Soldiers of the Confederate Army of the Northwest occupied Laurel Hill from June 16 to July 11, 1861. Led by General Robert S. Garnett, a West Point instructor of tactics, they dug fortifications on the Mustoe farm to block the Beverly-Fairmont Turnpike, an important north-south road. General Garnett's headquarters tent stood in a nearby maple grove, and raw volunteers underwent rigorous drill and instruction there. The Confederates included infantry, cavalry, and artillery, mostly from Virginia, with the notable exception of the First Georgia Infantry Regiment. More than 1,000 strong and accompanied by a snappy fife and drum corps, they boasted imported uniforms, silver settings, and slaves to attend every need, leading one Virginia colonel to think they came rather for a holiday than for real war. John B. Pendleton of the 23rd Virginia Infantry, C.S.A., wrote that he felt as if he was in an unknown land, unaccustomed to the continual roll of drums, martial law, and the gleam of bayonets. A correspondent to the Cincinnati Commercial reported that on a bench extending from the side of Laurel Hill, the Confederates had constructed a bomb-proof redoubt of logs, dug three long rifle pits on the left flank, mounted four old fashioned cannon commanding the front and side approaches, and felled timber over a half mile square in front of their position, leaving the country almost impassable except for the roads, which were enfiladed by their pieces.