Late in 1861, Union Gen. George B. McClellan ordered two fortifications built on the hill to guard the wooden covered bridge on the Weston and Gauley Bridge Turnpike. In October 1863, Capt. William H. Mattingly of Parkersburg occupied the works with several companies of the 6th and 11th West Virginia Infantry, numbering 350-400 men. On October 13, Confederate Col. William L. “Mudwall” Jackson attacked at 4:30 A.M. with about 700 men of the 19th and 20 Virginia Cavalry and two guns from Capt. Warren S. Lurty’s battery. Mattingly’s pickets fired from the first fortification and then fell back to the main position, where another volley stalled the attack. Jackson demanded surrender, but Mattingly refused, saying, “I told them to come and take us.” After Mattingly was wounded in the thigh late in the morning, Capt. James L. Simpson of Company C, 11th West Virginia, took command and rejected another surrender demand, telling Jackson, “I’ll fight you till hell freezes over and if need be retreat on the ice.” The fighting lasted until 4:30 P.M., when Jackson withdrew after running low on ammunition. The Federals had two wounded and no killed, while Jackson lost perhaps seven killed and several wounded. Many on both sides had known each other before the war through service together in the county militia.