The Battle of Philippi formed part of the Western Virginia Campaign of the American Civil War and was fought in and around Philippi, Virginia, on June 3, 1861. A Union victory, it was the first organized land action of the war, though generally viewed as a skirmish rather than a battle. However, the Northern press celebrated it as an epic triumph and this encouraged Congress to call for the drive on Richmond that ended with the Union defeat at First Bull Run in July. It brought overnight fame to Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan and was notable for the first battlefield amputations. The Union victory was the first of a series of victories that pushed Confederate forces out of northwest Virginia, which allowed Unionists in Wheeling to continue organizing the Union government for Virginia, ultimately leading to the creation of the state of West Virginia.
The U.S. state of West Virginia was formed out of western Virginia and added to the Union as a direct result of the American Civil War, in which it became the only modern state to have declared its independence from the Confederacy. In the summer of 1861, Union troops, which included a number of newly-formed Western Virginia regiments, under General George McClellan, drove off Confederate troops under General Robert E. Lee. This essentially freed Unionists in the northwestern counties of Virginia to form a functioning government of their own as a result of the Wheeling Convention. Prior to the admission of West Virginia the government in Wheeling formally claimed jurisdiction over all of Virginia, although from its creation it was firmly committed to the formation of a separate state.
The 8th Ohio Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It served in the Eastern Theater in a number of campaigns and battles, but perhaps is most noted for its actions in helping repulse Pickett's Charge during the Battle of Gettysburg.
The 2nd West Virginia Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.
The 11th West Virginia Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.
The 12th West Virginia Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. The regiment was particularly distinguished for its successful attack on Fort Gregg during the 1864 to 1865 Siege of Petersburg, receiving a golden eagle for its flagstaff as a token of appreciation from corps commander John Gibbon.
Benjamin Franklin Kelley was an American soldier who served as a brigadier general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He played a prominent role in several military campaigns in West Virginia and Maryland.
The 6th Indiana Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment from the State of Indiana that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. This regiment was the senior Indiana regiment of the Civil War, as it was numbered first in sequence after the five Indiana volunteer regiments which had served in the Mexican–American War. The regiment was originally mustered-in for a three-month period of service between April and August 1861, but after its initial term of service had expired it was re-formed in September 1861 for a further three-year period, before being mustered out in September 1864.
The 7th Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment from the State of Indiana that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.
The 1st Arkansas Infantry (1861–1865) was a Confederate Army infantry regiment during the American Civil War. The regiment was raised in April 1861 by Colonel Thompson B. Flournoy. It moved first to Virginia, but transferred back to Tennessee and served the rest of the war in the western theater, seeing action in the Kentucky, Tennessee and Georgia campaigns. Following its depletion in numbers, the regiment was consolidated several times with other Arkansas regiments, finally merging in 1865 into the 1st Arkansas Consolidated Infantry Regiment. There were three regiments known as "1st Arkansas" during the war. The second unit with the designation of "1st Arkansas" was the 1st Infantry, Arkansas State Troops, which was mustered into Confederate service at Pitman's Ferry, Arkansas, on 23 July 1861, under the command of Colonel Patrick Cleburne; this unit was eventually redesignated as the 15th Arkansas Volunteer Infantry. The third unit bearing the title "1st Arkansas" was the 1st Arkansas Volunteer Infantry, which served with the Union Army.
Joseph Thoburn was an Irish-born American officer and brigade commander in the Union Army during the American Civil War. An accomplished physician and soldier from the state of West Virginia, he was killed in action in the Shenandoah Valley at the Battle of Cedar Creek.
The 25th Virginia Volunteer Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment raised in Virginia for service in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. It fought mostly with the Army of the Northwest and Army of Northern Virginia. Its soldiers saw action from the first battle (Philippi) until the last (Appomattox).
George Alexander Porterfield was a junior officer of United States forces in the Mexican–American War, colonel, in the Confederate States Army during the first year of the American Civil War and longtime banker in Charles Town, West Virginia after the war. He was in command of Confederate forces at Philippi in northwestern Virginia, later West Virginia, when they were surprised and routed, though with only a few soldiers wounded or captured, by Union Army forces on June 3, 1861 near the beginning of the Civil War. After serving in staff and temporary field positions for 11 more months, Porterfield resigned from the Confederate Army because he lost his position in a regimental election. In 1871 he helped found a bank at Charles Town, West Virginia which he served for many years. At his death, he was the third-last surviving veteran officer of the Mexican–American War.
Fetterman is an unincorporated community or populated place located in Taylor County, West Virginia. It is coterminous with Ward 1 of the city of Grafton, West Virginia.
Thornsbury Bailey Brown of Taylor County, Virginia is generally considered the first Union soldier killed by a Confederate soldier during the American Civil War. Brown, a member of a Virginia militia or volunteer company which supported the Union with the grade of private, was killed by a member of a Virginia militia or volunteer company which supported the Confederacy at Fetterman, Virginia on May 22, 1861. The members of both companies were from the same general vicinity of Taylor County.
The Battle of Arlington Mill, Virginia, was one of the first military engagements of the American Civil War, a week after the Union occupation of that part of Virginia opposite Washington, D.C. It occurred on June 1, 1861 at about 11:00 p.m., a few hours after the Battle of Fairfax Court House.
The western Virginia campaign, also known as operations in western Virginia or the Rich Mountain campaign, occurred from May to December 1861 during the American Civil 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 Virginia. Unionist West Virginians would fight in the campaign while also voting to elect a new governor–Francis H. Pierpont–and ratify a new abolitionist state constitution as part of the 1861 Wheeling Convention. Although Confederate forces would make several raids into the area throughout the remainder of the war, they would be unable to reoccupy the state.
The North Western Virginia Railroad was chartered by the Virginia General Assembly as the Northwestern Virginia Railroad on February 14, 1851 in order to build track from Grafton, West Virginia to Parkersburg, West Virginia. Future statehood advocate and U.S. Senator Peter G. Van Winkle of Parkersburg began as the Northwestern Railroad's secretary in 1852 and served as its President through the American Civil War.
The 4th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, sometimes known as the 4th Massachusetts Infantry, was a peacetime regiment of infantry that was activated for federal service in the Union Army for two separate tours during the American Civil War. Most of the companies were from Norfolk County, Massachusetts. The regiment had its headquarters in Quincy, Massachusetts.
