After capturing Guyandotte on November 10, 1861, and rounding up civilian Unionists and Federal recruits, Confederate forces under Col. John Clarkson and Col. Albert G. Jenkins began leaving town the next day with their prisoners. At the same time, the steamboat Boston arrived too late with Union reinforcements, about 200 soldiers of the 5th (West) Virginia Infantry. Boston fired a few shots from her bow gun at the departing Confederates and then docked. Earlier, the steamer had picked up angry Unionists who had escaped from Guyandotte to Ohio when the Confederates attacked. When they and the reinforcements landed, they heard stories of an alleged massacre from wounded survivors who had evaded capture, and they learned of collaboration between pro-secessionist residents and the Confederate cavalrymen. The rage of the troops and Union sympathizers boiled over, and an officer, perhaps Col. John L. Ziegler, issued orders to burn Guyandotte. Only a few dwellings, including the Keenan House and the Crawley House, survived the fire. The town's most prominent secessionists received special attention from the fire-setters. Soldiers knocked on doors demanding that residents leave, sometimes allowing them to take their valuables. Guyandotte's business section was completely gutted to prevent the Confederates from returning for supplies. Buildings that were torched included Buffington Mill, reportedly the largest flour mill on the Ohio River between Cincinnati and Pittsburgh, the Forest Hotel, and Guyandotte Baptist Church. The entire town would have been burned if Union Col. William Bolles had not finally persuaded the soldiers to stop the destruction.