The American Civil War - Chronologically

Sept. 23, 1861 Gen. Kelley pursues Confederates to Romney Romney, WV * Also home to one of the first ever Confederate monuments - Stump is on it (see Feb. 5, 1865) General B.F. Kelley ( 4th Ohio Volunteer Infantry) vs. 77th Virginia Militia Here's Romney Town Hall - and the former site of the historical marker I drove there to see. That was basically the theme of my visit to Romney, as is too often the case with markers in West Virginia. The contents of one missing sign are archived online and thus reprinted below.  Romney In The Civil War Strategic Location on the Turnpike Romney experienced many troop movements and skirmishes during the course of the war because of its location on the vitally important North Western Turnpike. The road linked Winchester, near the northern end of Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, with Parkersburg on the Ohio River. The earliest engagement fought here occurred on [see also] June 13, 1861, when a Federal force under Col. Lewis Wallace stormed the covere...

September 12–15, 1861 Battle of Cheat Mountain; aka the Battle of Cheat Summit Fort  Pocahontas and Randolph Country, [West] Virginia  Joseph J. Reynolds: Col. Nathan Kimball (14th Indiana at Fort Milroy) > George R. Latham vs. Gen. William W. Loring's Army of the Northwest:  Robert E. Lee- Samuel Read Anderson > Albert Rust > Henry R. Jackson  * Lee's first offensive campaign; and an abortive failure.  As  Clayton R.  Newell writes in   Lee Vs. McClellan: The First Campaign ,  Lee was recalled to Richmond on October 30 after achieving little in western Virginia    * " One of the casualties was Confederate Col. John A. Washington, George Washington’s great grandnephew [ and the last civilian owner of the first president's Mount Vernon estate] , killed while scouting on the Union right," near Elkwater and yea - we are gonna have to hear about it.  *  Fort Milroy, also known as Cheat Summit Fort, is the site of the ...

Sept. 10, 1861 Battle of Carnifex Ferry ["Nestled on the rim of the Gauley River Canyon near"] Summersville, West[ern] Virginia Brigadier General William S. Rosecrans > Col. William S. Smith (U.S. Colonel John W. Lowe) vs. Brigadier General John B. Floyd https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=20864&Result=1 Built in the 1850's by Mr. Patterson, this house was caught between opposing armies during the Battle of Carnifex Ferry. https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=20876 The Battle of Carnifex Ferry Seeking to gain a foothold in Western Virginia from which to conduct military operations, Gen. John B. Floyd, C.S.A. with approx. 1,800 troops established Camp Gauley here on the Patterson Farm about one mile from Carnifex Ferry. Gen. William Rosecrans, U.S.A. with nearly 7,000 troops was ordered from Clarksburg to march on Floyd. It was the afternoon of Sept. 10, 1861 when the Federals came in sight of Camp Gauley and the battle commenced. Rosecrans used only part of his forces in the atta...