Qualla: Kanawha Valley Campaign of 1862

Kanawha Valley Campaign of 1862: Introduction

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit The map is by Alvin Jewett Johnson (1827-1884), and was published in 1864. TwoScarsUp made modifications., Public domain. For about forty days in the autumn of 1862, the Confederacy reclaimed western Virginia. Major General William W. Loring marched a force of roughly 5,000 men out of the southern mountains, defeated the Union army at Fayetteville on September 10, won the Battle of Charleston on September 13, drove Union Colonel Joseph Lightburn's command all the way back to Point Pleasant on the Ohio River, and occupied the Kanawha Valley until mid-October. It was the high-water mark of Confederate authority in what would become West Virginia. And then it was over. By October 30, Union troops were back in Charleston. Loring had been removed from command. The Confederacy would never again seriously threaten the valley.

Image: The map is by Alvin Jewett Johnson (1827-1884), and was published in 1864. TwoScarsUp made modifications. | Public domain

Kanawha Valley Campaign of 1862: The Push from the Sulphur Springs

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit The original file was created by User:Pfly, and modified by TwoScarsUp, CC BY-SA 4.0. Loring's force gathered in late August at Red Sulphur Springs and Grey Sulphur Springs and the Narrows of New River - the resort and military depots strung along the southwestern mountain country. Confederate Brigadier General Albert G. Jenkins rode ahead with about 550 cavalry, ...

Image: The original file was created by User:Pfly, and modified by TwoScarsUp | CC BY-SA 4.0

Kanawha Valley Campaign of 1862: Fayetteville and Cotton Hill

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Jacob Dolson Cox (1828-1900) with highlighting added by TwoScars, Public domain. On September 10, Loring split his command. One brigade swung around Fayetteville on a mountain path to attack Union Colonel Edward Siber's right flank and rear. The remainder made a frontal attack via the Princeton-Raleigh Road. The first contact came south of Fayetteville betwee...

Image: Jacob Dolson Cox (1828-1900) with highlighting added by TwoScars | Public domain

Kanawha Valley Campaign of 1862: Charleston and the Suspension Bridge

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Pubdog (talk), Public domain. On September 12, Lightburn reached Camp Piatt, the Union outpost ten miles east of Charleston, and reunited his command. He believed about 8,000 Confederates were in the valley - an overestimate by roughly 3,000 - and feared Confederate General John B. Floyd's partisan force was ...

Image: Pubdog (talk) | Public domain

Kanawha Valley Campaign of 1862: Forty Days and Out

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit TwoScarsUp, CC BY-SA 4.0. Lightburn took the Ripley Road northwest rather than the Charleston-Point Pleasant road that paralleled the Kanawha, where Williams's artillery on the south bank could harass him for miles. He camped at Sissonville the night of September 13, marched on to Ripley and Ravenswood th...

Image: TwoScarsUp | CC BY-SA 4.0