Jan. 1862 - Camp Northwest established; clashes at Greenbrier Bridge and Huntersville

Jan. 1862

Camp Northwest established

near Huntersville, WV

* Something special for me personally here: the farthest I have ever travelled for a Civil War marker - so far!. Ironically, considering the camp's name, this is the point furthest south in West Virginia I have ever driven to - 280 miles from home. Staring at this distant, isolated point on the map, I wasn't sure I would be able to make it in the time I had. But spending a night outside Beverly made it possible, and I was still able to drive home the next night. Perhaps it should go without saying, but WV is easier to visit in summer! 

* See also "September 12–15, 1861 - Battle of Cheat Mountain / Camp Elkwater" for when Loring had his basecamp just north of here in late summer of 1861 

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=58226

Camp Northwest
Jackson’s Huntersville Line

 Huntersville (three miles northwest of here) in January 1862. Camp Northwest became Confederate Col. William L. Jackson’s headquarters and a supply depot for the outposts under Jackson’s command. Called the Huntersville line, it stretched from the northern end of Pocahontas County to the southern end. On August 23, 1863 Union Gen. William W. Averell’s forces captured and burned Camp Northwest prior to his march toward Lewisburg and his defeat at the Battle of Dry Creek at White Sulphur Springs. In his official report, Averell wrote. “Camp Northwest was burned and destroyed, with commissary buildings and stores, blacksmith shops, several wagons, a number of Enfield rifles, gun equipments, and a quantity of wheat and flour at a mill near by. A large number of canteens, stretchers, and hospital supplies fell into our hands.” Jackson soon reoccupied the area, where he remained until ordered to the Shenandoah Valley in 1864.

Early in June 1865, one of the last encounters between armed Federal and Confederate forces occurred a short distance southeast of here. A Federal cavalry detachment had ridden into Pocahontas County from Clarksburg to reclaim any Federal property they might find, to make sure there were no Confederate forces still active, and to parole all who laid down their arms. The Federal cavalry ran headlong into several Confederate cavalrymen, formerly of Col. William L. Jackson’s command, who had learned of Gen. Robert E. Lee’s surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia and all other forces under his command. After a brief clash, the Confederates abandoned their horses and escaped by fleeing up the hillsides and through the dense woods.

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=251872

Lee was here briefly before heading north for the Romney Campaign. 

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=34196

I'm so glad that I stretched the limit of my daylight and gas supply to make it all the way down to Huntersville. Because then I unexpectedly got to see this, AKA The Huntersville Arch:

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=34197

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

*    *    *

Also in the same neighborhood around this time...

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=179229

Greenbrier Covered Bridge

Vital Crossing

During the war, Union and Confederate forces crossed the Greenbrier River covered bridge many times to attack and counterattack through Pocahontas County. This area was then called Marlin's Bottom, on or near three turnpikes. Across the river, the Huttonsville, Marlin's Bottom, & Lewisburg Turnpike (now U.S. Route 219) linked the Staunton & Parkersburg Turnpike (U.S Route 250) on the north with Lewisburg on the south. The Marlin's Bottom & Huntersville Turnpike to Huntersville, six miles behind you, and the Huntersville & Warm Springs Turnpike that continued east to Warm Springs in Virginia now comprise State Route 39. These hard surfaced turnpikes were strategically important for the armies moving through the rugged terrain, especially during brutal winters.

Confederate Gen, Robert E. Lee and his army marched from Huntersville across the bridge in 1861 to the Tygart River Valley.

In January 1862, Union Maj. George P. Webster, 25th Ohio Infantry, led a 738-man detachment from Huttonsville to seize Huntersville and destroy supplies. He crossed the river a mile north of here and marched into Huntersville, routing the few defenders. He burned the stores and then marched across the bridge and back to Huttonsville, with only one man wounded. Union Gen. William W. Averell crossed the bridge on the first of three raids, on August 20–30, 1863, and again on November 4, culminating in the Battle of Droop Mountain, 16 miles south. Confederate Gen. Thomas L. Rosser led 300 cavalrymen from his camp near Staunton to raid a Union supply depot at Beverly, January 7-18, 1865, and crossed the bridge as he returned.

Civil engineer Lemuel Chenoweth (1811-1887) designed and constructed the Greenbrier River Bridge in the 1850s. Chenoweth, a masterful builder of wooden truss bridges, constructed several in West Virginia that still stand, most notably the one at Philippi, site of the first land battle of the war on June 3, 1861. The Greenbrier River Bridge was demolished and replaced in 1915.

* He built a home and a bridge in Beverly too!

The marker and new bridge in Marlinton, WV - county seat of Pocahontas County

Please note that the good people of this town are memorializing all past AND future veterans, including those that don't exist yet from the Space Force.

So long, West Virginia! 

*

BONUS: Return visit March 2026. While travelling further into the interior or West Virginia I happened to pass by my old friend here again. This marker no longer holds the title for "furthest from home," but it still holds a place in my heart. I went to Bluefield, WV (because of Princeton) on this later trip, 437 miles from home in Baltimore. That comes pretty close to tieing my trip to Beaufort, SC for the furthest.  

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=58226