On October 24, 1861, Union Gen. Winfield Scott ordered Gen. Benjamin F. Kelley to strengthen his position at New Creek Station, present-day Keyser, on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and then march to Romney and occupy the town. Romney, situated on the North Western Turnpike and the largest town in the South Branch Valley, had strategic importance. Kelley planned a two-pronged attack for October 26, leading the main force from the west on the turnpike while Col. Thomas Johns of the 2nd Regiment Potomac Home Brigade attacked from the north by pushing across the Wire Bridge, marching south, and striking Romney from the east. Johns encountered stiff resistance when Confederates entrenched riflemen on an eminence immediately fronting the suspension bridge. Captain Alexander Shaw of Company A led the advance to the bridge and was directed to lead the way across at a double quick step, but about halfway across discovered that part of the plank flooring on the far side had been removed. The Confederates then opened fire by volley, killing one man and wounding six, causing the company to seek shelter behind the bridge parapets. When Johns heard Kelley’s guns firing as the general entered Romney, he broke off contact and withdrew to Maryland, considering his part of the attack complete. Kelley’s troops occupied Romney until January 10, 1862, when they retreated to Cumberland, Maryland, over this bridge as Confederate Gen. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson approached from Winchester.