July 7-11 - Laurel Hill/Belington

July 7-11

The Battle of Laurel Hill 

Belington, WV

Gen. George B. McClellan > Brig. Gen. Thomas A. Morris 

vs.

Confederate Gen. Robert S. Garnett (mostly VA Volunteers, plus the First Georgia Infantry Regiment) 

* This is where the Confederates retreated to and camped at after Philippi

* Geographically, Laurel Hill is the end of the Allegheny Mountains: their westernmost ridge, and the boundary between the mountains and the Allegheny Plateau 

* Longest battle of the Tygart Valley

* Upon learning of the simultaneous Confederate defeat at Rich Mountain, Garnett tries to retreat but is caught and killed at Corrick's Ford, the first general officer to be killed in the war

* Future-writer Ambrose Bierce is here!

* I discovered an excellent resource while researching this battle, and highly recommend "Spirit of '61: An Encyclopedia of Early Civil War Virginia," which is right-up my alley with timelines, maps, and documentation. 

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=34424

"Union troops under Brigadier General T.A. Morris, advanced from Philippi on July 7, 1861 and established a fortified camp near this site. Battle of Belington took place July 7-11. Confederates were two miles to east at Laurel Hill."

It's not the first confusing and contradictory historical marker I've seen, and it probably won't be the last. Almost nobody calls it the Battle of Belington, though it is safe to say the battle started here.  

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=34423

"On the nearby heights, Confederate General Robert Garnett's Army of Northwestern Virginia built fortifications to defend the Beverly-Fairmont Turnpike in June 1861. Many received their baptism of fire here as Garnett's 4,000 Confederates skirmished with an equal force under General Thomas A. Morris on July 7-11, 1861.

While Morris feigned attack, Federal troops under Major General George McClellan defeated Confederates at Rich Mountain, 15 miles south. With the enemy now threatening his front and rear, Garnett retreated on the night of July 11, leaving barricades to slow the Federals. His army fled east to Corricks Ford, Tucker County, where pursuing Federals captured Confederate supply wagons and killed General Garnett.

The engagement at Laurel Hill was a key to Union General McClellan's success in the first campaign. Retreat from this area resulted in the loss of Western Virginia for the Confederacy.

"My only apprehension is that by the guidance of Union men of the neighborhood they might get in my rear by some path unknown to me."

- Confederate General Robert S. Garnett

"We are situated on hills along both sides of the turnpike, as that is the only way the enemy can advance."- Clayton Wilson, 1st Georgia Infantry, C.S.A."

Photographed By Craig Swain, July 24, 2010

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=34425

"Fortified camp occupied by Confederates under Brig. Gen. Robert S. Garnett. June 16 - July 12, 1861. The scene of sharp skirmishes July 7-11. Garnett retreated early in the morning of July 12 after the Rich Mountain defeat."

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=34426

"Battle of Laurel Hill, July 8, 1861, between Confederates and McClellan's army, followed by actions at Rich Mountain and Corrick's Ford, gave Federals control of State and established communication lines to the West. Fine view from peak."

Welcome to Camp Laurel Hill

Gateway to the Northwest

"Confederate forces retreated from this area after the "Philippi Races" (June 3, 1861), first land battle of the Civil War. At Huttonsville, 26 miles south, Confederate General Robert S. Garnett took command of the Army of the Northwest. His goal was to reclaim "Western" Virginia."

General Garnett identified two mountain passes as the "gates to the northwestern country." The first was at Rich Mountain, 20 miles south. The second was here, on the Beverly-Fairmont Turnpike, at Laurel Hill. Leaving 1,300 men at the stronger post at Rich Mountain, Garnett began to fortify Camp Laurel Hill on June 16, 1861 with the remainder of his 5,300 Confederates.

"Heavy entrenchments are dug around the entire camp, containing an area of one hundred acres. It is, perhaps, the most substantial and complete work of its kind ever built in this country."
-A Soldier at Laurel Hill

By early July, Federal troops threatened. Maj. General George McClellan led three brigades toward Rich Mountain. Meanwhile, a brigade under Union General Thomas A. Morris marched to Laurel Hill.

