Qualla: Wytheville Raid https://qualla.com/wytheville-raid 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/w/6/wytheville-raid-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Wytheville Raid https://qualla.com/wytheville-raid Wytheville Raid: Introduction https://qualla.com/wytheville-raid/ Photo credit The Abingdon Virginian (newspaper), published July 31, 1863., Public domain. One Union soldier called the road into Wytheville an avenue of death. Colonel John T. Toland's brigade of 870 men had ridden for five days through the West Virginia mountains to reach this Wythe County county seat on the evening of July 18, 1863, with orders to cut the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad and, if circumstances allowed, to wreck the lead mine that supplied a third of the Confederacy's bullets. The cavalry charged in column down the main street toward the railroad station. Then the windows opened. About 120 civilians — men, women, home guard — fired their muskets from inside their own houses. Toland was killed almost immediately. So were eight others. The raid succeeded militarily and failed in every other way that mattered.

Read more: Wytheville Raid on Qualla

Image: The Abingdon Virginian (newspaper), published July 31, 1863. | Public domain

]]> Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/n/w/6/wytheville-raid-wp/dnw6-wytheville-raid-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Wytheville Raid: Why Wytheville https://qualla.com/wytheville-raid/ Photo credit TwoScarsUp, CC BY-SA 4.0. George Wythe — the Virginia jurist who tutored Thomas Jefferson in law and signed the Declaration of Independence — gave his name to the town and the county. But it was the lead under the county that interested the Union army. The Wythe County mines at Austinville produced roughl...

Read more: Wytheville Raid on Qualla

Image: TwoScarsUp | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/n/w/6/wytheville-raid-wp/dnw6-wytheville-raid-why-wytheville.mp3 0:06 2 full Wytheville Raid: Toland's Brigade https://qualla.com/wytheville-raid/ Photo credit TwoScarsUp, CC BY-SA 4.0. On July 13, 1863, an undersized brigade of 870 men left a base camp near Charleston, West Virginia. The orders came from General Eliakim P. Scammon: disable the railroad, cut the telegraph, and if you can, hit the lead and salt mines. The brigade consisted of 365 men of the 2nd W...

Read more: Wytheville Raid on Qualla

Image: TwoScarsUp | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/n/w/6/wytheville-raid-wp/dnw6-wytheville-raid-tolands-brigade.mp3 0:06 3 full Wytheville Raid: The Ride East https://qualla.com/wytheville-raid/ Photo credit TwoScarsUp, CC BY-SA 4.0. The brigade rode up the Coal River, crossed it many times, lost two men to a Confederate ambush near Beckley on July 14, and pressed on through the mountains. To keep the operation secret, they captured every rebel they encountered and held them as prisoners rather than let word ...

Read more: Wytheville Raid on Qualla

Image: TwoScarsUp | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/n/w/6/wytheville-raid-wp/dnw6-wytheville-raid-the-ride-east.mp3 0:06 4 full Wytheville Raid: Avenue of Death https://qualla.com/wytheville-raid/ Photo credit TwoScarsUp, CC BY-SA 4.0. The town's defenders were about 130 Confederate soldiers and roughly 120 civilians, including home guard who had volunteered when the warning came. Many residents fled south or hid in their cellars. Those who stayed loaded their muskets and waited at their windows. The Union cava...

Read more: Wytheville Raid on Qualla

Image: TwoScarsUp | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/n/w/6/wytheville-raid-wp/dnw6-wytheville-raid-avenue-of-death.mp3 0:06 5 full Wytheville Raid: The Mine That Survived https://qualla.com/wytheville-raid/ Photo credit TwoScarsUp, CC BY-SA 4.0. Powell, second in command, took over after Toland's death and the brigade burned the depot, wrecked the railroad cars, cut the telegraph, and rode out before Confederate reinforcements could close. The Austinville lead mine — the real strategic target — survived untouched. The Un...

Read more: Wytheville Raid on Qualla

Image: TwoScarsUp | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/n/w/6/wytheville-raid-wp/dnw6-wytheville-raid-the-mine-that-survived.mp3 0:06 6 full