Qualla: Battle of Scary Creek https://qualla.com/battle-of-scary-creek en-us © 2026 Bendyline Wed, 08 Jul 2026 02:40:06 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/d/n/v/f/battle-of-scary-creek-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Battle of Scary Creek https://qualla.com/battle-of-scary-creek Battle of Scary Creek: Introduction https://qualla.com/battle-of-scary-creek/ Photo credit Whittlesey, Charles, Public domain. The first Confederate victory in the Kanawha Valley was won at a place called Scary Creek by a Confederate officer named George Smith Patton, who happened to be the grandfather of the George S. Patton of World War II fame. It was three months into the Civil War, four days before First Manassas. The Union plan was simple: push up the Kanawha from the Ohio River, take Charleston, and secure the salt works. On the afternoon of July 17, 1861, on a hot Putnam County hillside two miles back from the river, about 1,500 Ohio soldiers ran into about 800 Virginians dug in behind a small creek with one of the more memorable names in American military history. By 5:00 p.m. the Ohioans were falling back to the river. By midnight both armies had quietly abandoned the field, each thinking the other was about to come at them again.

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Image: Whittlesey, Charles | Public domain

]]> Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/n/v/f/battle-of-scary-creek-wp/dnvf-battle-of-scary-creek-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Battle of Scary Creek: Two Armies on the Kanawha https://qualla.com/battle-of-scary-creek/ Photo credit AxelRavera, CC BY-SA 4.0. Union Brigadier General Jacob Cox started up the Kanawha from the Ohio River in June 1861. By early July his force had taken Ravenswood, Ripley, and Guyandotte. He split his column into three pieces for the final push to Charleston. On the south bank of the Kanawha, near the mode...

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Image: AxelRavera | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/n/v/f/battle-of-scary-creek-wp/dnvf-battle-of-scary-creek-two-armies-on-the-kanawha.mp3 0:06 2 full Battle of Scary Creek: The Fight https://qualla.com/battle-of-scary-creek/ Photo credit AxelRavera, CC BY-SA 4.0. On the morning of July 17, after several days of probing, Cox sent Lieutenant Colonel Carr B. White with a detachment of the 12th Ohio to feel out the Confederate position. They were ferried across the Kanawha, marched to Scary, met Confederate pickets at the creek mouth, and pul...

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Image: AxelRavera | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/n/v/f/battle-of-scary-creek-wp/dnvf-battle-of-scary-creek-the-fight.mp3 0:06 3 full Battle of Scary Creek: Patton Wounded, Jenkins in Command https://qualla.com/battle-of-scary-creek/ Photo credit AxelRavera, CC BY-SA 4.0. Three-quarters of the Confederate left collapsed in panic at the bayonet charge. Patton tried to rally his men and took a bullet in his left shoulder. Albert G. Jenkins assumed field command. Norton, leading the Ohio assault, was struck severely in the hip and captured. Then fres...

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Image: AxelRavera | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/n/v/f/battle-of-scary-creek-wp/dnvf-battle-of-scary-creek-patton-wounded-jenkins-in-command.mp3 0:06 4 full Battle of Scary Creek: A Tactical Win, A Strategic Loss https://qualla.com/battle-of-scary-creek/ Photo credit AxelRavera, CC BY-SA 4.0. Casualties were modest. The Union lost 14 killed, about 30 wounded, several missing. The Confederates lost between one and five killed and perhaps half a dozen wounded, including Patton himself. By the standards of what was about to come at Manassas, Antietam, and Gettysburg, thi...

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Image: AxelRavera | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/n/v/f/battle-of-scary-creek-wp/dnvf-battle-of-scary-creek-a-tactical-win-a-strategic-loss.mp3 0:06 5 full