On this ground, Garnett's Confederates skirmished with a nearly equal force of the enemy. From July 7-11, 1861, gunfire echoed from these ridges. Here soldiers of the blue and gray received their baptism of fire.

On the evening of July 11, General Garnett learned that the Confederates had been defeated at Rich Mountain. He feared that the Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike - his vital supply line to the Shenandoah Valley - had been severed. Abandoning Laurel Hill near midnight, Garnett's army struck east, in a daring bid to escape. On July 13, at a lonely river crossing known as Corricks Ford (Tucker County), pursuing Federals captured most of the Confederate supply wagons and killed General Garnett. Demoralized Confederates fled across the mountains to Monterey, Virginia.

Events here in 1861 made General George McClellan a national hero, and solidified Union control of "Western" Virginia. To counter the Confederates in Richmond, a delegation of Unionists in Wheeling formed the "Restored Government of Virginia." By 1863, the state of West Virginia was born.

"We are anxious to meet the foe, for we have them to whip, and the sooner we do it, the sooner we will be able 

to return to the dear loved ones at home." -John B. Pendleton, 23rd Virginia Infantry C.S.A.

"Our Confederate command under General Garnett confronted that of the Federals under General Morris ... and during that time skirmishing between them, with slight loss, was almost continuous."

-French Harding, 31st Virginia Infantry C.S.A.

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=34447

"To honor all who served

North and South

April 12, 1861 to April 9, 1865

donated by Laurel Mountain Post 410

Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States

Belington, West Virginia

March 1, 1999"

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=155082

"By July 10, 1861, Federal cannons bombarded the interior of Camp Laurel Hill. Confederates may have sought shelter among the boulders nearby. On July 11, General Garnett learned of defeat at Rich Mountain. Fearful of being trapped, Garnett ordered a midnight retreat. Tents were left standing and campfires burning to deceive the Federals. The Confederate army and its large wagon train slipped away.

On July 13th, Federals caught up to the fleeing Confederates at Corricks Ford, twenty-five miles northeast. The Confederate wagons were lost at that river crossing, and General Garnett was killed - the first Civil War general to fall. Demoralized Confederate soldiers fled south to Highland County, Virginia. "Western" Virginia was now in Union hands.

"They shot cannon balls, case shot and canister at us for near ten hours... A few having the mud and dirt thrown over them by the explosion of shells."

James E. Hall, 31st Virginia Infantry C.S.A.

"We received orders to make immediate preparation for the retreat - to destroy all extra baggage; to throw into the wells we had dug the surplus commissary stores, and 

to burn in small fires ... everything else that could not be transported." -Col. William B. Taliaferro, 23rd Virginia Infantry C.S.A."

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=34437

"Soldiers of the Confederate Army of the Northwest occupied this ground from June 16 to July 11, 1861. Led by General Robert S. Garnett, a West Point instructor of tactics, they dug fortifications on the Mustoe farm to block the Beverly-Fairmont Turnpike, an important north-south road.

General Garnett's headquarters tent stood in a maple grove nearby. Here raw volunteers went through rigorous drill and instruction. These Confederates consisted of infantry, cavalry, and artillery, mostly from Virginia.

A notable exception was the First Georgia Infantry Regiment. More than 1,000 strong and led by a snappy fife and drum corps, they boasted imported uniforms, silver settings, and slaves to attend every need. One Virginia colonel thought they came "rather for a holiday than for real war."

"I feel as if I was in an unknown land, being not accustomed to the continual roll of drums, martial law, and the gleam of bayonets."

John B. Pendleton, 23rd Virginia Infantry C.S.A.

