Battle of Camp Allegheny

 

Based on the sources and our conversation history, we can discuss military operations, particularly focusing on the Battle of Camp Allegheny, which took place in Pocahontas County, West Virginia. This county has been part of our previous discussion regarding its history and its inclusion in a GIS map project related to West Virginia Civil War conflicts [Conversation History].

The Battle of Camp Allegheny, also known as the Battle of Allegheny Mountain, occurred on December 13, 1861. It was a part of the Operations in Western Virginia Campaign during the American Civil War. The battle took place in Pocahontas County, Virginia (now West Virginia), approximately 3 miles from the mountainous border of Highland County, Virginia.

Background of the Military Operation:

• In December 1861, Confederate forces under Colonel Edward Johnson occupied the summit pass of Allegheny Mountain.
• Their objective was to defend the Staunton and Parkersburg Turnpike, a road that provided access from the mountains of western Virginia into the strategic Shenandoah Valley. This defensive position was called the "Monterey Line," named after a village in Highland County behind them.
• The occupation coincided with a severe winter, causing significant suffering and disease among the Confederate troops.
• Following earlier Union victories in what is now West Virginia, which had consolidated control in much of the western mountains, the Union Army was emboldened to attempt to take the Staunton to Petersburg Pike.
• Union forces, a brigade of 2,000 men led by Brigadier General Robert H. Milroy, attacked Johnson's 1,200 Confederates at sunrise on December 13, potentially anticipating low Confederate morale.

The Battle:

• Milroy's advance and a Confederate scouting party had already skirmished on December 12.
• On the morning of the 13th, Milroy divided his troops for a two-pronged attack aimed at flanking the Confederate camp.
• The first Union column advanced up the Staunton-Parkersburg Pike, engaging the Confederate right side for several hours before withdrawing.
• Due to the difficult mountain terrain, the second Union column arrived later and was unable to support the first column as planned. They then attacked the Confederate left.
• The fighting was intense and took place across hillside slopes, fields, and woods for much of the sunlit morning.
• On the right flank, the Union force found a defensive position among fallen timber, stumps, and brush, which Confederate infantry found difficult to dislodge. Confederate artillery was used to attack this position.
• Fighting on the right moved back and forth before the Union troops there withdrew.
• When the left Union column attacked, a Confederate officer mistook them for returning pickets, rode out, and was killed, initiating the fierce fighting on that flank.
• After the Union right column withdrew, Johnson moved his troops to reinforce the left flank. The concentrated Confederate fire broke up the Union assault on the left, leading to the withdrawal of the final Union troops.
• The fighting lasted for over seven hours.

Aftermath and Significance:

• Milroy's troops withdrew without taking the position, retreating to their camps near Cheat Mountain.
• The battle, though considered small compared to later conflicts, was one of the bloodiest in the initial year of the war (April–December 1861).
• Estimated Union casualties were 137, while Confederate casualties were 147.
• Colonel Edward Johnson earned the nickname "Allegheny" Johnson for his role and command of the mountain post.
• Ironically, the Confederates had received orders to withdraw before the battle. However, the failed Union assault convinced Confederate higher command to reinforce Johnson's position at Camp Allegheny with five regiments for the remainder of the harsh winter of 1861–62. The bitter winter conditions, with deep snow, were particularly hard on the Southern troops, many of whom were unaccustomed to such weather.
• Despite the reinforcement, by March 18, 1862, nearly 1,200 of Johnson's 4,000 men stationed at Camp Allegheny were sick or unavailable, highlighting the brutal toll of the winter.
• After the battle, Johnson recognized that the post was vulnerable to flanking maneuvers and believed Shenandoah Mountain, 40 miles southeast, would be a better defensive location.
• Combined with the troop losses from the winter and logistical challenges, General Robert E. Lee agreed to allow Johnson to abandon Camp Allegheny on April 2, 1862, in favor of Shenandoah Mountain.
• The Battle of Camp Allegheny and the subsequent Battle of McDowell were significant because the counties in Union control formed the basis for the new state of West Virginia. The battle influenced the future state border between Virginia and West Virginia, causing it to run along the Pocahontas and Highland County line. Neither Pocahontas nor Highland County participated in the creation of West Virginia, but Pocahontas was included in the new state via the Congressional statehood bill, while Highland remained part of Virginia.

Camp Allegheny Today:

• The site of the battlefield is now recognized as the Camp Allegheny Historic District.
• This national historic district, encompassing 105 acres near Bartow, West Virginia, includes one contributing structure and four contributing sites: earthworks, the site of the huts and campground, the cemetery, the church site, and the site of the Yeager farmstead.
• It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.
• Ambrose Bierce, a Union soldier who fought at the battle, wrote about revisiting the site in 1903, noting how little the battlefield had changed.

In summary, military operations in Pocahontas County during the Civil War included the significant Battle of Camp Allegheny in 1861, a defensive effort by Confederate forces to control a vital turnpike. The battle, though tactically inconclusive, had strategic importance for troop deployment and ultimately influenced the political boundary that would separate West Virginia from Virginia. The site of this military operation is now preserved as a historic district.