In September 1863, Upshur County suffered one of its greatest Civil War calamities when Confederate raiders captured the Upshur County Militia at Centerville, also called Rock Cave. The militia, organized at Buckhannon on August 8, 1862, by Col. A.C. Moore as a body of Home Guards, had about 70 men under Capt. Daniel Gould, with Harvey Geyer as lieutenant and Loyal McAvoy as duty sergeant. After basic training at Centerville, where a fortification on a hill and a nearby drill field guarded an important road junction, most of the men had returned to weekly musters. A former militiaman, J.C. Eagle, had deserted to the Confederacy and later guided raiders through the region. When a Confederate force under Major Kesler failed to find Union troops near Bulltown, Eagle directed it toward Centerville and provided detailed knowledge of the militia’s habits. Early on Saturday, September 12, 1863, the Confederates approached unseen, took positions around the town, and attacked as the militia assembled. Caught on an open drill field, surprised, and holding empty rifles while their pickets had not yet reached their posts, the militia fell into confusion. Preston Curry’s attempt to reach the fortification for ammunition failed when the attackers set it on fire. Amos Samples was wounded, four men escaped through the woods, and after additional casualties Captain Gould surrendered without a shot being fired. The prisoners were marched south by way of Cleveland and other points to Richmond, where they entered Castle Thunder Prison, and some later passed through other prisons including Camp Sumter, Salisbury, Wheeling, Andersonville, Georgia, and Charleston, South Carolina. Seven men escaped, 25 were paroled, and 43 died in prison, leaving behind 27 widows and 83 children. The raid spread panic across what is now West Virginia and drew protests that the region had been left without protection. Accounts preserved by Thomas W. Gawthrop and letters from Bryant T. Moore recount cold, sickness, failed efforts at parole or exchange, conscription attempts, hospitalizations, and eventual returns for some survivors. Among the dead were many Upshur County men, including the brothers Jacob and Clossom Simons, and their suffering formed part of the wider tragedy of Confederate prison camps during the war.