April 28, 1863 - Hurricane Bridge Skirmish (AKA Battle of Hurricane Bridge)

April 28, 1863

Hurricane Bridge Skirmish

Hurricane, West[ern] Virginia

William R. Brown: 13th West Virginia Infantry

vs.

Albert G. Jenkins: 8th and 16th VA Cavalry 

* This action is in the Kanawha Valley, but not actually part of the 1861 Kanawha Valley Campaign I was seeking -March 2025] - though it did help maintain Union control of the area. Still, if I see I sign then I snap it. So here it is.

* The Confederates defeated here, before engaging in their Jones-Imboden Raid, went on to Point Pleasant, which I had just left!

* I think that sign is wrong! It says March when it means April. 

The stuff burned down. So, here's my only pic (the good stuff is on the other side!):

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=238017&Result=1

Hurricane Baptist Church.

Hurricane Baptist Church was founded May 26, 1860, near the old Hurricane Bridge. F. H. Reynolds was first clerk and James Mitchell the first moderator. This log meeting-house was burned in 1863 by soldiers of the Civil War. Its congregation was scattered but reassembled in 1871. April 2, 1877, it received a deed from C.P. Huntington. president of the Central Land Company, for the site of the present Baptist structure.

Hurricane Bridge Skirmish.

Federal troops of the 13th Virginia Volunteer Infantry, commanded by Colonel W. R. Brown, encamped here, were engaged in a five-hour skirmish with a Confederate force commanded by General Albert G. Jenkins, March 28, 1863. Defeated, the Confederates withdrew and continued their march towards their objective, Point Pleasant, where it was rumored that a vast quantity of Federal stores was deposited.

More:

On April 28, 1863, Confederate forces, under Brigadier-General Albert G. Jenkins, leaving from Hamlin, WV on their way to Pt. Pleasant, WV to attack a large federal fort located there, skirmished with Federal troops at Hurricane Bridge. Camped on the west side of Hurricane Creek was the 13th (West) Virginia Volunteer Infantry under Colonel W. R. Brown. After five hours of firing from both sides, Gen. Jenkins withdrew from the fighting and continued up Hurricane Creek Road to the Kanawha River.

And More:

General Jenkins' cavalry brigade were on their way to Point Pleasant to seek a federal fort there. They went on foot, raiding the Kanawha valley, because their horses were in North Carolina for the winter. They left camp in Hamlin the previous day and by sunrise on the 28th, they reached Hurricane Bridge. 

There the Confederate forces met the 13th Volunteer Virginia Infantry under Col. Brown, who were camped on the west side of the creek. Confederate command sent a request to Brown for him to surrender, yet Brown declined to surrender. 5 hours of fighting occurred, where the Confederates surrounded the federal troops on three sides, using three nearby hills to shoot from, using rifles and sharpshooters. The Union infantry held their positions, incurring a small number of casualties (4 dead, 3 wounded). Jenkins withdrew his forces from the fight, took cover behind the hills, and continued on his way up the Kanawha valley by way of Hurricane Creek Road. 

The Confederate wounded left behind by Jenkins were captured and it was learned that the 150 or so Union troops had held off more than 500 Confederates. Col. Brown sent the details of the negotiations, battle, and outcome in a letter to Captain James W. Johnson. On April 30th, an M. V. B. Edens wrote in verse what transpired that day, portraying the Confederate soldiers as barefooted hungry objects of pity, and the Union soldiers as brave fighting men, and published in the Point Pleasant Weekly Register. 

At some point during or after the skirmish, the Hurricane Baptist Church and portions of the town nearby burned down. The town and church were rebuilt after the war. Since 1998, the city of Hurricane has celebrated the anniversary of this battle with two reenactments, Scary Creek, and Hurricane Bridge in Hurricane's Valley Park.

Sources:

McElfish, Kendrick and Clio Admin. "Hurricane Bridge Skirmish and Hurricane Baptist Church Historical Marker." Clio: Your Guide to History. February 6, 2018. Accessed March 31, 2025. https://theclio.com/entry/8462

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Hurricane_Bridge

Hatfield, Philip (2019). The Battle of Hurricane Bridge, March 28, 1863: With the Firmness of Veterans. 35th Star Publishing, Charleston, WV.