On June 11th Virginia Unionists gathered as scheduled for a second convention at Wheeling. They wanted to secede from Virginia but article 4, section 3 of the U.S. Constitution presented a problem for them. It stated that “no new state shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any other state without the consent of the legislatures of the states concerned as well as Congress”. They could not leave the state of Virginia without the permission of the state of Virginia. To get around this issue they decided to create a new state government made up of loyal Unionists. President Lincoln would then have the authority to decide which of these two governments was the lawful government of the state of Virginia. The delegates voted to approve the Reorganization Ordinance on June 19th. The next day Francis Pierpont was elected governor.

With the collapse of Confederate forces at Philippi and removal of Colonel George Porterfield, General Robert E. Lee advised Jefferson Davis to send his adjutant, Brigadier General Robert S. Garnett, to assume command in western Virginia. Garnett, a West Point, graduate was highly thought of. Garnett’s life had been marked by tragedy. In 1858 while stationed at Fort Simcoe in Washington Territory he returned from an expedition to find his wife Marianna and his infant son both dead of “bilious fever”. He buried his family and took an extended leave from the service. When he returned it was as the adjutant general of Virginia forces for the Confederacy. On the night before leaving Richmond for western Virginia he is reported to have said, “They have not given me an adequate force. I can do nothing. They have sent me to my death.”

Garnett arrived in Huttonsville and what he found shocked him. His message to Lee was “I found 23 companies of infantry in a miserable condition as to arms, clothing, equipments, instruction, and discipline. Twenty of these companies were organized into two regiments, the one under Lieutenant Colonel W.L. Jackson (31st VA) and the other under Lieutenant Colonel J.M. Heck (25st VA). Though wholly incapable, in my judgment, of rendering anything like efficient service, I deemed it of such importance to possess myself of the two turnpike passes over the Rich and Laurel Mountains, before they should be seized by the enemy, that I left Huttonsville on the evening of the 15th with these two regiments and Captain Rice’s battery, and, by marching them a greater portion of the night, reached the two passes early in the afternoon of the following day.”

These passes shown below were referred to by Garnett as the “gates to the northwestern country”. The only two roads leading southeast passed through them. The Staunton Parkersburg Turnpike passed over Rich Mountain and the Beverly Fairmont Road passed over Laurel Hill. He positioned Lt. Colonel Heck with the 25th VA, a section of the 8th Star Artillery and the Churchville Cavalry at Rich Mountain, five miles west of Beverly. Rich Mountain was the more formidable natural terrain. Garnett went with the majority of his men to Laurel Hill (located 16 miles from Rich Mountain), which he felt was the more difficult pass to defend and the one more likely to be attacked by the Union. He established his headquarters there with the 31st VA, the Danville Artillery, a section of the 8th Artillery and the Greenbrier Cavalry. On June 24th they were joined by the 37th VA and the 1st GA. As of early July, Garnett now had about 6,000 men at his disposal with most of them stationed at Laurel Hill.

On June 23rd McClellan arrived in Grafton. Brigadier General Thomas Morris commanded a brigade at Philippi, while General Newton Schleich, Colonel Robert McCook and Brigadier General William S. Rosecrans were at Grafton with their brigades. McClellan commanded a total of about 20,000 men (many of them would be guarding railroads and supply lines) while Garnett had only about 6,000 at his disposal. The plan was to have Morris advance on Laurel Hill as a feint to keep Garnett occupied. McClellan would then lead the three other brigades in an attempt to circle around Rich Mountain, which McClellan mistakenly believed was being defended by a larger force, and seize Beverly cutting off the Rebels path of retreat. McClellan left Grafton with about 8,000 men and eight cannons on June 29th. He proceeded slowly to Buckhannon on the Staunton Parkersburg Turnpike taking three days to cover the 25 miles. Once arriving there he staged a review of the 3rd and 4th OH and a dance in the courthouse. Many Union officers were becoming impatient with the slow progress and without orders General Schleich sent 50 men on a reconnaissance mission under Captain Orris Lawson of the 3rd OH. On the 6th Lawson advanced to Camp Garnett at the base of Rich Mountain where at the Middle Fork covered bridge, he met a Confederate picket force twice his size. He suffered six casualties with 5 men wounded and one killed, Private Samuel Johns became the first man of the 3rd OH killed in combat. This unauthorized expedition led to Schleich’s removal from command. A skirmish was also fought the next day over the same area led by Colonel McCook.

On July 7th Morris arrived at Belington with about 4,000 men establishing his main camp just north of town at Yeager’s Farm in front of Laurel Hill. He immediately began skirmishing with Confederate forces daily and came to correctly believe that the bulk of their forces were in front of him. After two days Morris gained possession of Girard Hill, where he placed artillery within range of Garnett’s camp. Morris’ daily skirmishes mistakenly convinced Garnett that the main Union force was at Laurel Hill. On July 7th Lieutenant Colonel John Pegram arrived at Rich Mountain with the rest of the 20th VA and because of his seniority assumed command from Lieutenant Colonel Heck of Camp Garnett. He would be severely outnumbered with only 1,300 men and four cannons against McClellan’s 8,000-9,000 men and heavy artillery; however, he would have the advantage of defending the more favorable terrain. On the 9th McClellan had reached Roaring Creek Flats within two miles of Rich Mountain.

Because of McClellan’s experience as President of the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad he appreciated the value of the telegraph. He appointed Anson Stager, general superintendent of the Western Union Telegraph Company, as the military director of telegraph lines within the Department of the Ohio. William Fuller and T.B.A. David strung telegraph lines along McClellan’s route of march. This would be the first time a telegraph had followed an American army into battle. Now in front of Camp Garnett McClellan would telegraph General-in-Chief Winfield Scott “Enemy said to be entrenched in force in my front. Cannot rely on reports. Will not learn what I have met until the advance guard comes in contact. I will be prepared to fight whatever is in front of me”. While McClellan thought about the best way to attack the formidable Confederate position, on the evening of the 10th Brigadier General William Rosecrans’ brigade inspector John W. Blake, while inspecting the picket lines, came across a civilian and everything changed.

Next the Battle of Rich Mountain.

Sources

Rebels at the Gate, Lee and McClellan on the Front Line of a National Divide by W. Hunter Lesser

Blue and Gray Magazine, August 1993, The Northwestern Virginia Campaign of 1861 by Martin K. Fleming.