However, Garnett was killed by a Union volley, thus becoming the first general officer of either army to die in the war. Union strategy for the region was to protect the vital B&O Railroad and also attack eastward into the Shenandoah Valley and southwestern Virginia. It was dissolved after the end of the war in June of 1865. The Confederates fired a single volley and then retreated from the town. < to November December 1863 to January >, Commanded by Brigadier General Benjamin F. Kelly. Each medal is individualized, with the soldier's name and unit engraved on the edge. Records of United States Army Continental Commands, 1821-1920, "I. [31], The loyalty of some Federal troops had been questioned early in the war. Francis Harrison Pierpont of the Restored Government of Virginia in Wheeling that he and his army were anxious to assist the new government, but that eventually they would be needed elsewhere, and that he urged that troops be raised "among the population". Large scale Confederate forces would gradually abandon the region, leaving it to small local brigades to maintain hold on southern and eastern sections for much of the war. They had elected "a most vile Secessionist as Captain. History of the Unclaimed West Virginia Civil War Medals ( West Virginia History) However, there was much opposition to this action from the western counties of the state, which were tied closer to western Pennsylvania and Ohio than to eastern Virginia. From 1863 to 1868, former Confederates could apply for pardon from the federal government. [15] Following West Virginian statehood, the Restored Government re-located to Alexandria where it remained for the duration of the war. Union forces under Major General George B. McClellan invaded the western portion of Virginia to prevent Confederate occupation; this area later became the state of West . West Virginia, which seceded from Virginia to join the Union, provided the following units to the Union Army during the American Civil War. Horace Edwin Hayden, 1881, Claim Application Form for Civil War Medals, Learn more about the Civil War in West Virginia. On August 9, 1864, the field army of the Department of West Virginia was given the title "Army of West Virginia". Those in Union service were also in "Virginia" regiments until statehood, when several Unionist "Virginia" regiments were redesignated "West Virginia" regiments. When Union troops occupied parts of eastern Virginia such as Alexandria and Norfolk, these areas came under the nominal control of the Restored Government. To obtain records for these soldiers see Confederate Service Records. West Virginia: Civil War Round Table of Southern West Virginia. The rapid conquest of northern West Virginia had caught a number of Southern sympathizers behind Union lines. In 1995 the George Tyler Moore Center for the Study of the Civil War began a soldier-by-soldier count of all regiments that would include West Virginians, both Union and Confederate. Overview: Organized December, 1861. Mex., October 23, 1863. Curry, Richard Orr. [4], Confederate Colonel Porterfield concentrated a force of 775 new recruits at the town of Philippi during the month of May. [16] Lee was much criticized in the press because of his defeat in western Virginia. OFFICIAL RECORDS: Series 1, vol 50, Part 2 (Pacific), Chapter LXII. Hoping to slow a rumored invasion of the Commonwealth, on the night of May 25, 1861, Confederate troops under the command of Colonel William J. Willey burned two bridges on the main line of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad west of Grafton, Virginia (toady West Virginia). West Virginia divided from Virginia and became a stateJune 20, 1863because of the Civil War. This arrangement would last until 1863 when western Virginia was admitted to the Union as the state of West Virginia. Baggs. [7], Union regiments under Colonel John Lowe, part of the brigade of General Jacob Dolson Cox pushed up the Kanawha Valley and came upon the Confederate camp near Scary. Some confederate veterans may have received pensions from Virginia. Despite this, the Confederacy was never able to seriously threaten the Unionists' overall control of West Virginia. Skirmishes near Hedgesville and Martinsburg, Raid (Averill's) through Hardy, Pendleton, Highland, Greenbrier, Bath and Pocahontas Counties, Scout from Harper's Ferry into Loudoun County, Virginia. In May and June 1861, Confederate forces advanced into western Virginia to impose control by the Richmond government and the Confederacy. The remaining soldiers consisted of Pennsylvania and Ohio volunteers, and with re-enlistments credited as new soldiers.[4]. George Tyler Moore, Center for the Study of the Civil War, Arlington County, Register of persons who have taken and subscribed to by an ordinance for the reorganization of the state government, 1862-1865, Brooke County. In 1890 the membership was 490,000. Col. Crook took command of the 36th Ohio Infantry, centered around Summersville, Nicholas County. [26] Gen. Henry A. 2nd West Virginia Infantry Regiment (Mounted), 3rd West Virginia Infantry Regiment (Mounted), 8th West Virginia Infantry Regiment (Mounted), 1st Massachusetts Heavy Artillery (Cos. B,C,H&I). The elected delegates met in the second session on 11 June. Scout from Meadow Bluff to Greenbrier River. "A Reappraisal of Statehood Politics in West Virginia". The primary duty of the VIII Corps in 1864 was rear echelon duties in Maryland guarding the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Units raised in the western counties prior to the creation