June 3, 1861 - Battle of Philippi

June 3, 1861

The Battle of Philippi

Philippi, [West] Virginia

Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan > Brig. Gen. Thomas A. Morris, commanding U.S. Army, Western Virginia (Col. Ebenezer Dumont; Col. Frederick Lander; Col. Benjamin F. Kelley, plus Crittenden, Milroy, Steedman, and Irvine [Indiana and Ohio Volunteers])

vs.

Maj. Gen. Lee > Col. George Porterfield, commander of the Midwest (both leading Virginia Militia)

* First land battle of the Civil War (sure- some boats fought each other before this, but Butler's Battle of Big Bethel is a full week later)

* Kelley commands the First Virginia (Union) Infantry - technically, the first Union regiment raised in the South. 

* After this debacle, Lee immediately replaces Porterfield with Gen. Robert S. Garnett, who gets himself killed shortly thereafter at Corrick's Ford. Great start, guys! 

* "Compared to later battles...Philippi was a skirmish. Casualties were light, four Union soldiers and 26 Confederates. But the fight did have significance. Coming only days before the Second Wheeling Convention, the Union victory helped ensure that body's nullification of the Order of Secession, which led to West Virginia statehood in 1863."

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=33762

Constructed in 1852 by Lemuel Chenoweth; masonry by Emanuel J. O'Brien, cost $12,151.24.

The covered bridge, erected in 1852, is the only two-lane bridge in the federal highway system. During the Civil War the bridge served both North and South in passage of troops and supplies across the mountains into Virginia. Several times the bridge narrowly missed the fate of many other wooden structures along the Staunton and Parkersburg Turnpike that were burned.

The dual-lane structure was made of yellow poplar. Masonry work used native stone; and iron bolts, the only metal used, were made by local blacksmiths.

When modern traffic loads were too much for wooden floor beams, officials constructed hearings to decide whether to repair or replace the span. In 1938 the bridge received two additional piers, a steel reinforced concrete floor, and a walkway to handle more safely the increased demands of vehicular and pedestrian traffic. This brought the bridge's weight capacity to ten tons.

Following the fire in 1989, the $1.4 million project, using as much of the original material as possible, restored the structure to its original appearance. Additions of lighting and a sprinkler system have not detracted from the authenticity.

For the Civil War buff crossing the bridge you enter the gateway to the upper Tygart Valley and on to the eastern theater of the War.

On February 14, 1844, Philippi was established by the General Assembly of Virginia. Earlier Philippi had been named county seat of Barbour County which was nearly twenty years before West Virginia became the 35th state. The new town was named for Judge Philip Pendleton Barbour, a Virginia jurist.

 Folklore concerning the bridge and events of the Civil War have existed for years. One such story is a meeting of President Lincoln and Confederate President Jefferson Davis inside the structure.

The bridge continues to be the state's most photographed landmark."

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"On June 3, 1861, at 4:30 a.m., Matilda Humphrey, whose house stood on the hill to your left, discharged a pistol at Col. Ebenezer Dumont's Union troops, trying to pull her son, Oliver, off his horse and prevent him from warning the local Confederate troops of their presence. She started the first large Civil War land battle.

Dumont's 1,400 men were part of an army of more than 3,000 troops that Gen. George B. McClellan had ordered to Grafton, about 13 miles north, to protect the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.

McClellan also needed to protect the covered bridge here, so he sent troops to Philippi to drive the Confederates away. Dumont's men took a train five miles west of Grafton to Webster, then marched south over rough roads in a driving rain.

Union Col. Frederick Lander had been ordered not to fire until he heard a signal gun. Not realizing Mrs. Humphrey's gunshot was "unofficial," Lander ordered his artillery to open fire.

That blast startled Confederate commander Col. George Porterfield out of bed, and he started to evacuate his 900 green recruits. The fight at Philippi had begun.

Built in 1852, the covered bridge survived the 1861 battle, only to be cut up by retreating Union soldiers in advance of the Jones-Imboden Raid of 1863. That May, Confederate soldiers threatened to burn the bridge, but were dissuaded by local minister Elder Corder. Much of the structure you see today is original."

Driving across the Philppi covered bridge

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"As Union artillery fired on Philippi, Col. Dumont's infantry pounded across the covered bridge into the 500 people who lived here. In April, when the war was still a lark, local attorneys Thomas Bradford and Albert Gallatin Reger recruited men to form the "Barbour Greys."

In May most of those troops marched away to Grafton, only to return when the Union army under Gen. McClellan arrived in the region. Confederate commander Col. George Porterfield's Virginians camped in town, and some were even welcomed into residents' homes.

War's Hard Hand

The Battle of Philippi was brief, but the resulting Union occupation was hard on the civilian population. Union troops scavenged houses and stores, burnt fences, and slaughtered livestock for meals. A reporter for the Cincinnati Times wrote: "The village bears more than any other I have seen, the ruinous effect of war. Many of the houses have been ransacked and maliciously damaged. Not half of them are now occupied, the inhabitants having fled." Union officers did arrest troops when they were caught looting. At one point, nearly00 men were under guard for "breaking into dwellings and houses."

Heading into Philippi

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"You are standing in the epicenter of the battlefield. Federal artillery shells rained down on this spot, and two Union infantry charges were converging here. Col. Dumont's 1,400 troops thundered across the bridge to your left just as another 1,600 soldiers under Col. Benjamin F. Kelley raced into town on your right.

