West Virginia: A History

Chapter 13: The Agony of War

The Agony of War TheCrystallizingofAllegiances. The adoption of a secession ordinance by Virginia, the firing upon Fort Sumter, the call of President Lincoln for volunteers , and events at Wheeling in early summer 1861produced deep divisions among West %rginians. The crises "arrayed brother against brother, father against son, and neighbor against neighbor," heightening the tragedy of civil war.' Unionists and Seccessionists in trans-Allegheny West Virginia vied for men and materiel. Secessionists hastened to comply with state directives to activate militia companies, but Unionists refused to serve in those destined for Confederate service and formed their own. Both attempted to gain control of state firearms stored in western jails and armories in the wake of John Brown's raid at Harpers Ferry. At Parkersburg, for instance, Unionists engaged in a pitched battle with Secessionists for muskets with which to arm a home guard company Seccessionists seized the muskets at Sisterville, but Unionists captured two cannon placed there for border defense. Union arms in northwestern counties were augmented by two thousand Mini6 rifles sent by Secretary of War Simon Cameron and another two thousand securedby a loan negotiated by John S. Carlile and the Central Committee of the First Wheeling Convention with the governor of Massachusetts. At the outset of the war the Secessionists appeared to have a slight advantage in West Virginia. By early May, however, Union companies were drilling in Wheeling, Clarksburg, Grafton, and other towns, and by the middle of the month the First Virginia Volunteer Infantry, commanded by Colonel Benjamin F. Kelley, became the first Virginia unit to answer Lincoln's call for volunteers. State forces at Grafton, Charleston, and Guyandotte threatened Unionists with seizure of property and imprisonment, but the Unionists gained strength and in the Wheeling area warned that they would retaliate against such actions. The number of West Virginians who fought in the Civil War cannot be determined precisely. Estimates of Union strength, based upon records of the 'Charles H. Ambler and Festus P. Summers, West Virginia, the Mountain State, 2d ed. (EnglewoodCliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall,Inc., 1958), 207. The Agony of War 125 adjutants general of the Reorganized Government of Virginia and the state of WestVirginiaandthereport of thequartermastergeneralofWestVirginia,range from twenty-eightto thirty-sixthousand,with recentstudiespointingtoward the higher figure. Of the total, 212 were "Colored Troops." The number of Confederate troops from West Virginia, once placed at seven to nine thousand, was later revised upward to between ten and twelve thousand.More recent studies suggest far less disparity between the numbers of Union and Confederate soldiersfromWestVirginiathan wasonceacceptedby studentsof thecivil War. In addition, there were hundreds of independents and scouts, as well as "bushwackers" who used the war for personal ad~antage.~ NorthwesteinVirginia, 1861.On May 9, four days before the First Wheeling Conventionassembled,the secretary of war added the part of West Virginia north of the Kanawha River to the Department of Ohio, under the command of General George B. McClellan. While McClellanlaid plans for an advance into northwestern Virginia, Colonel George A. Porterfield, the Confederate commander in the Monongahela Valley, occupied Grafton and orderedthe destruction of Baltimore and Ohio Railroad bridges between there and Wheeling. McClellanresponded with a directivefor a two-pronged attackon Grafton, with Colonel Benjamin Kelley and the First Virginia Infantry, supported by companies of the Second Virginia Volunteers and the Sixteenth Ohio, moving eastward from Wheeling by way of the Baltimore and Ohio and the Fourteenth and Sixteenth Ohio regiments proceeding from Parkersburg by the southern branch of the railroad. Knowing that he could not withstand an assault, Porterfield withdrewto Philippi, where Southernsentimentappeared stronger.Kelley occupied Fairmont and on May 30 took Grafton, an important rail junction, without firing a shot. Shortly after dawn on June 3 Kelley and ColonelEbenezerDumont sprang a surprise attack on Philippi. When their six-poundersheralded their approach at one end of the town, the Confederatesfled by the other. Neither side lost a single life, but Kelley was severelywounded in what has been called "the first important inland engagement of the Civil War." Discredited by the "Phillipi Races," as the action was humorously dubbed, Porterfield retreated to Beverly. On June 8 he was replaced by Brigadier General Robert S. Garnett. Hoping to remain within striking distance of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, Garnett established strong defensive positions on the west side of Laurel Hill near Belington and ten miles to the south at Rich Mountain Pass not far from Beverly. His advantages were offset by the arrival of McClellan in Grafton on June 22 to...