of the state of West Virginia were often known as, "loyal Virginians," who formed the Restored government of Virginia in Wheeling, West Virginia in 1861, unanimously electing Francis H. Pierpont as the new state governor. In September 1861, Union troops drove the Confederates out of Nicholas County and defeated their counterattack at Cheat Mountain. Thereafter all of the trans-Allegheny region was under firm Union control except for the southern and eastern counties. Medal claims may only be submitted by mail. The 2nd "Kanawha" Division was led by Col. Isaac H. Duval until he was wounded at Third Winchester. JAVASCRIPT IS DISABLED. The Confederates appointed several commanders to organize troops in western Virginia: Colonel George A. Porterfield in northwestern Virginia, and Brigadier Generals John B. Floyd and Henry A. On May 14, 1861, Col. George A. Porterfield arrived in Grafton to secure volunteers, and reported slow enlistment. Curry, Richard O. Santa Fe, N. 20. In 1905 Charles H. Ambler estimated the number of native Union soldiers to be about 20,000.[42]. The Department of West Virginia was created June 28, 1863, during a military reorganization of Union forces in the Civil War. McClellan detached a small force which outflanked and routed the Confederate left wing on Rich Mountain, which left the main Confederate force at Laurel Mountain isolated and forced Garnett to retreat. [27] One regiment from the Wise legion, the 3rd Infantry (later reorganized as the 60th Virginia Infantry) was sent to South Carolina in 1862, and it was from Maj. Thomas Broun of the 3rd Infantry that Gen. Robert E. Lee bought his famous horse Traveller. Engagement, Charlestown and Duffield Station, Skirmishes near Charlestown, Flowing or Welch's Springs, Operations in Kanawha Valley against Witcher. Each year, six state parks commemorate their site's involvement in the war: Sailor's Creek Battlefield - On April 6, 1865, 72 hours before Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House, more than 7,700 me were killed or . 74, 77-78, Jones, Virgil Carrington "Gray Ghosts and Rebel Raiders", Galahad Books, 1995 ed., pgs. The Department of West Virginia was organized on June 28, 1863 from the Eighth Corps, Middle Department. The Maryland Heights Division and the Martinsburg Brigade became the First Division. Teach using Civil War Documents Use our online tool, DocsTeach, for teaching with primary source documents from the National . They were not included in West Virginia. MARYLAND--- Cole's Battalion P. H. B. Cavalry. The Army of West Virginia served in the Union Army during the American Civil War and was the primary field army of the Department of West Virginia. He eventually turned away hundreds of volunteers due to lack of equipment. They patrolled Wirt and Calhoun counties through the winter of 186162 and captured scores of Moccasin Rangers, which they sent as prisoners to Wheeling. Aug. 25: Skirmish near Piggot's Mill, Big Run: OHIO-- 11th Infantry.. Aug. 26: Skirmish, Blue's House . It campaigned primarily in West Virginia, Southwest Virginia and in the Shenandoah Valley. During the American Civil War, a department was a geographical command within the Union's military organization, usually reporting directly to the War Department. 1st Regiment Cavalry, 2nd Regiment Cavalry, 3rd Regiment Cavalry, 4th Regiment Cavalry, 5th Regiment Cavalry, 6th Regiment Cavalry, For Light Artillery Batteries Historiesof the following: Click here. The Wikipedia article, List of West Virginia Civil War Confederate units, lists infantry, cavalry, artillery, guerrilla units, and other Virginia units with a heavy concentration of men from the West Virginia area. In House districts where the Confederates could not hold conventional elections, the Confederate Congress accepted the fragmentary Congressional results from army and refugee camps as representative of the majority of residents. In addition to the men composing these regiments, numbers of others re-enlisted, so that it is believed that the actual number of troops from West Virginia in the United States service during the war was about 28,000. WEST VIRGINIA--2d Mounted Infantry (Detachment). The 31st and 46th Infantry also had large numbers from West Virginia. There were others though who operated without sanction of the Richmond government, some fighting on behalf of the Confederacy, while others were nothing more than bandits who preyed on Union and Confederate alike. Served Unattached, District of the Kanawha, West Virginia, to March, 1862. 1st Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, West Virginia, to December, 1864. PENNSYLVANIA--1st Troop Philadelphia Cavalry; Skirmish, Beller's Mills, near Harper's Ferry, Action, Bolivar Heights, near Harper's Ferry, Nov. 16.. Operations in Kanawha Valley and New River Region. [21] In one last, brazen act of the guerrilla war, McNeill's Rangers of Hardy County kidnapped Generals George Crook and Benjamin F. Kelley from behind Union lines and delivered them as prisoners of war to Richmond. Sign up for our newsletter and be the first to know about events, exhibits, grant opportunities and more. Some 50,000 West Virginians are believed to have participated in the American Civil War, including 32,000 for then Union and 18,000 for the Confederacy. The soldier count by the George Tyler Moore Center for the Study of the Civil War estimates West Virginia's to be around 20,000,[2] and others at around 25,000,[3] with an unknown number serving in the regiments of surrounding states. Arthur I. Boreman complained of large