Qualla: Battle of White Sulphur Springs

Battle of White Sulphur Springs: Introduction

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Alvin Jewett Johnson (1827-1884), Public domain. The strangest objective of any Civil War raid in West Virginia was a stack of law books. In August 1863, Brigadier General William W. Averell led a 1,500-man Union cavalry brigade across the mountains toward the small town of Lewisburg, where he had been ordered to seize the Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals library - then sheltering at Lewisburg's college - and carry it back across the lines to the newly created state of West Virginia. The books were considered important: legal precedent, deeds, court records. They were also, the Confederates decided, worth defending. On August 26 and 27, Averell's brigade collided with Colonel George S. Patton's hastily assembled Confederate force at a road intersection near White Sulphur Springs, in country still known locally as Rocky Gap. Two days of fighting later, the law library remained in Lewisburg, and Averell's brigade was retreating north with most of its ammunition spent.

Image: Alvin Jewett Johnson (1827-1884) | Public domain

Battle of White Sulphur Springs: The Long Approach

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit TwoScarsUp, CC BY-SA 4.0. The campaign began in late July 1863, when the rest of Averell's brigade was harrying Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia as it retreated south after Gettysburg. The 2nd West Virginia Mounted Infantry was scattered in detachments across the state. On August 5, Averell left ...

Image: TwoScarsUp | CC BY-SA 4.0

Battle of White Sulphur Springs: The Race to the Intersection

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit CZmarlin — Christopher Ziemnowicz, releases all rights but a photo credit would be appreciated if this image is used anywhere other than Wikipedia. Please leave a note at Wikipedia here. Thank you!, CC BY-SA 3.0. Confederate Brigadier General Sam Jones, commanding the Department of Western Virginia from Dublin Depot, had been tracking Averell's movements through couriers. At 10 p.m. on August 25, Jones learned that Averell was at Callaghan's. He immediately rerouted Colonel George S. Patt...

Image: CZmarlin — Christopher Ziemnowicz, releases all rights but a photo credit would be appreciated if this image is used anywhere other than Wikipedia. Please leave a note at Wikipedia here. Thank you! | CC BY-SA 3.0

Battle of White Sulphur Springs: The First Volley

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Mathew Brady (died 1896), Public domain. Patton's lead battalion - Lieutenant Colonel George M. Edgar's command, including remnants of the 59th Virginia Infantry and several southwest Virginia militia detachments - reached the intersection first, just as Averell's vanguard appeared from the southeast. Around 9:30 a.m. o...

Image: Mathew Brady (died 1896) | Public domain

Battle of White Sulphur Springs: Incessant Fire

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit PumpkinSky, CC BY-SA 4.0. The fight that followed was, by the account of a soldier in the 3rd West Virginia, an almost incessant fire of artillery and muskets that lasted four or five hours without either side gaining advantage. Union artillery commander Captain Chatham Ewing was severely wounded while re...

Image: PumpkinSky | CC BY-SA 4.0

Battle of White Sulphur Springs: Withdrawal and Cost

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Alvin Jewett Johnson, Public domain. On the morning of August 27, Averell resumed the attack briefly but the result was the same. Around mid-morning, with ammunition critical, he ordered the brigade to withdraw, abandoning the law-library mission and falling back northeast toward Callaghan's and eventually all the w...

Image: Alvin Jewett Johnson | Public domain

Battle of White Sulphur Springs: Aviator's Notes

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Bobak Ha'Eri, CC BY 3.0. The battle was fought at approximately 37.80 N, 80.29 W, near the village of White Sulphur Springs in Greenbrier County, West Virginia - about 9 miles east of Lewisburg along U.S. 60 and Interstate 64, near where modern Greenbrier State Forest meets the Virginia state line. Eleva...

Image: Bobak Ha'Eri | CC BY 3.0