The Casualties

As Col Benjamin Kelley's Federals pursued the Confederates through Philippi, he was shot in the upper right chest by Col. George A. Porterfield's quartermaster. A surgeon declared it a mortal wound but Kelley recovered. In a show of respect, his men awarded him a horse they bought locally. He named the horse "Philippi" and rode it through most of the war.

Eighteen-year old Confederate James E. Hanger, a member of the Churchville Cavalry, was struck in the left leg by a cannonball as he tried to get his horse from Garrett Johnson's stable near the covered bridge.

Within hours, Dr. James D. Robison of the 16th Ohio Volunteers amputated Hanger's leg about seven inches below the hip. It was the first amputation of the war. Hanger later founded the J.E. Hanger Company, which today as Hanger Orthopedic Group, Inc., is the nation's oldest and largest manufacturer of artificial limbs.

Captain Fauntleroy P. Dangerfield of Hot Springs, Virginia, came to Philippi to drill Confederate recruits. During the retreat, he was wounded in the left knee by a bullet. Carried to Beverly by wagon, his leg was amputated the next day by surgeon Dr. John T. Huff of Monterey, Virginia. It was the first amputation of the war by a Confederate surgeon.

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Show me all markers in:  Philippi, WV  |  Barbour County  |  26416  |  West Virginia  |  United States of America

Barbour County War Memorial
Philippi
Barbour County Korean War Memorial
Barbour County Vietnam Era Veterans Memorial
Philippi
The Covered Bridge
Philippi
The Covered Bridge
Historic Campbell School
Philippi

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