jun 3, 1861 - Battle of Philippi / Phillipi Races (West Virginia)

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The Battle of Phillipi was not a great battle, but is famous for being the "first land battle of the Civil War", for its importance in the secession of the Western counties of Virginia, and for kickstarting General George B. McClellans career as the commander of the Army of the Potomac ("Battle of Phillipi", 2018).

Virginia seceded on May 23, 1861, and was now in the hands of the Confederacy, but the western Virginia counties garnered "independent-minded farmers [who] showed signs of resisting the new secessionist government." (Ward, Burns & Burns, 1990, p. 49).
It was Lincoln's goal to encourage this resistance, therefore sending an army to the western counties which was commanded by General George B. McClellan (Ward, Burns & Burns, 1990, p. 49).

Now Phillipi was not of much importance to either side, but what was up ahead, 25 miles north of Philipi did: "the juncture of the Parkersburg-Grafton Railroad and the Baltimore & Ohio [...] connecting the eastern states and the mid-west" (Thompson, 2015).

General Robert E. Lee ordered Colonel Porterfield, the Confederate commander in the area, to recruit forces in Grafton. He had a hard time doing so, as the area was very pro-Union. Eventually he came up with about (ill-armed) 800 men, a staggeringly low amount in comparison to the 3000 Union troops ("Philipi Races June 3 1861", 2018). Porterfield knew the odds were stacked against him and that there was not much to do but defend, so on May 26 he burned a few important bridges on the Ohio river, in the hopes of slowing down the Union army.

This provided a good opportunity for McClellan to take action, as he was ordered to await Virginia's final vote on seceding. Now that that had happened, and the important bridges were burned, McClellan issued Colonel Benjamin Franklin Kelley to move across the Ohio river to protect the lives of Union supporters in the western counties of Virginia ("Battle of Philipi", 2018).

When word got out to Porterfield that McClellan's forces were advancing in his direction, Porterfield had his men retreat to Phillipi, 17 miles south of Grafton. His intentions were to retreat further, to Beverly, on the morning of June 3 ("Battle of Philipi", 2018). On the night of June 2 to 3, Kelley's regiment of 1600 men was marching its way to the rear of Philipi, on a backroad adjacent to the river Philipi. At the same time, under Colonel Ebenezer Dumont, several Union regiments gathered and formed one regiment of 1400 men, marching their way in on the south side of Philipi. They caught the Confederates asleep, and the Confederates proved to be no match to the Union men who vastly outnumbered them. Some of the Confederates put up a fight, but a great number also fled, which gave the battle the nickname "Philipi Races".
There were no fatalities. Porterfield was exonerated for his crimes. Dumont and Kelley were promoted in rank.
Although McClellan had not been present, he was in charge of the mission and was praised throughout the North for its success ("Battle of Philipi", 2018).

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