Philippi

At Philippi, Col. Benjamin F. Kelley, a railroad agent in Philadelphia and former resident of Wheeling, returned to command the First Virginia (Union) Infantry, the first Union regiment raised in the South, and planned and led the attack there. Severely wounded in the fighting, he recovered and received a Brigadier General's star. Federal forces at Philippi included Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan commanding the U.S. Army's Department of the Ohio, Brig. Gen. Thomas A. Morris commanding the western Virginia regiments, Kelley commanding the Federal forces there, Col. Ebenezer Dumont commanding the Federal right wing, and Col. Frederick W. Lander commanding the Federal field artillery, along with the 6th Indiana Volunteers under Col. Thomas T. Crittenden, the 9th Indiana Volunteers under Col. Robert H. Milroy, the 14th Ohio Volunteers under Col. James B. Steedman, and the 16th Ohio Volunteers under Col. James Irvine. Opposing them, Col. George A. Porterfield of Jefferson County, (West) Virginia, an 1844 graduate of Virginia Military Institute and a veteran of the Mexican War, had been made commander of the Northwest by Gen. Lee on May 4. After Federals drove him from Philippi on June 3, he retreated to Huttonsville, and on June 8 Lee replaced him with Brig. Gen. Robert S. Garnett. A board of inquiry later reprimanded Porterfield for not defending Philippi, while noting his skillful and orderly retreat. Confederate forces included Maj. Gen. Robert E. Lee commanding the Virginia militia, Porterfield commanding the Northwestern Virginia companies, and companies such as the Barbour Grays, Barbour Mountain Guards, Barbour Militia, Upser Grays, Franklin Guards, Marion Guards, Hardy Blues, Taylor County Infantry, Pendleton County Infantry, Churchville Cavalry, Rockbridge Cavalry, Harrison State Guards, and Augusta Lee Rifles.

Philippi, West Virginia · United States