In July 1861, Francis H. Pierpont defended the unionist government at Wheeling as Virginia’s lawful authority and denounced secession as a conspiracy that sacrificed the state to Confederate interests. His extraordinary-session address reveals how loyal Virginians made a constitutional, economic, and political case for restoring Virginia to the Union. On June 20, 1861, in Wheeling,…
Earlier this year, Ronald S. Coddington, editor and publisher of Military Images magazine, used primary sources to tell the story of Col. Lew Wallace and his Indiana Zouaves gathering in State House Square in Indianapolis to receive their regimental flags. It’s a rare glimpse of the pageantry and naïveté of these young soldiers, eager to…
Continue reading ➞ Life on the Civil War Research Trail: Lew Wallace’s Zouaves, 1861
Lewis "Lew" Wallace's 11th Indiana Infantry had been protecting the vital transportation hub of Cumberland, Maryland, along the Potomac River, since early June 1861. When Wallace’s regiment departed on July 7, Cumberland and key points along the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad were left dangerously exposed. At the request of General Winfield Scott, Pennsylvania Governor Andrew…
Continue reading ➞ Thomas L. Kane and his Bucktailed Wildcats
In a previous post examining which Federal forces were involved in the July 13, 1861 Battle of Corrick’s Ford, I noted that, given the ferocity and duration of the fighting, it is difficult to explain how Union losses remained so light, with just two killed and roughly six or seven wounded. This figure comes directly…
A wealth of primary sources exists concerning the Battle of Corrick's Ford, fought on July 13, 1861, in Tucker County, West Virginia, and its aftermath. Official reports from several Union commanders involved in the action, however, are conspicuously absent. It was customary for each colonel engaged in an action like this to submit a report…
Continue reading ➞ Colonel Ebenezer Dumont’s Report from Corrick’s Ford
I've written about John Lott, allegedly "The first colored man that shouldered a musket in the Union Army," previously for Spirit of '61. In particular, his involvement in a murder at Philippi the day after Union forces occupied the town. The information I’ve since uncovered is a fascinating and unconventional story that stretches from southern…
Continue reading ➞ New at Emerging Civil War: The Enigma of John Lott
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?
When Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan arrived in northwestern Virginia in late June to take command of his Army of the West, also known as the Army of Occupation, he reorganized and expanded it into five brigades under Brig. Gens. William S. Rosecrans, Thomas A. Morris, Charles W. Hill, Newton Schleich, and Col. Robert L.…
Continue reading ➞ What Federal Units were at the Battle of Rich Mountain?
On July 6, 1861, Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan ordered Brig. Gen. Thomas A. Morris to advance on Confederate Brig. Gen. Robert S. Garnett’s position on Laurel Hill, near the small hamlet of Belington, also spelled Bealington or Beelington. McClellan instructed Morris to occupy a position “on the south side of Barker’s Mill Run, on…
Continue reading ➞ What Federal Units were at the Battle of Belington / Laurel Hill?
On Sunday, April 7, 1861, former congressman and outspoken Virginia unionist John Minor Botts met with President Abraham Lincoln in Washington, D.C., to discuss how to keep Virginia in the Union. Botts was a private citizen, not even a delegate to the Richmond Convention, and his account provides the only record of the meeting. Botts…
