September 12–15, 1861 - Battle of Cheat Mountain / Camp Elkwater; plus Huntersville
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 highest Union camp during the American Civil War. Confirmed!
* "An account of the Civil War activity on Cheat Mountain can be found in Ambrose Bierce's article 'On A Mountain.'"
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| This picture in no way captures the roughness of the terrain I had to cross to get to the top of this mountain. Winding, gravel, mountain pikes. |
"Lee’s ... three Confederate brigades that attacked Cheat Summit Fort on September 12 had to contend with limited visibility due to poor weather conditions, a defending force that knew the terrain well, and poor coordination between each brigade; during the battle, each brigade acted independently and never made contact with each other. The 14th Indiana, comprised of about 300 men, put up a stubborn defense that was so aggressive that Confederate commanders believed the force was much larger than it was in reality. Daunted by these odds, they withdrew. At the same time, three more Confederate brigades were attacking Camp Elkwater, but the camp’s well-prepared entrenchments allowed for a solid Federal defense. Lee soon called off the entire attack. He maneuvered in the area before withdrawing to Valley Mountain on September 17."
https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=58239
Cheat Summit Fort, also called “Fort Milroy,” was constructed by Federal troops in the summer of 1861. The fort was positioned to control the Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike. Initial work was conducted by six companies of the 14th Indiana Infantry Regiment under Colonel Nathan Kimball. At 4,000 feet, it is the highest known Union fortification in the east.
Attack on Cheat Mountain
In September of 1861 of General Robert E. Lee directed the Confederate Army of the Northwest to isolate and attack Cheat Summit Fort and Camp Elkwater (approximately 8 miles west). On September 12, a Confederate brigade under Colonel Albert Rust engaged Federal skirmishers in the dense woods west of the fort. Unaware they outnumbered the foe, Rust’s forces retreated, falling to signal a wider attack. Additional Confederate setbacks near Camp Elkwater on September 13-14 ended Lee’s offensive.
Cheat Summit Fort served as a Federal staging area for the October 3 attack at Camp Bartow (12 miles southeast) and a December 13 assault at Camp Allegheny (21 miles southeast). This fort never fell, but was abandoned in 1862 as the armies moved east.
The Trials of Cheat Mountain
“In the usually mild September, horses chilled to death in that camp.” - Elijah Cavins, 14th Indiana Infantry
Uncommonly cold and wet weather made life difficult for the 3,000 soldiers stationed at Cheat Summit Fort. The first snow of the season fell on August 13. Guerrillas and mud were constant problems. Disease killed men in substantial numbers. Veterans recalled their campaign here as the “severest of the war.”
Artifacts, structures, and archaeological resources at Cheat Summit Fort are protected by federal laws such as the Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 1979, as amended.
Cheat Summit Fort was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1990. The Monongahela National Forest administers the fort for the benefit of the public.
Caution: Much of this area has been altered by strip-mining. Please avoid going near all high walls. These embankments are unpredictable and could collapse.
* I didn't see any dangerous strip mines, but I was all alone up there the whole time - and on high alert for bears.
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| https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=58241 | Union soldiers built the main earthworks here to provide defense. They made the embankment by forming a crib with spruce logs. The crib was then filled with earth and stone. | Such a fortification would provide protection from rifle and artillery fire. The original wall was reported to be more than ten feet high and eight feet thick at its base. |
https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=58243
Federal forces built Cheat Summit Fort to control the strategic Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike, the road below you. It ran from Virginia to Parkersburg, (West) Virginia. When finished, the turnpike opened the first continuous route between Richmond and the Ohio River. The road was originally chartered in 1817, but would not be completed until 1847. Today U.S. 250 and WV Route 47 roughly follow its path.
Further east along the turnpike, Confederates constructed Camps Bartow and Allegheny. They hoped to deny the Union easy access to the Shenandoah Valley. On clear days, soldiers at Cheat Summit could see the campfire smoke of the enemy over twenty miles away on Allegheny Mountain.
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| https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=58245 |
"Our tents were pitched on a rocky point with a fine forest on every side and a magnificent view of the Alleghenies on front of us, a beautiful romantic, though desolate spot." - William Houghton, 14th Indiana Infantry, July 16, 1861 Indiana Historical Society
The primeval wilds of Cheat Mountain greeted Union soldiers. The land was dominated by tall red spruce and impenetrable rhododendron thickets. Federal troops built the fort on the appropriated farm of Southern sympathizer Mathias White. Awe of their surroundings was soon replaced by the drudgery and monotony of camp life.
