battalion, Virginia Infantry (Hansbrough’s) in the Army of the Northwest.
Trick question -- none of the Virginia militia at Philippi on June 3, 1861 had been sworn into Confederate service. Technicalities aside, the issue of what units were involved in the "Philippi Races," among the first land actions of the Civil War, is not just a matter of trivia. Most authors, however, only name units…
A few days ago, we looked at a variety of sources to help orient our map of the Battle of Belington/Laurel Hill. Since then, I learned that most of these sources repeat, by second or third hand, information from the diary of a soldier in the 7th Indiana Regiment named William "Billy" Davis. His diary…
The following descriptions, taken from a variety of sources, help identify major landmarks related to the Battle of Belington/Laurel Hill. Since there are few reliable maps of Camp Laurel Hill and none of unit positions, we have to rely on these written descriptions to tell us where the battle unfolded. The numbers correspond to areas…
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 in what is today Barbour County, West Virginia. It involved around 8,000 Union and Confederate soldiers. I created…
In the past few years, I created multiple page stubs for invading Ohio and Indiana regiments, chiefly because there is more information readily available online for Union regiments. Information on Virginia regiments is harder to come by, especially for those who fought in Northwestern Virginia. When updating casualty information for the Battle of Corrick’s Ford,…
Continue reading ➞ Page Created for the 23rd Virginia Regiment
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
Spirit of '61 