Military
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In June 1861, on the nearby heights, Confederate General Robert Garnett's Army of Northwestern Virginia built fortifications to defend the Beverly-Fairmont Turnpike. Many soldiers received their baptism of fire there as Garnett's 4,000 Confederates skirmished with an equal force under General Thomas A. Morris on July 7-11, 1861. While Morris feigned attack, Federal troops under Major General George McClellan defeated Confederates at Rich Mountain, 15 miles south. With the enemy then threatening his front and rear, Garnett retreated on the night of July 11, leaving barricades to slow the Federals. His army fled east to Corricks Ford in Tucker County, where pursuing Federals captured Confederate supply wagons and killed Garnett. The engagement at Laurel Hill was a key to McClellan's success in the first campaign, and retreat from this area resulted in the loss of Western Virginia for the Confederacy.
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Belington, West Virginia · United States