Heavy rains regularly reduced roads and campgrounds to deep mud. The constant dampness destroyed soldier’s clothes and tents, and provisions were often in short supply. Disease and body lice were rampant throughout the camp; those patrolling outside the walls risked attack from guerrillas. An instance of mutiny arose among some men. The winter of 1861-1862 brought deadly cold and heavy snow, isolating the fort.
From the actual summit:
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| https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=59358 At the heart of what was then the large state of Virginia, the Allegheny Mountains posed a formidable barrier to settlement and development. Turnpike engineer Claudius Crozet faced the daunting task of designing and building a road over these mountains, and no mountain was more of a challenge than Cheat. At Cheat Mountain, the Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike lifted from 2700 feet on the valley floor near Durbin up to 3700 feet in less than 5 road miles. Even apart from the challenging terrain, the top of Cheat Mountain was its own landscape in the sky, with its own local climate and conditions. Mountaintop weather was harsher than most travelers were accustomed to, often making Cheat a challenge of one’s willpower and endurance. Its high elevation meant colder temperatures year round, and winters were especially harsh. Snows were recorded as early as August. The dense virgin spruce forests also kept the mountaintops cool and damp, so snowfall sometimes lasted into early summer. The mountain caught large amounts of precipitation. Just a few miles away, Travellers Repose received almost 30 inches less water a year. Summer travelers could enjoy the cool Canada-like climate and the boreal-like beauty of the red spruce forests on top of the mountain, but road conditions suffered from so much water. In some years, months might pass before a traveler could cross Cheat. The Trotter brothers, charged with delivering the mail from Staunton to Parkersburg from 1855 to 1858 replied to a reprimand from the Postmaster General for their late delivery of the mail in the winter of 1855. "Mr. Postmaster General Washington, D.C. Dear Sir: If you knock the gable end of Hell out and back it op against Cheat Mountain and rain fire and brimstone for 40 days and 40 nights, it won't melt the snow enough to get your damned mail through on time." |
This now too, close enough:
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| https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=46331 Tygart's Valley Presbyterian Church, organized in 1820. A brick building erected three-fourths mile west at the cemetery was destroyed by Union soldiers in 1862-1863 and the bricks used for building flues at the winter quarters. |
And now Camp Elkwater and tiny Huntersville (population 73), which I had visited the previous day, July 19 and 20, 2024. First two sides of the same marker, then the contents of a no-longer readable marker in the same spot:
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| https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=34370 |
Elkwater. Trenches made by Federal troops under Gen. Reynolds, 1861. Nearby were the two Haddan Indian forts, scene of the Stewart and Kinnan massacres. Important features of 4-H Club work among rural youth started here in 1915.
Col. J. A. Washington. Here, Sept. 13, 1861, Col. John Augustine Washington, aide-de-camp to Gen. Robert E. Lee, C. S. A., was killed. He was the last of resident owners of Mt. Vernon, which he had sold in 1859 to become a national shrine.
Camp Elkwater
Gateway to the Tygart Valley
— The First Campaign —
Following success at Rich Mountain in July 1861, Federal troops under Gen. Joseph Reynolds built Camp Elkwater to deter Confederates from returning. Fortifications here blocked the narrow valley floor and a turnpike leading to the Virginia Central Railroad. Erected in tandem with a fortress on Cheat Mountain, Camp Elkwater was the key to defense of the Tygart Valley.
Nearly 3,000 Federal troops were present when Confederates under Gen. Robert E. Lee threatened on September 12, 1861. A Confederate assault fizzled. Plagued by rain and cold weather, Lee left the area in humiliation. Federal troops remained at Camp Elkwater until spring, 1862.
“We are in a lovely little valley on a fine clear trout stream, with high mountains on all sides and large trees over us. A perfect camp, perfectly protected by entrenchments…Several regiments are in sight, and the enemy under Lee so near that our outposts have fights with his daily.” – Major Rutherford B. Hayes, 23rd Ohio Infantry U.S.A. A future U.S. President, Hayes served here with other notables.
“When morning broke, I could see the enemy’s tents on Valley River, at the point of the Huttonsville road just below me. It was a tempting sight.” - Gen. Robert E. Lee
Lt. Col. John Augustine Washington, C.S.A. Great grandnephew of the first president, and the last Washington to own Mt. Vernon, he was killed on Sept. 13, 1861, while scouting near Camp Elkwater.
