Talbott's Hill

— The First Campaign —

(Preface):In the spring of 1861, Union forces rushed into northwestern Virginia to secure the vital Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, protect important turnpikes, and support Unionists against Confederates. The two sides fought numerous engagements between June and December. They included Philippi (the war's first land battle), Rich Mountain, Corricks Ford, Cheat Summit Fort, Carnifex Ferry, and Camp Allegheny. The many Union victories made Gen. George B. McClellan's reputation and damaged that of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee - a situation reversed in 1862. Despite later Confederate raids, today's West Virginia remained largely under Federal control for the rest of the war.

You are standing where Union guns opened up on Philippi on June 3, 1861, in the first land battle of the Civil War.

As Union forces attempted to secure the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad at several points in the month before the battle, the Confederates moved quickly to post their own regiments along the line. Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee ordered Col. George A. Porterfield to raise troops in western Virginia. He reached Philippi on May 30, 1861, where Capt. Albert G. Reger had formed a company. On the same day, Union forces under Col. Benjamin F. Kelley arrived in Grafton, fifteen miles north. On June 2-3, the Federals advanced on Philippi in two columns, one under Kelley and one under Col. Ebenezer Dumont, marching at night in a driving rain.

Dumont arrived first and ordered Col. James B. Steedman to post two six-pounder cannons here on Talbott Hill and then await the signal (a pistol shot) to open fire once the other column was in position. Supposedly, a nearby resident, Mrs. Matilda Humphreys, sent her youngest son, Newton Humphreys, to alert the Confederates. She fired her pistol when Union soldiers intervened and the gunners, thinking it was the prearranged signal, shelled Philippi before Kelley's column arrived.

Col. Frederick W. Lander led Dumont's troops down Talbott's Hill and across the covered bridge in a charge, with Lander pelting down the muddy slope on his horse at breakneck speed. The Confederates fled. The battle resulted in only a few wounded; none were killed.

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