"Massacre of the 9th Infantry"

When the Civil War began, few of Guyandotte's residents were slaveholders, buy many townspeople resented any infringement on their right as Virginians to own slaves. Guyandotte was reportedly the only town on the Ohio River that voted in favor of secession. Union sympathizers were ill treated, and some fled to Ohio. A local resident, Albert G. Jenkins, recruited a Confederate force and took it to Camp Tompkins in the Kanawha Valley.

In October 1861, Col. Kelliana V. Whaley, 9th (West) Virginia Infantry, relocated a Union recruitment camp (Camp Paxton) and small cavalry detachment to Guyandotte, to the chagrin of Confederate supporters. The next month, Confederate Gen. John B. Floyd ordered Col. John Clarkson and Col. Albert G. Jenkins to "proceed in the direction of the Ohio River, and to strike the enemy a blow." They led 1,200 horsemen of the 5th and 8th Virginia Cavalry (CS) here.

On November 10, a peaceful Sunday night in Guyandotte, Clarkson's and Jenkins's forces encircled the town to cut off escape routes. Meanwhile, the 150 Union recruits here were attending worship services, visiting friends, or relaxing. Few of the Federals were armed. When Confederates detachments charged into town, the recruits dashed into the streets as the sound of gunshots. The "battle" was brief and frenzied. At least three Confederates were killed and ten wounded, and ten Union recruits were killed and twenty wounded. The other Federals were captured or scattered. The next morning, the Confederates began marching their prisoners, including Unionists residents, toward confinement in Richmond.

(captions)
(lower left) Guard mount parade in Union camp — Courtesy Library of Congress
(upper right) Gen. Albert G. Jenkins Courtesy Library of Congress
Col. Kellian V. Whaley Courtesy Richard A. Wolfe
(lower right) Confederates in camp, 1861 — Courtesy Library of Congress

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