Dec. 13, 1861 - Battle of Camp Allegheny

Dec. 13, 1861

Battle of Camp Allegheny; or the Battle of Alleghany Mountain (Colonial English spelling)

Pocahontas County, WV (Monongahela National Forest) 

Milroy
vs.
Johnson


* Highest Civil War battlefield in the East [Confirmed!]

"Early in the war, Confederate military planners were forced to assume a strategic defensive strategy in areas where they could not bring superior numbers of forces to bear against their Union foe. They found it critical to control or at least monitor all possible avenues of approach by Union forces into the Confederate interior. These included the overland routes through the Appalachian Mountains of western Virginia. In December 1861, a Confederate force under Col. Edward Johnson was assigned to occupy the summit of Allegheny Mountain near the town of Bartow to defend the Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike, which connected the upper Shenandoah River valley with the Ohio River. Union victories that summer at Rich Mountain and Corrick's Ford had solidified Federal control over the mountain ranges in the western Virginia counties. To protect the turnpike and the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, Union forces sought to defeat Confederates nearby. On December 13th, a Union brigade under Brig. Gen. Robert Milroy attacked Johnson atop Allegheny Mountain. Fighting continued on the rough slopes for much of the morning as each side maneuvered to gain the advantage. Finally, Milroy’s troops were repulsed, and he retreated to his camps near Cheat Mountain. At year’s end, Johnson remained at Camp Allegheny with five regiments. After the winter, Johnson abandoned the camp a moved east to eventually meet up with Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson to defeat the Union army at the Battle of McDowell."

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=32890


Confederate forces led by Col. Edward Johnson held a fortified camp here in winter of 1861-62. Sharp attack occurred, Dec. 13, 1861, in which the Union troops under Gen. Robert Milroy were beaten off.

The West Virginia/Virginia state line - loose gravel and unmarked pavement atop a winding mountain word: worth it to get to Camp Allegheny way up there. 













Here's my car on the old pike over the mountain(s). I can tell you there was nobody on top of that mountain. It was slow going on the loose gravel. The Camp Allegheny historical marker is apparently "new" in the sense that it is different than the one found in the historical marker database at this location - but I didn't get a good enough shot to enter it into the database. It was wild seeing all the rifle pits and mounds of whatever at spiraling to the top of this isolated plain on the West Virginia/Virginia line. My reflection feels half-baked, but the experience certainly was not. This completed both my second journey into West Virginia [Summer 2024] and my second attempt to get to everything that happened in the East in 1861 in the East. They say I still need to hit Romney, but that's on the agenda. #1861Completist 

What is this a cross-over episode?!
See also Oct.3, 1861




From the museum in Beverly, WV


 
https://www.battlefields.org/learn/civil-war/battles/camp-allegheny

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

https://archive.wvculture.org/history/civilwar/alleghenymountain01.html




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