In early September 1862, Union Col. Edward Siber and about 1,500 men of the 34th and 37th Ohio Infantries garrisoned Fort Scammon on the hill behind the courthouse and prepared to defend Fayetteville as Confederate Gen. William Loring's 5,000-man army marched into the Kanawha Valley to replenish abundant salt supplies. On September 10, Loring's troops advanced to within approximately 300 yards of the fort and opened artillery fire. Federal infantry and artillery returned fire, but Siber withdrew his outnumbered force from Fayetteville around 1:00 AM, escaping before the Confederates realized the Union troops were gone. At nearby Gauley Bridge, Union Col. Joseph A.J. Lightburn heard the cannon fire and rushed reinforcements to Siber, but they arrived too late. Lightburn then engaged the Confederates in Charleston on September 13 and, also outnumbered, was forced to retreat. The Kanawha Valley then remained in Confederate hands until mid-October, when Union soldiers returned in force and retook the area without opposition.