scale guerrilla activity as far north as Harrison and Marion counties. "The Slaveholders' War: The Secession Crisis in Kanawha County, Western Virginia, 18601861,". [20], As late as January, 1865, Gov. In response to rebel raids, Gen. Robert H. Milroy issued a command demanding reparations to be paid in cash and proceeded to assess fines against Tucker county citizens, guilty or not, and threatened them with the gallows or house-burning. Overview: Organized at Ceredo, W. Va., September 2, 1861, and mustered in October 18, 1861. Hundreds of the residents of all kinds in a county may be mentioned in answers to Commission questions, and their wartime activities described. Virginia saw more battles than any other state and paid a steep price, both on the field of battle and on the home front. "Stonewall" Jackson occupied Harpers Ferry and part of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad leading into western Virginia. Campbells Mullingans, and Wilkinsons Separate Brigades of Scammons Division were formed into the Second Division. Most units were numbered, however, some were named. The Department of East Tennessee and West Virginia was a Confederate Army command in the Trans-Allegheny Theater during the American Civil War. DEPARTMENT OF NEW MEXICO, Numbers 27. Another 6 medals were awarded to West Virginians who relocated and were credited to service in other state regiments. The issue of slavery in the new state delayed approval of the bill. Both the Confederate and state governments in Richmond refused to recognize the creation of the new state in 1863, and thus for the duration of the war the Confederacy regarded its own military offensives within West Virginia not as invasion but rather as an effort to liberate what it considered to be enemy-occupied territory administered by an illegitimate government in Wheeling. It also contained several roads and turnpikes which would grant the Union access to Tennessee, North Carolina, and the Shenandoah Valley, while the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in the northern part of the area connected the eastern Union states to the Midwest.[1]. Civil War Heritage - West Virginia Department of Commerce. It campaigned primarily in West Virginia, Southwest Virginia and in the Shenandoah Valley. Ambler, Charles H. "The Cleavage between Eastern and Western Virginia". "[32], Because the government in Richmond did not keep separate military records for what would become West Virginia, there has never been an official count of Confederate service in West Virginia. There were two minor Confederate expeditions against the northeastern corner of the west later on: Jackson's Romney Expedition in January 1862; and the Jones-Imboden Raid in MayJune 1863. "[2] The 1st and 2nd West Virginia Union infantry regiments were also raised the same month, participating in the first battle of the campaign at Philippi. But Federal forces could not afford to ignore any rebel territory, particularly one so close to the Ohio River. Office of the Comptroller, Virginia State Library and Archives (Richmond, Virginia). [17] But by August, 1862, Unionist efforts were severely hampered with the withdrawal of troops to eastern Virginia. William Lowther Jackson and the Civil War in West Virginia's Mountains". Then Union troops under McClellan drove them back in July. This department existed in two previous forms during the war. The Department of West Virginia was organized on June 28, 1863 from the Eighth Corps, Middle Department. West Virginia did not grant pensions to confederate veterans. 246-7, note 1. None were found, but his troops encountered heavy guerrilla resistance and responded by burning houses and towns along the line of march. They seized many B&O locomotives and railcars on May 23. The two-volume series can be accessed through the Henrico County Libraries or purchased from the Henrico County Historical Society at 804-501-5682. They concluded that West Virginia contributed approximately 20,000-22,000 men each to both the Union and Confederate governments. See the Virginia in the Civil War article for more information about these Virginia units. West Virginia did not organize any confederate regiments. Command of the division passed to Col. Rutherford B. Hayes who led the division at Cedar Creek. Early estimates were very low, in 1901 historians Fast & Maxwell placed the figure at about 7,000. A majority are rebels and would like nothing better than to hand over the organization to the South. [10], During the summer, the Union army concentrated their forces to protect the main highways through western Virginia. Hayes' division remained in the Department of West Virginia while Thoburn's (Harris') and Kitching's (Heine's) divisions were transferred to the Army of the James. of the Gulf), Railroad District of Western Virginia, Sept. 1862 - Jan 1863, Railroad District, March 11, 1862 - July 7, 1862, Department of New Mexico, to June 27, 1865, Column from California, - August 30, 1862, District of Rhode Island and Connecticut, 1865, District of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont, 186566, District of Northern and Western New York, 186566, Defenses of the Upper Potomac, Jan 5 - Feb 1863. This latter goal proved impossible, due to the poor roads across mountainous terrain. Mallinson, David "Confused First Fight." This "army" would eventually consist of three divisions and for all practical purposes functioned as a corps in Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan's Army of the Shenandoah. As was the case with all