After the Philippi Races, the first land battle of the Civil War, Confederate Gen. Robert S. Garnett took command of the Army of the Northwest in this region. By June 16, 1861, his 5,300 Confederates had dug in at Rich Mountain and Laurel Hill, more than 25 miles south, to stop an invasion by Union Gen. George McClellan. McClellan's victory at Rich Mountain on July 11 forced Garnett to abandon Laurel Hill, and that night Garnett and 3,500 Confederates marched south toward Beverly. Fearing a trap, they turned northeast in an attempt to escape, but Union Gen. Thomas Morris' brigade pursued them. Delayed by muddy roads and river crossings, Garnett's army made a stand on Shavers Fork less than one mile south to save their wagons, then retreated downstream to nearby Corricks Ford, where Garnett was killed on July 13, 1861, becoming the first Civil War general to fall. His Confederates fled in disarray to Highland County, Virginia, and the events here made McClellan a national hero and bolstered West Virginia statehood in 1863.