Qualla: Carnifex Ferry Battlefield State Park

Carnifex Ferry Battlefield State Park: Introduction

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Jrob456321789, CC BY-SA 3.0. The state park opened in October 1935, the same year Congress passed the Historic Sites Act formalizing federal historic preservation authority. Carnifex Ferry was one of the earliest battlefield state parks anywhere in the United States. The 156 acres on the rim of the Gauley River Canyon preserve the Henry Patterson farm where Brigadier General John B. Floyd's Confederate forces threw up entrenchments in late August 1861, and where William S. Rosecrans's Union brigades attacked on September 10 of that year. The Patterson House still stands. Three overlooks let visitors see down into the Gauley River Canyon. A weekend Civil War reenactment fills the meadows after Labor Day. Listed on the National Register since 1974, the park is part of the first generation of American battlefield preservation.

Image: Jrob456321789 | CC BY-SA 3.0

Carnifex Ferry Battlefield State Park: Why the Park Exists

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Jrob456321789, CC BY-SA 3.0. In 1861, the western counties of Virginia were the frontier of the Civil War's first year. Unionist settlers there had begun the process of separating from Confederate Virginia. Confederate Brigadier General John B. Floyd marched in to recover the region. After a tactical victory...

Image: Jrob456321789 | CC BY-SA 3.0

Carnifex Ferry Battlefield State Park: The Patterson House

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Brian M. Powell (user Bitmapped on en.wikipedia), CC BY-SA 3.0. The frame house at the center of the park belonged to Henry Patterson and his family at the time of the battle. The structure stood directly behind Floyd's entrenchments during the engagement. Soldiers used it for shelter, command, and medical care. After the war, the Patterson f...

Image: Brian M. Powell (user Bitmapped on en.wikipedia) | CC BY-SA 3.0

Carnifex Ferry Battlefield State Park: Walking the Ground

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Brian M. Powell (user Bitmapped on en.wikipedia), CC BY-SA 3.0. The park's 156 acres include the Confederate entrenchment line, the open meadow where Union attacks formed, and a network of hiking trails that lead from the Patterson House out to three overlooks above the Gauley River Canyon. The Gauley drops nearly a thousand feet here, a stee...

Image: Brian M. Powell (user Bitmapped on en.wikipedia) | CC BY-SA 3.0

Carnifex Ferry Battlefield State Park: The Reenactment

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Jrob456321789, CC BY-SA 3.0. Each year on a weekend after Labor Day, Civil War reenactors gather at Carnifex Ferry to commemorate the September 10 battle. Hundreds of participants set up authentic period camps - Union and Confederate - and stage a recreation of the engagement on the original ground. Visitors...

Image: Jrob456321789 | CC BY-SA 3.0