Tag: Battle of Scary Creek

July 17, 1861: Confederate Army Wins Early Civil War Victory in Putnam Co. Battle

On July 17, 1861, Confederates won one of their first victories of the Civil War at the Battle of Scary Creek in Putnam County. Union forces had been dispatched to dislodge Confederates, who had controlled the Kanawha Valley since the war began three months earlier. On July 17, about 1,300 Union troops under the direct command of Colonel John Lowe clashed at the mouth of Scary Creek with about 900 Confederates under Colonel George S. Patton of Charleston. Patton was the grandfather of General George S. Patton of World War II fame.

For nearly five hours, the two sides waged a heavy musket and artillery battle, with relatively few casualties. The Northern troops made several unsuccessful attempts to cross the Scary Creek bridge. After Patton was seriously wounded, Captain Albert Gallatin Jenkins of Cabell County took command and rallied the Confederates to victory.

However, the Southerners’ success was short-lived.

Pressed by Union successes to the north, the Confederates abandoned the valley two weeks later. Colonel Patton recovered from his wounds and went on to a distinguished career before being killed at the Third Battle of Winchester.

July 11, 1902: Historian John P. Hale Dies

Historian, physician, and businessman John P. Hale died on July 11, 1902, at age 78. The great-grandson of the legendary Mary Draper Ingles, Hale was born in present Virginia before moving to the Kanawha Valley in 1840.

  

He earned a medical degree but decided that medicine wasn’t as lucrative as the booming salt business. By 1860, his salt works, located between Charleston and Malden, was possibly the largest in North America.

When the Civil War began, Hale organized a Confederate artillery battery that fought at the Battle of Scary Creek in Putnam County. He also served as a surgeon in the 1862 battles around Richmond.

After the war, Hale started the first mechanized brick-making in the Kanawha Valley, helped found a bank, and formed Charleston’s first gas company and steam ferry.

He played a major role in getting the state capital moved from Wheeling to Charleston in 1870—after which, he served as mayor and built Charleston’s first luxurious hotel.

He also was an important historian, documenting the Kanawha Valley’s early history and founding a historical society that would evolve into the State Archives and Museum.

July 17, 1861: Confederate Army Wins Early Civil War Victory in Putnam Co. Battle

On July 17, 1861, Confederates won one of their first victories of the Civil War at the Battle of Scary Creek in Putnam County. Union forces had been dispatched to dislodge Confederates, who had controlled the Kanawha Valley since the war began three months earlier. On July 17, about 1,300 Union troops under the direct command of Colonel John Lowe clashed at the mouth of Scary Creek with about 900 Confederates under Colonel George S. Patton of Charleston. Patton was the grandfather of General George S. Patton of World War II fame.

For nearly five hours, the two sides waged a heavy musket and artillery battle, with relatively few casualties. The Northern troops made several unsuccessful attempts to cross the Scary Creek bridge. After Patton was seriously wounded, Captain Albert Gallatin Jenkins of Cabell County took command and rallied the Confederates to victory.

However, the Southerners’ success was short-lived.

Pressed by Union successes to the north, the Confederates abandoned the valley two weeks later. Colonel Patton recovered from his wounds and went on to a distinguished career before being killed at the Thir

Exit mobile version