Battle of Philippi (1861)

• 1. Strategic Context And Objectives

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  On the 13th of May 1861, Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan assumed command of the Department of the Ohio from his headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio. His immediate goal was to push Confederate forces out of northwestern Virginia before they could organize a defense. The region contained the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, a critical supply line for the Union war effort. McClellan ordered Col. Benjamin Franklin Kelley to advance from Wheeling toward Fairmont to secure bridges over the Monongahela River. He also directed Col. James Irvine with the 16th Ohio Infantry to support this movement. By May 30, Union troops had seized Grafton, an important railroad junction located about ten miles south of Fairmont. This position gave them control over the rail lines running through the mountains. McClellan later told Winfield Scott that he used western Virginia regiments to avoid claims of interference in Virginia affairs. He noted that most of these troops were actually from Pennsylvania and Ohio rather than Virginia itself.

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• 2. The Double Envelopment Plan

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  Col. Kelley devised a two-prong attack against the Confederate force stationed at Philippi on the 2nd of June 1861. The principal advance included 1,600 men led by Kelley himself, plus six companies of his own regiment and nine companies of the 9th Indiana Infantry under Col. Robert H. Milroy. To deceive the enemy, they departed by train to the east before marching south on a back road. Meanwhile, the 7th Indiana under Col. Ebenezer Dumont moved directly south from Webster along the Turnpike. A second column of 1,400 men under Col. Dumont included the 6th Indiana and the 14th Ohio. These forces aimed to execute a double envelopment of the outnumbered Confederates. On June 3, both Union columns arrived at Philippi before dawn following an overnight march in rainy weather. Morris had planned a predawn assault to be signaled by a pistol shot. The green Confederate volunteers failed to establish picket lines for perimeter security. They chose instead to escape the cold rain and stay inside their tents.

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• 3. Dawn Assault And Confederate Flight

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  A Confederate sympathizer named Mrs. Thomas Humphreys saw the approaching Union troops and sent her young son on horseback to warn the Confederates. As she watched, Union pickets captured her son and fired her pistol at them. Her shots began the attack prematurely. The Union attackers began firing their artillery, which awakened the Confederates from their slumber. Those who were armed fired a few shots at the advancing bluecoats, then Southerners broke and began running to the south. Some soldiers fled still wearing their bed clothes. That caused Union journalists to refer to the battle as the Races at Philippi. Dumont's soldiers entered the town from the bridge while Kelley's column arrived from the north on the wrong road. Kelley himself was shot while pursuing some of the retreating Confederates. Col. Lander chased down and captured the man who shot Kelley. The Confederates retreated to Huttonsville, about fifteen miles to the south.

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• 4. Media Hype And The Races Nickname

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  The Northern press celebrated this minor skirmish as an epic triumph in June 1861. Newspapers presented it as a major victory despite its bloodless nature. This coverage encouraged politicians to demand a big advance on Richmond that became Bull Run. Leslie's Weekly gave an illustrated account of Col. Lander's ride down the steep hillside through heavy underbrush shortly after the event. The civilian population of Philippi felt the devastation of war immediately following the engagement. Many had fled south with valuables in fear of the Federal advance. A correspondent for the Cincinnati Times wrote that the village bore more ruinous effect than any other seen so far. Many houses were sacked and maliciously damaged. Not half of them were now occupied because inhabitants had fled. It was described as a rabid secession town where women still leaned strongly toward the Confederate cause.

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• 5. Medical Firsts And Prosthetic Legacy

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  Two significant Confederate casualties received battlefield amputations believed to be the first such operations of the war. One victim was a Virginia Military Institute cadet named Fauntleroy Daingerfield. The other Confederate was James E. Hanger, an 18-year-old college student. After recovering and being released, Hanger returned home to Virginia. He made an artificial leg from barrel staves with a hinge at the knee. His design worked so well that the Virginia State Legislature commissioned him to manufacture the Hanger Limb for other wounded soldiers. After the war, Hanger patented his prosthetic device and founded what is now the Hanger Orthopedic Group, Inc. As of 2007, Hanger Orthopedic Group remains the United States market leader in the manufacture of artificial limbs.

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• 6. Political Aftermath And Statehood

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  Following the battle, Col. Porterfield was replaced in command of Confederate forces in western Virginia by Brig. Gen. Robert S. Garnett. The Union victory propelled McClellan into the national spotlight despite the minor nature of the fight. This success strengthened the pro-Union government in exile which would soon create the new state of West Virginia. A record book of soldier violations found months after the battle listed entries like Edward F. Grant complaining against Colonel McCook's 9th Ohio Regiment for breaking into houses. Two privates were in the guard house for stealing glassware and vegetables. Ninety-six men ended up in the guard house for breaking into dwellings and houses. Many men of Philippi left before or just after the battle, some not returning until after the war. They left women to care for families and property while they fled south with as many valuables as possible.

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