Confederate Brigadier General Robert S. Garnett ordered fortifications built here to control the Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike and hold western Virginia for the South. The earth and log entrenchments overlooked the vital road, and by July 1861 Colonel John Pegram commanded Camp Garnett with 1,300 Virginia troops and four cannon. Union Major General George B. McClellan, charged with securing western Virginia for the Union, brought over 5,000 troops to Roaring Creek Flats, two miles west of Camp Garnett, on July 9, 1861. Hesitant to attack the well-entrenched Confederate position, he sent Brigadier General William S. Rosecrans with 1,917 troops on a roundabout route to the south up Rich Mountain, guided by David Hart, whose family lived at the pass, to capture the turnpike above and behind Camp Garnett. Robert S. Garnett was later killed at Corrick's Ford while retreating from his former position at Laurel Hill, becoming the first Civil War general to fall in battle. George B. McClellan was then called to Washington to lead the federal Army of the Potomac as a result of the victory at Rich Mountain. The Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike connected the Shenandoah Valley with the Ohio River and gave access to the vital B&O railroad, and the fight to control western Virginia began at Philippi, with Union victory secured at Rich Mountain and Corrick's Ford. During the rest of 1861, Union troops at Cheat Summit Fort faced Confederates at Camp Barlow and later Camp Allegheny, but Federal forces remained in control of the strategic road.