First Land Battle

Barbour County · U. S. 119 and U. S. 250 north of Philippi. · location approximate

First land battle between the North and South here, June 3, 1861. Confederates under Colonel Porterfield were dislodged by Federal troops from General McClellan's army under Colonel Kelley. The old covered bridge here was used by both armies.

1937 text, presented as a historical document. It uses the period's terms for Native and Black people, and tells frontier history from the settler's side.

David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

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Marker data: State Road Commission of West Virginia, West Virginia Historic and Scenic Highway Markers (1937), text by Ross B. Johnston

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