"On a bench extending from the side of Laurel Hill, they have constructed a bomb-proof redoubt of logs and on the left flank they have three l

ong rifle pits... Four old fashioned cannon, commanding the front and side approaches, are mounted in the fort... The timber in front of their position a half mile square has been felled, so that the country, excepting the roads, which are enfiladed by their pieces, is almost impassable."

Correspondent to the Cincinnati Commercial"

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=34439

"Union and Confederate forces clashed along the Beverly-Fairmont Turnpike (the narrow paved road in the foreground) on July 7-11, 1861. Union General Morris was ordered to "amuse" General Garnett at Laurel Hill - to make him believe the main attack would come here. Meanwhile, Major General George McClellan flanked the Confederates 20 miles south at Rich Mountain.

Spirited skirmishing took place among these hills. Union General Morris found it hard to restrain his troops. The Confederates fought with equal enthusiasm. Many deeds of bravery were witnessed here - the baptism of fire for both armies.

"The whistling of musket balls and the peculiar note of the Minnie projectiles as they rush madly past on their errand of death is a frightful sound to the recruit who for the first time hears it."

Col. William B. Taliaferro, 23rd Virginia Infantry C.S.A.

"I can say with truth that when called out to meet the enemy I am perfectly cool and deliberate."

John B. Pendleton, 23rd Virginia Infantry C.S.A.

"A few dozen of us, who had been swapping shots with the enemies' skirmishers, grew tired of the resultless battle, and by a common impulse - and I think without orders or officers - ran forward into the woods and attacked the Confederate works. We did well enough considering the hopeless folly of the movement, but we came out of the woods faster than we went in - a good deal." -Ambrose Bierce, 9th Indiana Infantry U.S.A."

A fine view, indeed

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=34440

"Confederate artillery was posted here. The cannons were placed behind protective earthworks, still faintly visible today. Their fire swept the Beverly-Fairmont Turnpike below.

Model 1841 6-pounder field guns were used at Camp Laurel Hill. Although nearly obsolete by 1861, they could fire a six-pound projectile more than 1,500 yards. The muzzle blast and concussion alone were demoralizing.

Most Confederate earthworks here were filled in by Union troops in 1861.

"Our position, on the crests of the hills, was protected by a ditch, with the bank thrown outwards, conforming to the outline of the hills we occupied, and by a few simple [log and earth defenses] for the artillery."

Col. William B. Taliaferro, 23rd Virginia Infantry C.S.A.

"A six pounder was sent down the road and fired some six shots at a house which was occupied by the Yankees. The house was utterly destroyed."

James E. Hall, 31st Virginia Infantry C.S.A."

There was nobody else out there, and I needed to get down off that hill with daylight almost gone. But there was just one more site up there...

Confederate Cemetery

Fallen ["]Heroes["] of Laurel Hill

"Within this fenced burial ground lie Confederate soldiers who died at Laurel Hill. Their number is unknown. Inscribed headboards once marked the graves.

During the Civil War, disease killed more men than bullets. One soldier reported 14 graves in two separate cemeteries. Fewer than a dozen Confederates were killed in battle at Laurel Hill.

The graves of some Confederates were later removed. John B. Pendleton of the 23rd Virginia Infantry was killed in action and buried here. After the war, Pendleton's brother moved his remains to a family cemetery in Louisa County, Virginia.

"A man was buried today about four o'clock ... Several guns were fired over his grave." -Marion Harding, 31st Virginia Infantry C.S.A.

"[Fendall] Whitlock of our company died a few days since. We buried him on the side of a mountain ... You must write very often my Darling, for you do not know the pleasure it affords me."-Last letter of John B. Pendleton, 23rd Virginia Infantry C.S.A.

            Charles H. Goff

of

Richmond, Va. Co. H. 23d Reg. Va. Vol.

Who was shot in action July 7th, 1861.

Aged 19 years

-from a Laurel Hill grave marker"

From the museum in Beverly, WV

Sources/See also:

http://www.battleoflaurelhill.org/

https://spirit61.info/battles/ohio-front/battle-of-belington-laurel-hill/