An Encyclopedia of Early Civil War Virginia
Was the skirmish at the mouth of the Pocatalico River on July 16, 1861 a bold cavalry charge or blown out of proportion? Conflicting accounts tell vastly different tales, leaving us to sift through exaggerations and incomplete records to understand what really happened in this lesser-known prelude to the Battle of Scary Creek. A dramatic…
Continue reading ➞ What Happened at Poca? Unpacking the Truth
The incident near Red House not only serves as a lesson in the hazards of nineteenth-century warfare but also underscores the importance for historians of cross-referencing newspaper reports with multiple sources. It was shortly after sundown on July 14, 1861. The Ohio longshoremen and steamboat crewmen of the 1st Kentucky Infantry Regiment (U.S.) were packed…
Continue reading ➞ Clash at Red House: Friendly Fire or Something More?
The town of Wheeling, located along the Ohio River in what was then the Virginia panhandle (today, West Virginia), was Virginia’s fourth largest city in 1860. Sandwiched between the free states of Ohio and Pennsylvania, it was largely populated by German immigrants with no affinity for Virginia’s Anglo-American planter class. When the Secession Convention in…
Based on a careful analysis, it’s reasonable to conclude that the Confederates had approximately 1,670 men on the field that day. Though some minor skirmishes occurred in Virginia prior to June 10, 1861, the Battle of Big Bethel on the Virginia Peninsula was unequivocally the first pitched battle of any magnitude. Approximately 6,000 Union and…
The Battle of Big Bethel (or Great Bethel) was fought on Monday, June 10, 1861 between Union forces commanded by Brig. Gen. Ebenezer Peirce and Confederate forces commanded by Col. John B. Magruder and Col. Daniel Harvey Hill in what is today Hampton, Virginia. It was among the American Civil War’s first pitched battles. Until…
Continue reading ➞ Topographical Sketch of the Battle of Bethel, June 10th 1861
Occurring on Friday, July 5, 1861, the Skirmish at Smith's Farm was significant because Louisianan Lt. Col. Charles Dreux became the first field grade Confederate officer killed during the Civil War. Yet few people, even Civil War historians, have ever heard of it. Sometimes inaccurately called Young's Mill, I refer to it as Smith's Farm…
Continue reading ➞ Illuminating the Skirmish at Smith’s Farm
William "Billy" Davis was born in 1838 on a farm in Franklin Township, Johnson County, Indiana. At the outbreak of the Civil War, on April 18, 1861 at the age of 23, he enlisted for three months in Company H, 7th Regiment, Indiana Infantry. He served in that unit throughout its entire campaign in northwestern…
Continue reading ➞ Where was Billy Davis on the Morning of July 8, 1861?
Harper’s Weekly, A Journal of Civilization was published in New York City from 1857 to 1916. Though imperfect, as most print media was in the late nineteenth century, Harper’s Weekly records the important events of America’s Civil War. It contains many wonderful illustrations that give modern readers a glimpse into that critical period’s military and…
Continue reading ➞ Three New Issues of Harper’s Weekly Added
No April Fool's joke--We have added new high-quality scans of Harper’s Weekly news magazine from July and August 1861! Harper's Weekly, A Journal of Civilization was published in New York City from 1857 to 1916. Though imperfect, as most print media was in the late nineteenth century, Harper's Weekly is a record of the important…
For the past two weeks or so, I have been doing a deep dive into Buckhannon and Upshur County, West Virginia's role in the early Civil War, delving into a variety of sources to figure out what happened during those crucial months of April-July 1861. Discovering new primary sources on Lt. Col. Jonathan McGee Heck's…
Spirit of '61 