The two columns planned to trap Porterfield's Confederate troops in Philippi. Kelley's troops took a train east to Thorton, to act as if they were leaving the area. His men were supposed to arrive on the east end of town to cut off the Confederate escape route, but took a wrong road and arrived here instead.

Virginia infantryman James E. Hall remembered the "shells fell thick and fast among us, wounding a few. Col. Porterfield immediately ordered a retreat." Porterfield saw an avenue of escape, ordering his Confederates to retreat to Beverly down Main St. Their pell-mell escape was dubbed the "Philippi Races."

"Col. Frederick Lander was on Talbott Hill with the Union artillery. When he saw Gen. Kelley arrive in the wrong location, Lander spurred his horse down the steep hill in front of you and dashed up Main Street to Kelley, who had already been shot. Lander then chased down and captured the man who wounded Kelley. The story of Lander's daring ride at Philippi soon found its way to Northern papers.

Church in Philippi

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"As Col. Porterfield's Virginians fled past here, surgeons quickly began to help the injured. The church that stood on the left side of the street served as a hospital. James E. Hanger of the 14th Virginia Cavalry was one of the Confederate casualties treated there. Hanger and his comrades were in a stable near the intersection of Main and Pike streets when a cannonball crashed into the building, striking him in the left leg.

Dr. James Robinson of the 16th Ohio Volunteers amputated Hanger's leg about seven inches below his hip, one of the first of approximately 60,000 amputations during the war. Hanger remained in Philippi until he was sent to the prisoner-of-war camp at Camp Chase in Ohio. About three months after the battle, he was sent home to Mount Hope, Va.

Hanger's wounding started a medical revolution. Unhappy with his uncomfortable false leg, Hanger patented a prosthetic in 1871 that incorporated a joint at the knee and a hinge at the ankle. He formed Hanger Orthopedics, which made some of the first practical artificial limbs, and still produces prosthetics today."

"Confederate J. E. Hanger's leg was mangled by a cannonball during the Battle of Philippi on June 3, 1861. Hanger survived a surgery that made him the first amputee of the war. After serving time in a Union prison, he returned to his home in Churchville, VA, where he invented a double-jointed artificial leg. Hanger's prosthetic limb company is still in operation today."

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=33702

"Originally called Anglin's Ford for William Anglin but later named Booth's Ferry for Daniel Booth. Near by in 1780, Richard, Cottrill, and Charity Talbott settled. Philippi was named for Judge Philip Pendleton Barbour."

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=212148

"As Union soldiers entered the town, Virginia troops came pouring out of Philippi's streets, alleys, and buildings, some getting dressed as they ran.

The Confederates were soon streaming past this location as they fled to Beverly. Northern journalists dubbed the mass exodus the "Philippi Races." The Union troops were so worn out by their marches to Philippi that they did not pursue Porterfield's men.

Compared to later battles in the Civil War, Philippi was a skirmish. Casualties were light, four Union soldiers and 26 Confederates.

But the fight did have significance. Coming only days before the Second Wheeling Convention, the Union victory helped ensure that body's nullification of the Order of Secession, which led to West Virginia statehood in 1863.

Federal troops would remain to occupy the town, and by the end of June 1861 there were about 4,000 Union troops here. Within two years, armed men would again charge through Philippi during the 1863 Jones-Imboden raid.

"We marched to Beverly the same day, a distance of 38 miles. We were much exhausted. When we arrived, my cousin Will Jarvis and myself ... immediately laid ourselves down on the naked floor of the hall and soundly slept, our canteens serving us for pillows." — Virginia soldier James E. Hall describes the Philippi Races

Union Col. Benjamin Kelley was shot early in the fight, and widely reported dead, but he survived and would end the war a general. In honor of his role in the battle, he was gifted this horse, named "Philippi." Courtesy West Virginia University Libraries, WV History OnView"

Downtown Philippi and the marker. The building across the street is where Kelley was shot. 

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=211625

"First land battle between the North and South here, June 3, 1861. Confederates under Col. Porterfield were dislodged by Federal troops from Gen. McClellan's army under Col. Kelley. The old covered bridge here was used by both armies."

"Kiwanis Flag Circle

Made possible by the estate of Dr. Hu C. Myers, a bequest to the Kiwanis Club of Philippi. These flags are authentic replicas of the flags flying over Philippi on June 3, 1861, during the first land battle of the Civil War."

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"One of the Confederate flags captured at the Battle of Philippi, June 3, 1861. The Palmetto Flag was raised over the Philippi Court House on January 1861, the first Confederate flag to be flown in Virginia."

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"Flown over the Confederate headquarters at the Virginia house on the main street in Philippi. Headquarters flag was cut down and taken by First Lieutenant Charles A. Griffin of the First (West) Virginia Volunteers from Wheeling. Original flag (6 feet 5 inches by 15 feet) is in the State Museum at Charleston, West Virginia."

"The 34-star United States Flag was in the possession of the Federals. West Virginia became the 35th state of the Union on June 20, 1863."

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=211895

"Churchville cavalry flag made by women of Augusta County, Virginia, and presented to the 14th Virginia Cavalry before they left for Phillipi, captured by Union troops on June 3, 1861. Original flag is at Battle Abbey in Richmond, Virginia."

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=211892

"Captured at the Battle of Philippi on June 3, 1861. Original flag is at Battle Abbey in Richmond, Virginia,"

From the museum in Beverly, WV