Here's the spot where Lt. Washington died. I can still smell the road-kill I had to walk past on this winding mountain road. Looks new and not in the database. Is this an historical marker?
https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=34374
Named for the Mingo Indians who had a village here. This tribe was a branch of the Iroquois. The Seneca Indian Trail passes this point. On Valley Mountain in 1861, Gen. Robert E. Lee camped while campaigning in this valley.
https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=34366
One-half mile east is the site of Gen. R. E. Lee's Valley Mountain Headquarters where he camped with his troops from Aug. 6 to Sept. 20, 1861 while he directed the ill-fated Cheat Mountain Campaign.
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| https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=34365 |
On this knoll, General Robert E. Lee maintained headquarters from July to September, 1861, after taking command of the Confederate forces in West Virginia. His army on Valley Mountain guarded the road leading south into Virginia.
It sure seems like someone was butt-hurt because there's an old sign that mention's Lee's first "ill-fated" campaign. So they put up another one to erase his failures. History from the Lost Cause partisans!
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| From the museum in Beverly, WV |
You would be forgiven for confusing Huttonsville with Huntersville, which is only an hour south in the same state.
Next up was Huntersville (actual population: 78), one of the smallest towns I have ever visited - and the marker wasn't even on the main drag. It was fun to track down though. See it there? Almost nobody cares, but that's the Huntersville Jail. It was build in 1882 and served as the county jail until the county seat moved from Huntersville to Marlinton in 1891. The 1854-constructed Presbyterian church across the street (not pictured, sorry) was used as a hospital here during the war. There's also a tiny Civil War Cemetery here, only cleared in the 1990s. And the Civil War Trails marker about Loring's Camp here in 1861 isn't even in the database! So glad I drove all the way down here to take a picture of a sign that nobody cares about. Maybe I'll add it myself...[update: I did.]
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| https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=34194 |
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| https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=259967 |
Huntersville
Loring's Camp
—The First Campaign—
(preface) In the spring of 1861, Union forces rushed into northwestern Virginia to secure the vital Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, protect important turnpikes, and support Unionists against Confederates. The two sides fought numerous engagements between June and December. They included Philippi (the war's first land battle), Rich Mountain, Corricks Ford, Cheat Summit Fort, Carnifex Ferry, and Camp Allegheny. The many Union victories made Gen. George B. McClellan's reputation and damaged that of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee—a situation reversed in 1862. Despite later Confederate raids, today's West Virginia remained largely under Federal control for the rest of the war.
Late in the summer of 1861, Huntersville served as the base camp of Confederate Gen. William W. Loring's Army of the Northwest. It was from this location that he launched his ill-fated campaign against Federal forces at Cheat Summit Fort and Elkwater. Gen. Robert E. Lee camped here for three days during that time.
Many of the soldiers from Tennessee, Georgia, and Virginia fell ill while they were here. The Presbyterian church was utilized as a hospital, and those who died of their illnesses were buried on the hill south of town.
After Loring's troops marched away, Huntersville remained a supply depot for Confederate forces in this area. On January 3, 1862, a Federal force from Huttonsville, Maj. George Webster's 25th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, attacked the village. The Confederate defenders set fire to as many of the stores as they could and retreated to the east. The Federals destroyed all of the remaining supplies that they could not carry with them and returned to Huttonsville. Before they left, however, Webster had the Stars and Stripes nailed to the top of the courthouse.
In August and November 1863, Union Gen. William W. Averell marched his army through Huntersville during the two campaigns that resulted in the Battles of Dry Creek and Droop Mountain.
[Huntersville is] "a little but sprightly town.… Everything seemed to grow in the mountains—potatoes … onions, snap beans, peas. Apples and peaches were abundant, and everywhere the people had apple-butter for every meal." —Pvt. Sam Watkins
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| I made it to the bottom. Proud to say: I got them ALL! ********** Also, very geographically close and historically near (but absolutely not getting its own page)...  https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=60368 Off Young's Monument Rd. (.3M) is grave site of Henry & Lucinda Young. A Confed. militiaman or sympathizer, he was killed by Union troops nearby on 8 Sept. 1861. Details of Young's life and death are scant and confused, symbolizing divided loyalties, tragic times and enduring saga of Civil War in WV, when state was pitted against state and brother against brother. New road in 1970 required reburial.   |
Some sources:
https://huntersvillehistorical.com/historical-sites/
https://www.battlefields.org/learn/civil-war/battles/cheat-mountain
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Top
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cheat_Mountain
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheat_Mountain
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