After an all-day march on June 12th General Garnett and his men reached Kalars Ford of the Shaver’s Fork of the Cheat River where he camped in a heavy rain. They had to cross the river many times through the narrow valley and his pursuers were not very far behind. The 1st GA and the 23rd VA alternated as rear guard until the column reached Corrick’s Ford. The wagons crossing here was delayed by the swift moving current. For the Union Captain Henry W. Benham, McClellan’s chief engineer, was leading the pursuit with the 7th and 9th IN, and the 14th OH.

Garnett reached Corrick’s Ford where his wagons had difficulty crossing because of the swiftly moving current. Corrick’s Ford was two river crossings at opposite ends of a large island, about a half mile apart. Garnett, liked the terrain, and decided to take up position here. He placed 3 cannons from the Danville Artillery on an 80-foot-high bluff that had complete command of the ford and a group of sharpshooters from Colonel William Taliaferro’s 23rd VA behind a pile of driftwood. Captain Benham later called it “one of the best natural defensive sites I ever saw”. The two groups exchanged fire here for about 30 minutes. Garnett was on horseback and presented an easy target for the Yankees and was mortally wounded by Sargeant Benjamin Burlingame of the 7th IN. Word was sent back along the Union lines that a general had been killed. Major John Love arrived on the scene along the riverbank only to identify his former West Point roommate. Colonel Dumont of the 7th IN, also knew Garnett from their service together in the Mexican War. The General’s body was returned through the lines along with his dress sword, gold watch and pocketbook. Robert Garnett became the first General on either side to be killed in the Civil War.

The Union captured more than 50 wagons, 150 horses and three regimental flags. At this point they stopped pursing the Rebels. The men were exhausted by the 18-mile chase and had not eaten for 24 hours. Union casualties on the 13th included 4 killed and 15 wounded, while the Confederates suffered 20 killed and 26 wounded. Eleven Confederates were buried on the battlefield. A young man who was killed alongside Garnett was buried in a plot behind the Corrick house. Garnett’s men marched north to St. George and West Union (now Aurora) and eventually south to Monterey, a distance of over 150 miles.

The pictures were taken in the town of Parsons and at the Corrick’s Ford Battlefield Park there.

The Corrick’s Ford Monument in front of the Courthouse downtown.

Pictures taken of the ford from the stone monument

The Corrick House where Garnett was taken after he was mortally wounded.

Corrick’s Ford Battlefield Park

From the top of the retaining wall at Shavers Fork of the Cheat River looking at the ford

Pictures of the interior of the park from the Allegheny Highlands Trail

Sources

Rebels at the Gate: Lee and McClellan on the Front Line of a Nation Divided by W. Hunter Lesser.

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