Fort Mulligan was a large fortification, about 700 feet east to west and 400 feet north to south at its widest point, with intricate inner bombproofs that likely sheltered men, ammunition, and some foodstuffs beneath logs and earth protection against artillery fire. After Federal troops abandoned the post, Confederate General Jubal Early’s forces destroyed these structures in January 1864, and Early said his men demolished works containing bombproof shelters, ammunition magazines, and other stores. The fort served as a forward post and auxiliary depot supplying Union expeditions against Confederate forces, with nearly all supplies hauled 38 miles by wagon train from the railroad at New Creek Station (Keyser). These wagon trains, along with the mail, couriers, and scouting patrols, were vulnerable to attack by the McNeill Rangers and other Confederate groups, while forage for horses had to be collected locally from as far as 15 miles away. In a January 9th, 1864 letter, Joshua Winters wrote that a wagon train had been captured between the fort and New Creek, that some guards were taken while most of his regiment escaped, and that fears of another Confederate attempt on the railroad led the garrison to prepare to leave at three in the morning on the 6th and to destroy a good deal of food before orders arrived to remain.
