Tag: General Robert E. Lee

October 29, 1861: General Lee Ends Three-Month Campaign

On October 29, 1861, Confederate commander Robert E. Lee departed present-day West Virginia, near the end of his ill-fated western Virginia campaign. The rest of his Civil War career would rank Lee among the greatest generals in history. However, his first campaign was a total calamity.

He had been dispatched to the region to regain territory for the Confederacy. His plans came to a head in September 1861 atop Cheat Mountain in Pocahontas County. Lee’s attack, though, fell apart. His troops made a hasty retreat, and he soon abandoned the effort.

Lee’s three months in what would become West Virginia were marked by flooding rains, muddy quagmires, inexperienced officers, and diseases among the troops. An editorial in the Richmond Examiner said that Lee had been “outwitted, outmaneuvered, and outgeneraled.” Another newspaper mocked him with the nickname “Granny Lee.”

But there was one upside for Lee during his disastrous adventure. While at Sewell Mountain in Fayette County, he first set eyes on a grey American Saddlebred that would become his faithful companion. He later acquired the horse, which he would name Traveller and ride throughout the war.

October 16, 1859: John Brown Captures U.S. Armory

On the night of October 16, 1859, a band of antislavery men under John Brown captured the U.S. armory at Harpers Ferry. Earlier in the year, Brown had settled into a western Maryland farmhouse, where he trained his 18-man army in military tactics. His goal was to seize weapons from the national armory at Harpers Ferry and arm slaves, who would then overthrow their masters.

The raid, though, was a fiasco. Brown’s first victim was a railroad night watchman who was a free African American. The raiders also killed the town’s mayor. Infuriated—and mostly drunken—townspeople grabbed their rifles and trapped Brown’s men in the armory’s fire engine house. On the morning of October 18, U.S. Marines under the command of Colonel Robert E. Lee captured Brown and the eight raiders who had survived the ordeal. Brown was convicted of treason and hanged in nearby Charles Town six weeks later.

More than any other event, the raid divided the nation between North and South. With his last words, Brown predicted that slavery would lead to civil war. Less than a year-and-a-half later, his words would come true.

August 22, 1862: Jenkins Begins Raiding Western Virginia

On August 22, 1862, newly appointed Confederate Brigadier General Albert Gallatin Jenkins began a raid through Western Virginia. It was in response to a string of events that began with Robert E. Lee’s impending invasion of Maryland.

Earlier that month, the Union Army had shifted some 5,000 troops from the Charleston area to help protect Washington, DC. So, the Confederates took advantage of the troop reduction.

Jenkins launched his raid from Salt Sulphur Springs in Monroe County with 550 troops. The Confederates rode first into the Tygart Valley and skirmished with U.S. forces near Huttonsville. Next, they traveled to Buckhannon, Weston, Glenville, Spencer, and Ripley.

On September 4, the raiders crossed the Ohio River in Jackson County—about 60 miles north of Jenkins’s home at Green Bottom—and became the first to raise a Confederate flag on Ohio soil. They soon returned and skirmished with Union forces at Point Pleasant before moving on to Buffalo in Putnam County. On September 8, the raiders defeated a Union force at Barboursville and then rode through Wayne, Logan, and Raleigh counties. In all, Jenkins’s raid covered 500 miles.

Jenkins Begins Raiding Western Virginia: August 22, 1862

On August 22, 1862, newly appointed Confederate Brigadier General Albert Gallatin Jenkins began a raid through Western Virginia. It was in response to a string of events that began with Robert E. Lee’s impending invasion of Maryland.

Earlier that month, the Union Army had shifted some 5,000 troops from the Charleston area to help protect Washington, DC. So, the Confederates took advantage of the troop reduction.

Jenkins launched his raid from Salt Sulphur Springs in Monroe County with 550 troops. The Confederates rode first into the Tygart Valley and skirmished with U.S. forces near Huttonsville. Next, they traveled to Buckhannon, Weston, Glenville, Spencer, and Ripley.

On September 4, the raiders crossed the Ohio River in Jackson County—about 60 miles north of Jenkins’s home at Green Bottom—and became the first to raise a Confederate flag on Ohio soil. They soon returned and skirmished with Union forces at Point Pleasant before moving on to Buffalo in Putnam County. On September 8, the raiders defeated a Union force at Barboursville and then rode through Wayne, Logan, and Raleigh counties. In all, Jenkins’s raid covered 500 miles.

Bell Ringing Commemorates Lee's Surrender April 9, 1865

Two Civil War battlefields in Maryland are ringing bells to mark the 150th anniversary of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee’s surrender.
 
The Antietam National Battlefield near Sharpsburg and the Monocacy National Battlefield near Frederick are ringing bells for four minutes Thursday starting at 3:15 p.m. The four minutes symbolize the four years of the war. 
The National Park Service is asking churches and local governments to join in.
 
Lee commanded the Army of Northern Virginia. He surrendered to Union Lt. Gen. Ulysses Grant at Appamattox, Virginia, on April 9, 1865.

Exit mobile version