Battle of Rich Mountain
Sketch of the operations from 10 to 12 July 1861 at Rich Mountain
| date | July 11, 1861 |
|---|---|
| place | Randolph County , West Virginia, USA |
| output | Union victory |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
| Troop strength | |
|
approx. 5,000
|
approx. 1,300
|
| losses | |
|
74
|
88
|
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The Battle of Rich Mountain took place in the mountains of western Virginia on July 11, 1861 during the Civil War and ended in a victory for the Union forces .
Major General McClellan , the Ohio Defense Area Commander , had two jobs - to maintain the loyalty of the western counties of Virginia and to maintain the operation of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad .
After fleeing Philippi , the Confederates defended themselves on two passes over Laurel Hill in the north and Rich Mountain along the Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike in the south.
McClellan was within three miles of the pass over Rich Mountain. Opposite him was Lieutenant Colonel John Pegram at Camp Garnett, who had placed 310 men and one cannon of his 1,300 soldiers and four cannons on the top of the pass to counter an attack from behind. Despite his superiority, McClellan postponed the attack on Camp Garnett and was persuaded by Brigadier General Rosecrans to attack the flank on the top of the pass.
In the early morning of July 11th, Rosecrans marched with 2,000 soldiers. The northerners surprised the small southern troops on the pass, but they managed to hold up Rosecrans for two hours and then evade. The following night, Pegram gave up Camp Garnett without a fight. At the same time, the Confederate forces on Laurel Hill under Brigadier General Robert Selden Garnett also evaded, without being seriously harassed, in order not to be bypassed.
On the morning of July 12, 1861, Rosecrans entered Camp Garnett from behind and reported to General McClellan that the Confederates were leaving. The Northerners succeeded on July 13, capturing a large number of Southerners at Corrick's Ford and stealing their supply column. Brigadier General Garnett fell as the first general of the civil war. This ended the fighting in the western mountains of Virginia.
McClellan reported this victory as a great success to Washington and thus established his reputation as a victorious general. But already here his great strengths and weaknesses became apparent:
- outstanding organizational skills
- strategic planner
- tendency to overestimate the opponent
- Over-caution.
Two years after the Battle of Rich Mountain, West Virginia became the 35th state in the United States of America.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Union losses. National Park Service, November 27, 2012; Retrieved July 22, 2017 (National Park Service).
- ↑ Confederate losses. National Park Service, November 27, 2012; Retrieved July 22, 2017 (National Park Service).
literature
- United States. War Dept .: The War of the Rebellion: a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies , Govt. Print. Off., Washington 1880-1901
- James M. McPherson (Editor): The Atlas of the Civil War . Philadelphia 2005, ISBN 0-7624-2356-0
- Clayton R. Newell: Lee vs. McClellan: The First Campaign . Washington, DC 1996.