regions the Confederacy claimed but did not control, the Confederate States Congress seated Representatives from districts encompassing the whole of Virginia's antebellum borders until its dissolution. CORRESPONDENCE-UNION AND CONFEDERATE. There were 49 delegates representing the 50 counties that became West Virginia. This command has often been referred to as the VIII Corps. "'This Bastard New Virginia': Slavery, West Virginia Exceptionalism, and the Secession Crisis,", MacKenzie, Scott A. 4 - March. Military records include: Virginia State Land Office Records (Index and Books of the French and Indian War, Military Certificates Books 1782-1876); Revolutionary War Public Service . History of the Unclaimed West Virginia Civil War Medals(West Virginia History)A Brief History of the Soldiers Medals, by Rev. Many of the delegates were informally or self-appointed, so the Convention only denounced secession and called for a formal election of delegates. President Lincoln signed the bill on December 31, 1862. With fighting in the Valley ended, the Army of West Virginia's designation was discontinued. 120-121, Curry, Richard O., "A House Divided", Univ. For other units of the same name, see, Defense of Washington and Garrison Duty in 1864, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=VIII_Corps_(Union_Army)&oldid=1147553865, This page was last edited on 31 March 2023, at 18:19. Boreman struggled to fill. Following the secession vote in Richmond, John Carlile, a Unionist leader from northwest Virginia, led a meeting at Clarksburg which called for a convention to meet at Wheeling the next month for determining what steps "the people of Northwest Virginia should take in the present emergency. Page 653, Department of the Ohio and Department of the Ohio (Louisville), consolidated Middle Department and 8th Army Corps, consolidated Department of Washington and XXII Corps, Department of Virginia and North Carolina, District of Delaware and Eastern Shore of Maryland, Department of Virginia and Army of the James, National Archives, Guide to Federal Records; Records of United States Army Continental Commands, 1821-1920 (Record Group 393), 1817-1940 (bulk 1817-1920), https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Union_Army_Divisions,_Departments_and_Districts&oldid=1030531933, Railroad District, June 26, 1862 - Sept. 20, 1862, Department and Army of the Potomac, - 1865, Coast Division, - February 1862 (to Burnside's North Carolina Expedition), Dix's Division, - March 22, 1862, (to Middle Department), Sturgis' Division - June 26, 1862 (Merged into Army of Virginia), Military Defenses, Southwest Potomac, 1862, South Carolina Expeditionary Corps - April 1862, U.S. These figures, however, include all re-enlistments of which there were quite a large number. A published list of pardons is available online: If a Union sympathizer in West Virginia claimed a loss during the Civil War due to Union military confiscation, he could apply to the Southern Claims Commission for reimbursement. Pierpoint in the Dept. Battery "F" Light Artillery, Battery "G" Light Artillery, and Battery "H" Light Artillery, For Regiment Infantry Histories of the following: Click here. This area was therefore occupied by Union troops for nearly all of the war, and was a scene of frequent combat. Of these there were two regiments of Veteran Infantry, and one of Cavalry. 17, 1865 (to Dept. [5] Two senators represented the Unionist Virginia government, John S. Carlile and Waitman T. Willey. Many of the Union's departments were named after rivers or other bodies of water, such as the Department of the Potomac and the Department of the Tennessee. Gen. George B. McClellan in Cincinnati wrote to President Lincoln: "I am confidently assured that very considerable numbers of volunteers can be raised in Western Virginia". [18] Confederate recruitment increased, Gen. Loring opening recruitment offices as far north as Ripley. Eicher does not confirm that the Army of West Virginia was synonymous with the VIII Corps in his book, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Army_of_West_Virginia&oldid=1158103501, This page was last edited on 2 June 2023, at 00:41. By 1864 some stability had been achieved in some central counties, but guerrilla activity was never effectively countered. Union forces under Major General George B. McClellan invaded the western portion of Virginia to prevent Confederate occupation; this area later became the state of West Virginia. Maryland: Chesapeake Civil War Round Table. In April 1862 the Confederate government instituted a military draft,[28] and nearly a year later the U.S. government did the same. Expedition from Fayetteville to Wytheville. Indexes to service and pension records of Union volunteers are available at the FamilySearch Library and the National Archives. of Pittsburgh Press, 1964, pgs. Col. Harris, 10th Company, March 27, 1862, to Gov. Pierpoint: "The election of officers in the Gilmer County Company was a farce. [1], On April 17, 1861, the Virginia state convention in Richmond declared secession. This page has been viewed 18,137 times (0 via redirect). They were composed of three years men who re-enlisted for the war. Students recognize and evaluate the significance of major events of each historical period. The geographical boundaries of such departments changed frequently, as did their names. They treated soldiers brought to the hospital and prisoners at the Athenaeum in downtown Wheeling. McGregor, "The Disruption of Virginia", pp.
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