Fayetteville, West Virginia
May 1863

On May 17, the Thirteenth had been ordered to Gauley Bridge in Fayette County, and on May 19, was ordered to Fayetteville where they reported to Colonel Carr B. White, who was commanding the forces there. The regiment was "immediately assigned a position in line of battle."³¹

On May 18, Confederate General John McCausland (with three regiments of infantry, one battalion of cavalry, and a battery of six guns), attacked White's forces in hopes of defeating them and moving on the Kanawha Valley salt mines.³² At the time of the attack, White's forces consisted of the Twelfth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, two companies of the Second West Virginia Cavalry, and two sections of Captain J.R. McMullin's battery. He was later reinforced by three additional regiments of infantry.

When McCausland attacked, Colonel Jonathan D. Hines, commanding the Twelfth Ohio, sent a force of four companies under Captain Robert Wilson to repel them on the Raleigh Road. Wilson planted his men at Blake's Farm, seven miles from Fayetteville at the intersection of the Raleigh and Paint Creek Roads. During the night, McCausland circled around Wilson and the next morning,  May 19, began firing on both his front and rear. Wilson was forced to retreat back to camp. McCausland followed and around noon opened artillery fire, which he kept up until dark. McMullin's battery returned the fire, but what damages he had inflicted could not be assessed as McCausland was shielded by timber and underbrush.³³

Very early the next morning, May 20, the enemy's artillery began shelling the position held by the Thirteenth, and the regiment "lay under their fire until 1:30 P.M. when the enemy retreated."³⁴ Upon the enemy's retreat, the Thirteenth was part of the brigade sent in pursuit. Colonel Brown reported that at 8:00 the next morning "the enemy was brought to bay for a short time and some shots were exchanged between the advance of this Brigade and the Rebel artillery and riflemen."³⁵ McCausland's forces, however, were again found to be in retreat, and the pursuing troops followed, "occasionally skirmishing with the rear of the enemy for 10 miles to within one mile of Raleigh C.H."³⁶ Colonel White's forces then began shelling the town, but received no return fire from the enemy.

The next morning, Companies B, F, and G of the Thirteenth, under Lieutenant Colonel James R. Hall, were sent into the town as skirmishers, but found it evacuated. Later that day, the regiment was ordered to return to camp at Fayetteville, where it arrived on the morning of May 23.³⁷ Hayes' only mention of the action at Fayetteville was in his diary on May 25: "The Rebels don't make much progress toward getting us out. We are tolerably well fortified here [at Camp White] and at Fayette. At the latter place they tried it, banging away 3 or 4 days and doing nothing."³⁸

On May 25, the Thirteenth was ordered to return to Camp White, and on May 27 to Coalsmouth. There they stayed until June 1, when Companies A, C, D, F, and H were transferred back to Hurricane Bridge, and Companies B, E, and G were sent back to Mud Bridge. On June 29, the entire regiment, with the exception of Companies A and H, were again ordered to Camp White. On July 2, Company B moved to Point Pleasant; on July 6, Company F moved to Loup Creek, near Gauley Bridge; and on July 8, the remainder of the regiment was ordered to camp on the south side of Cotton Hill (a mountain located south of Gauley Bridge, directly across the waters from the junction of the New and Gauley Rivers). On July 10, Company F arrived at the Cotton Hill camp, and on July 12, the regiment was ordered back to Fayetteville.³⁹ (See Figure 5, below.)

Figure 5 - Posts and Camps of the Thirteenth West Virginia Volunteer Infantry - Mid-Late 1863

Next: "Expedition to Piney in Search of Loring," July 1863
Back: On Guard in the Kanawha Valley, April-May 1863
Home

Copyright © Kimberly Ball Hieronimus Brownlee, 1998-2003. All rights reserved. This work may not be reproduced in any manner for any media without the express written agreement of the author.