June 3rd, 1861 - The Battle of Philippi

Conflict: American Civil War

Combatants: Confederates vs. Federals

Location: West Virginia (USA)

Outcome: Federal victory

On June 3rd of 1861, the young Union Major General George McClellan defeated Confederates at Philippi under command of General Robert Selden Garnett. McClellan, with 20,000 soldiers, had pushed toward Maryland from Ohio while Garnett, with 5,000 Confederates, was probing northward. The two armies met in modern West Virginia and McClellan executed an envelopment during the night, routing the Southerners and killing fifteen. The Federals would suffer only two wounded in casualties. A week later McClellan would defeat the Confederates again at Rich Mountain.

Union Advance at Philippi by unknown artist

Points of Interest:

• Philippi was the first land battle of the American Civil War.

• Robert Garnett was killed the following month at Carrick's Ford. He was the first general officer killed in the American Civil War.

George B McClellan by Mathew Benjamin Brady

Robert Selden Garnett by an unknown photographer

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Sources:

Bowman, John S. (Ed.) (1983). The Civil War Almanac. New York: World Almanac.

Catton, Bruce (1955). This Hallowed Ground. Kingsport, Tennessee: Kingsport Press, Inc.

Dupuy, Trevor N., Johnson, Curt, & Bongard, David L. (1992). The Harper's Encyclopedia of Military Biography. New York: Castle Books (HarperCollins).

Dupuy, R. Ernest & Dupuy, Trevor N. (1993). The Harper's Encyclopedia of Military History. New York: HarperCollins.

Hogue, James M. & McPherson, James M. (2009). Ordeal By Fire. New York: MaGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Long, E.B & Long, Barbara (1971). The Civil War Day by Day: An Almanac 1861-1865. New York: De Capo Press, Inc.