On April 20, 1863, Confederate Gens. William E. “Grumble” Jones and John D. Imboden began a raid from Virginia through present-day West Virginia against the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Taking separate routes, they later reported that they marched 1,100 miles, fought several engagements, captured 100 Federals, seized about 1,200 horses and 4,000 cattle, and burned 4 turnpike bridges, more than 20 railroad bridges, 2 trains, and 150,000 barrels of oil. Most bridges were soon repaired, and Confederate losses were slight. By May 26, both commands had returned to Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. The trenches here and on Pinnicinick Hill were constructed to protect Clarksburg and the vital North Western Virginia Railroad, which ran west from Grafton, where it joined the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, through Clarksburg to Parkersburg. On May 30, 1861, three companies of the 14th Ohio Infantry arrived in Clarksburg by train from Ohio as the first Union troops to do so. The 8th Indiana Infantry soon arrived, and on June 19 began helping build fortifications on Lowndes and Pinnicinick Hills. The soldiers lived not in the trenches but in camps in town, including one in the current Glen Elk area and another near the Odd Fellows Cemetery on Chestnut Street. During the April 1863 raid, Jones approached Clarksburg from the north and Imboden from the east. Approximately 5,000 Union troops in the area retreated to the relative safety of Clarksburg’s fortifications. Commanding general Benjamin S. Roberts sent out a cavalry company on reconnaissance but otherwise made no effort to attack the Confederates. Jones, finding Clarksburg’s defenses too strong, moved on to Bridgeport, where his men burned two railroad bridges and destroyed a locomotive.