An Encyclopedia of Early Civil War Virginia
Fought on July 13, 1861, the Battle of Corrick’s Ford (often misspelled Carrick’s) marked the climax of the Tygart Valley–Cheat River campaign. It ended in the complete rout of Brig. Gen. Robert S. Garnett’s remaining army and his death. Remarkably, the victory was won by a relatively small Union force, only part of Thomas A.…
Continue reading ➞ What Federal Units were at the Battle of Corrick’s Ford?
In July 1861, Union forces under Brig. Gen. Thomas A. Morris spent five days skirmishing with Robert S. Garnett’s Confederates around the small hamlet of Belington, fixing them in place while George B. McClellan struck at Rich Mountain. Though largely indecisive on its own, the fighting helped set the stage for the campaign’s decisive turning…
Continue reading ➞ Morris, Garnett, and the Fight for Belington, July 7-11, 1861
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. Over…
Continue reading ➞ Previous Belington / Laurel Hill Research
In a rain-soaked dawn attack at Philippi, Union columns under Benjamin Kelley and Ebenezer Dumont scattered Col. George A. Porterfield’s inexperienced command, sending it fleeing in what became known as the “Philippi Races.” The brief fight secured the B&O lifeline and shattered secessionist momentum in northwestern Virginia at the very outset of the war. Events…
Continue reading ➞ The Philippi Races: How a Rain-Soaked Surprise Secured Northwestern Virginia
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
Following an ignominious Confederate defeat at the Battle of Philippi in early June, Robert E. Lee’s adjutant general, Brig. Gen. Robert S. Garnett, took command of Confederate forces in western Virginia and fortified two key mountain passes: one at Laurel Mountain leading to Leadsville and the other at Rich Mountain to Beverly. Lt. Col. John…
Continue reading ➞ 160 Years Ago Today: The Battle of Belington or Laurel Hill
Brig. Gen. Thomas Armstrong Morris (1811–1904) was a civil engineer from Kentucky who led a brigade under Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan during the Northwest Virginia Campaign. Morris graduated from West Point in 1834 and served as an artillery officer. When the Civil War broke out, he became quartermaster general of the Indiana state militia.…
Spirit of '61 