BGuthrie Photos: WV -- Carnifex Ferry Battlefield State Park

WV -- Carnifex Ferry Battlefield State Park:

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[1] CARNIF_070714_003.JPG	[2] CARNIF_070714_005.JPG	[3] CARNIF_070714_007.JPG
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Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. CARNIF_070714_003.JPG: Henry Patterson House
2. CARNIF_070714_005.JPG: Henry Patterson House: Built in the 1850s by Mr. Patterson, this house was caught between opposing armies during the Battle of Carnifex Ferry.
3. CARNIF_070714_018.JPG: The Battle of Carnifex Ferry: Seeking to gain a foothold in Western Virginia from which to conduct military operations, Gen. John B. Floyd, CSA, with approx. 1,800 troops established Camp Gauley here on the Patterson Farm about one mile from the Carnifex Ferry. Gen. William Rosecrans, USA, with nearly 7,000 troops, was ordered from Clarksburg to march on Floyd. It was the afternoon of Sept. 10, 1861 when the Federals came in sight of Camp Gauley and the battle commenced. Rosecrans used only part of his forces in the attack and the well entrenched Confederates were able to successfully drive back the Yankee troops. With darkness approaching, Rosecrans decided to wait until morning before launching a major offensive. Gen. Floyd reassessed his situation and decided to withdraw across the river during the night rather than face a superior force in the morning. He accomplished this maneuver without alerting the Union troops. The following morning, the Federals moved into Camp Gauley without incident and a vital line was secured by the Union, thus enabling the movement for West Virginia statehood to proceed. Although Gen. Rosecrans could rightfully claim victory, the North lost more men than the South in the battle. Federal casualties were over 130 with 28 killed while Southern losses were near 30 with no reported fatalities.
4. CARNIF_070714_026.JPG: One of the northern artillery positions
5. CARNIF_070714_031.JPG: Artillery Thunder: This knoll is believed to be one of the northern artillery positions. With possibly as many as seven artillery pieces each, the two armies engaged in a fierce bombardment for several hours. The blasts were heard as far away as Summersville. Although the armies were within a few hundred yards of each other, the cannon firing was poorly directed and generally passed over the heads of the combatants, destroying the treetops, but causing little damage to the troops.
6. CARNIF_070714_037.JPG: Grave of Granville Blevins
7. CARNIF_070714_045.JPG: Journey's End: Granville Blevens of Grayson county, Virginia, joined the Confederate Army with his brother, Haywood, and some friends on 5/29/1861 at Wytheville, Virginia. Like many other soldiers, both North and South, Granville died of sickness. He was buried here by his brother and friends on 9/7/1861, just three days before the battle. A Number [sic] of other Confederates also died of sickness while camped on Patterson's farm but Granville's is the only known grave site. Most of the Union battle fatalities were buried on the battlefield and moved after the war for burial elsewhere.
8. CARNIF_070714_047.JPG: "Follow me my men, Charge!" The Patterson family kept a large cornfield just north of their house. It was in the cornfield that U.S. Colonel John W. Lowe was struck and killed by rebel gunfire while shouting his final order to the men of the 12th Ohio. His death while leading his men into battle made him a hero. He also became the first field grade officer from Ohio to be killed in the Civil War.
9. CARNIF_070714_056.JPG: Carnifex Ferry: Scene of battle, Sept. 10, 1861, between Federal army of Gen. WS Rosecrans and Confederate army of Gen. John B. Floyd. Engagement followed defeat of Federals at Cross Lanes, Aug. 26, 1861. State acquired site, Oct. 29, 1935.
10. CARNIF_070714_061.JPG: Carnefix Ferry: The Civil War battle fought here in 1861 was named after the nearby river ferry. Even though it was over a mile downstream, the ferry was the closest well-known landmark. Constructed by Williams Carnefix in the early 1800s, the ferry provided an important link between the James River-Kanawha Turnpike, now Rt. 60, and the Gauley-Weston Turnpike, now part of Rts 39 and 19. There are at least three variations of the spelling of Carnifex. The heading above is the spelling found on the gravestone of Mr. Carnefix who died in 1856.
11. CARNIF_070714_133.JPG: Old Ferry Road: This sunken pathway is the remnant of the Old Carnifex Ferry Road. The road was an important travel route before the Civil War and into the early 1900s. Under the cover of darkness, the Confederate army was able to retreat on this narrow trace without detection by the Federal forces.
12. CARNIF_070714_139.JPG: Camp Gauley: Used in battle re-enactments, these log breastworks stand near the site of the original Confederate entrenchments designated by General Floyd as Camp Gauley. The rebel fortifications consisted of several thousand feet of log breastworks, trenches, wooded palisades, and felled trees with sharpened branches. Although lightly manned with less than 2000 troops, Camp Gauley presented a formidable challenge to the Federal troops who had to approach across open ground.
13. CARNIF_070714_143.JPG: A Soldier's Recollection: "We promptly returned fire, at this time our cannon sent a fearful shot amongst them... Then commenced the fight in earnest. Boom went the cannon of our enemy, the large balls whistling over our heads, our men flat on the ground, .... Then came a terrible shot of shell, it burst and fell all around us; the bullets fell like rain whistling and whizzing over our heads and into the logs we lay behind." -- Capt. Robert Winn Snead, Co. F, 50th Va. Inf. CSA
14. CARNIF_070714_149.JPG: Old Ferry Road
Description of Subject Matter: From http://www.carnifexferrybattlefieldstatepark.com/ :
Nestled on the rim of the Gauley River Canyon near Summersville, West Virginia, Carnifex Ferry Battlefield State Park is an important Civil War battle site. On September 10, 1861 Union troops led by Brigadier General William S. Rosecrans engaged the Confederates and forced them to evacuate an entrenched position on the Henry Patterson Farm which overlooked Carnifex Ferry. The Confederate commander, Brigadier General John B. Floyd retreated across the ferry to the south side of the Gauley River and on eastward to Meadow Bluff near Lewisburg. This Civil War battle represented the failure of a Confederate drive to regain control of the Kanawha Valley. As a result, the movement for West Virginia statehood proceeded without serious threat from the Confederates.

September 10, 1861:
Learning of Col. Erastus Tyler’s rout at Kessler’s Cross Lanes, Brig. Gen. William S. Rosecrans moved three brigades south from Clarksburg to support him. On the afternoon of September 10, he advanced against Brig. Gen. John Floyd’s camps at Carnifex Ferry. Darkness halted several hours’ fighting. The strength of the Union artillery convinced Floyd to retreat during the night. Floyd blamed his defeat on his co-commander Brig. Gen. Henry Wise, contributing to further dissension in the Confederate ranks.
The above was from http://www.cr.nps.gov/hps/abpp/battles/wv006.htm
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