The Civil War brought repeated conflict to Beverly, where many wartime firsts occurred. U.S. Gen. George McClellan launched the war's first campaign from this strategic crossroads, and with help from local guide David Hart his forces defeated Confederates at Rich Mountain on July 11, 1861. McClellan then occupied the town, which remained under Union control for most of the war, although major Confederate raids swept through in 1863 and 1865. Beverly also witnessed the first amputation by a Confederate surgeon, the first mass surrender of prisoners, and the first wartime use of a telegraph. During the conflict, the town included a Union hospital, McClellan's headquarters, and the telegraph office he used to proclaim the victory that began his rise to fame as the North's first battlefield hero. Laura Jackson Arnold, sister of Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, lived in Beverly during the war; though her husband and brother supported the Confederacy, she sympathized with the Union and nursed troops of both sides.