Tag: Camp Straton United Confederate Veterans

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.

December 10, 1844: Clergyman William "Uncle" Dyke Garrett Born

Clergyman William Dyke Garrett was born on December 10, 1844. Known affectionately as “Uncle Dyke,” Garrett was a legendary figure in Logan County history. At the beginning of the Civil War, he enlisted in the Confederate Logan Wildcats regiment. Being deaf in one ear, he wasn’t forced to fight. Instead, he was named chaplain of the unit.

He deplored the war, denouncing it as against God’s will, having evidently come to that conclusion after witnessing the execution of Southern deserters. Previously unordained, Garrett began thinking seriously about Christianity after the war and was converted by Alexander M. Lunsford, who preached in Mingo and Logan counties. Garrett became a circuit rider, preaching throughout Logan County the rest of his life. He was the inspiration for the construction of the Crooked Creek Church of Christ and helped establish a sister church in Logan Courthouse, now Logan.

Garrett married Sallie Smith in 1867, and he and ‘‘Aunt Sallie’’ remained married for 71 years. He was a friend of feudist Anderson ‘‘Devil Anse’’ Hatfield from at least the late 1860s onward, and his greatest fame was for converting Hatfield and baptizing him in Main Island Creek in October 1911. Devil Anse and Dyke Garrett were members of Camp Straton United Confederate Veterans, the social organization that controlled Logan County politics between 1870 and 1915, with Garrett serving as the group’s spiritual leader. Beloved as the ‘‘Good Shepherd of the Hills,’’ Garrett was a fiddler who danced to his own music, and he had a fine tenor voice.

 

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

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