A map of the area of the campaign is shown below.

The Kanawha Valley of then western Virginia was an active recruiting area for Confederate militia with units forming such as the Dixie Rifles, Fayette Rangers, Kanawha Riflemen, Charleston Sharpshooters, Buffalo Guards, Elk River Tigers and the Logan Wildcats. Henry Wise, a former Virginia governor, who was popular in western Virginia was sent there to organize these groups. On June 14th Wise arrived in Lewisburg and by the 26th he and his staff were in Charleston. Charleston in addition to its location on the Kanawha River, a tributary of the Ohio River, was an important salt producing area.

George McClellan ordered General Jacob Cox with the 1st and 2nd KY and the 13th and 14th OH to Gallipolis and from there to cross the Ohio River to Point Pleasant and advance on Charleston. He also ordered Cox to destroy resistance near Ripley as well as in the Guyandotte/Barboursville area. In order to accomplish these goals Cox needed to split his force into three parts. He sent the 1st KY by boat under Colonel James Guthrie to Ravenwood on the Ohio River. The 2nd KY also moved via the Ohio River to Guyandotte (now Huntington) commanded by Colonel William Woodruff. Cox traveled with the third group up the Kanawha River. Advanced guards marched on both sides of the river, while the troops moved on four steamboats (Economy, Matamora, Mary Cook, and Silver Lake). On the first day, July 11, they traveled 13 miles to near current day Leon. On the 12th they rested and on the 13th moved on past Buffalo to Red House and Winfield.

The Battle of Barboursville

In the meantime Cox’s southernmost column was about to meet the enemy at Barboursville. At midnight on the 14th companies A, B, D, F, and K of the 2nd KY at Guyandotte were placed under the command of Lieutenant Colonel George Neff (a total of 316 men), and with one day’s rations marched toward Barboursville. Waiting for them would be 600 Confederates including the Jenkins Border Rangers led by Milton Ferguson, the Sandy Rangers under Captain James Corns, and local militia commanded by Colonel J.J. Mansfield. The Confederates were on a ridge called Fortification Hill that overlooked the confluence of the Guyandotte and Mud Rivers where a covered bridge crossed the mouth of the Mud. It was an excellent defensive position.

At daybreak the Federal column in order to get to Barboursville needed to cross the mouth of the Mud River at the covered bridge. They would be within rifle range of soldiers on the hill. Even worse the Confederates had removed the planks from the far side of the bridge leaving gaping holes in the flooring. Oblivious to these dangers the Federals started to cross the bridge when Rebels opened fire. In a panic Union soldiers scrambled for cover inside the bridge and on the riverbanks. Some Confederates ran down the hill to try and shoot soldiers inside the bridge. Realizing their predicament the Federals charged the Confederates at the base of the hill scattering them. They then fixed bayonets and charged up the hill sending their adversaries into a frenzied retreat all the way to the top of Coal Mountain. One Confederate was killed and five injured, while five Federals were killed and 18 wounded. The 2nd KY then rejoined Cox at Winfield on the 16th.

Barboursville Engagement- Civil War Trails link

On the same day Cox sent out a small advanced reconnaissance force that encountered Rebel pickets and a cannon at Scary Creek. They fell back two miles to Cox’s main column. On the 16th another skirmish took place at Poca near present day Raymond City on the north side of the river. At 7:00 that night Federal scouts detected Confederates erecting fortifications on the opposite side of the river at Scary Creek. Cox set up camps on both sides of the river and waited for his supply wagons to come up.

The Battle of Scary Creek

General Cox sent Lieutenant Colonel Carr White with a detachment of the 12th OH to probe the Rebel position. Around 9:00 AM Carr and his men were ferried across the river from Camp Poco to the farm of John Morgan. Confederate sentries noticed them and fell back to their lines to warn Captain George Patton. White advanced on Scary and met resistance at the mouth of Little Scary Creek when advanced pickets fired on them. White, under orders not to bring on an engagement retreated back to camp to confer with Cox. During the meeting, another officer, Colonel John Lowe of the 12th OH, asked permission to clear Scary of Rebels, which he was granted.

Lowe took the 12th OH, part of the 21st OH, artillery and cavalry, a total force of about 1500 men. They would be opposed by about 900 Confederates. The Federals advanced along both the Bill’s Creek Road and the River Road. At 1:30 they reached and drove in Confederate pickets at Little Scary Creek and approached Scary at 2:00 PM. A map of the battle from Terry Lowry’s book is shown below.

An artillery duel between both sides ensued. Around 3:00 the Ohioans attacked the bridge in conjunction with an attempt by a detachment of the 12th OH led by Colonel Lowe to ford the creek and attack the Rebel left flank. The left flank panicked and about three fourths of the men fled. Captain George Patton tried to rally his men but was wounded in the left shoulder and Captain Albert Gallatin Jenkins assumed command. Fresh Confederate reinforcements from Coal Knob drove the Yankees from the bridge and left flank by 5:00 PM. The Federals pulled back, Jenkins assuming they were just regrouping for another assault also retreated leaving the battlefield deserted by both armies. Once they realized their error the Rebels returned to burn buildings on the battlefield to prevent their use in another attack. A group of Federal officers across the Kanawha River saw the buildings burning and thought it a sign of a Union victory. They crossed and rushed to the front to congratulate their comrades only to be captured. The five officers Colonel Charles DeVilliers, Colonel William Woodruff, Lieutenant Colonel George Neff, Captain George Austin and Captain John Hurd were all sent to Richmond’s Libby Prison. Wise sent 800 men to attack Cox’s camp at Poca after 10:00 PM but they were easily repulsed. The Union suffered 15 killed, 11 wounded, and 7 captured. The Confederates had 4 killed, 10 wounded and 2 captured.

The monument on the battlefield has been recently moved from the bridge to the parking area of the Putnam Aging Center (38.4327916, -81.8530774). The HMDB link to the monument can be seen here.

With the fall of Rich Mountain and Laurel Hill Wise became concerned he could not hold the Kanawha Valley any longer and on July 24th retreated via the James River and Kanawha Turnpike through Gauley Bridge, burning the bridge there, all the way to Lewisburg at Bunger’s Mill. General Cox moved into Charleston the next day. By mid July the Union controlled the Kanawha Valley to Gauley Bridge.

Sources

The Battle of Scary Creek: Military Operations in the Kanawha Valley April-July 1861 by Terry Lowry

West Virginia and the Civil War by Mark A. Snell

Disorder on the Border: Civil Warfare in Cabell and Wayne Counties, West Virginia, 1856-1870 by Joe Geiger, Jr.