Brigadier General James Monroe Williams

The Battle of Carnifex Ferry took place on September 10, 1861 in Nicholas County, Virginia (now West Virginia), as part of the Operations in Western Virginia Campaign during the [[American Civil War The battle of Carnifex Ferry took place along the Gauley River near Kessler’s cross lanes a small union force had recently been beaten there. Under the command of Brigadier General John Floyd confederate forces stormed the union camp taking many prisoners. Union forces under Colonel Tyler had been routed.


Floyd moved his forces to carnifex ferry an area with only one entry because of the Gauley River and steep banks Floyd dug in with his 2000 troops and decided it would be perfect they could only hit them from the front. General William S Rosecrans led three brigades of infantry numbering 5000 from the city of Clarksburg to support Colonel Tyler’s regrouped regiment. General Floyd repulsed the union 3 brigades and inflicted more casualties on the enemy then his own until general Rosecrans artillery eventually drove them out of their breastworks. The casualties were Union 17 killed and 141 wounded Confederate unknown killed 30 wounded.

The battle took its name from a former settlement, which was named after the local Carnefix family.[2]

Opposing forces

Union

Further information: Union order of battle

Confederate

Further information: Confederate order of battle

The battle

In late August 1861, Confederate forces under Brig. Gen. John B. Floyd crossed the Gauley River and surprised the 7th Ohio Infantry under Col. Erastus Tyler at Kessler's Cross Lanes.[3] Outnumbered, Tyler's inexperienced men were routed, and Floyd camped near Carnifex Ferry. The Confederates began throwing up entrenchments on the Henry Patteson farm (located on the rim of the Gauley River Canyon near Summersville).

Concerned about Floyd's drive to reclaim the Kanawha Valley, Union Brigadier General William S. Rosecrans led three brigades of infantry southward from Clarksburg to support Tyler's regrouped regiment. Moving into position on the afternoon of September 10, Rosecrans advanced against Floyd's campsite and attacked. The Confederate lines repulsed the attacks and the Federal casualties were significantly higher than the defenders. The strength of Rosecrans's artillery proved to be problematic however, and Floyd decided to retreat that night across the ferry to the south side of the Gauley River. He subsequently moved eastward to Meadow Bluff near Lewisburg.

Floyd, seeking to deflect the blame, placed the responsibility for the defeat on his co-commander Brigadier General Henry A. Wise, furthering the dissension that marked the Confederate high command in western Virginia.

Battlefield preservation

In October 1935, the battlefield was preserved as Carnifex Ferry Battlefield State Park.[4]

Gallery

See also

References

  1. ^ CWSAC Battle Summary, National Park Service Archived February 26, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ Kenny, Hamill (1945). West Virginia Place Names: Their Origin and Meaning, Including the Nomenclature of the Streams and Mountains. Piedmont, WV: The Place Name Press. p. 156.
  3. ^ "Kessler's Cross Lanes". CWSAC Battle Summaries. National Park Service. Retrieved January 16, 2017.
  4. ^ Where People and Nature Meet: A History of the West Virginia State Parks. Charleston, West Virginia: Pictorial Histories Publishing Company. April 1988. ISBN 0-933126-91-3.

External links

source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Carnifex_Ferry