In the spring of 1861, Union forces moved into northwestern Virginia to secure the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, protect important turnpikes, and support Unionists against Confederates, beginning a series of engagements from June through December that included Philippi, Rich Mountain, Corricks Ford, Cheat Summit Fort, Carnifex Ferry, and Camp Allegheny. At Philippi on the morning of June 3, 1861, in the first land battle of the Civil War, Union troops advanced in two columns after a night march in driving rain, with forces under Col. Benjamin F. Kelley and Col. Ebenezer Dumont converging on the town. As Dumont attacked before Kelley's column arrived, two cannons opened fire from the hill, and Col. Frederick W. Lander led infantry down the slope and across the covered bridge into Philippi. Some fighting followed on Main Street as Confederate Col. George A. Porterfield and his men fled so hastily that the action became known as the Philippi Races. Only a few men on either side were wounded and none were killed. Kelley was struck in the chest and later named his horse Philippi. Confederate Pvt. James E. Hanger, hit in the leg by a solid shot from Talbott Hill, became the war's first amputee and later founded a company that grew into the nation's largest manufacturer of artificial limbs. The many Union victories in northwestern Virginia enhanced Gen. George B. McClellan's reputation, damaged that of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, and helped keep what is now West Virginia largely under Federal control for the rest of the war despite later Confederate raids.