The Battle of Bulltown was a small skirmish fought during the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
near
Bulltown in
Braxton County, West Virginia
Braxton County is a county in the central part of the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 12,447. The county seat is Sutton. The county was formed in 1836 from parts of Lewis, Kanawha, and Nicholas counties a ...
on October 13, 1863.
Background
In the fall of 1863,
William Lowther Jackson
William Lowther Jackson Jr. (February 3, 1825 – March 26, 1890) was an American lawyer, Democratic Party (United States), Democratic politician, slaveholder and jurist who became the Lieutenant Governor of Virginia prior to the American Civil Wa ...
, the cousin of
"Stonewall" Jackson, led a raiding party of 800 men into central
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...
to capture the strategic "fort" at
Bulltown which overlooked an important crossing of the
Little Kanawha River
The Little Kanawha River is a tributary of the Ohio River, 169 mi (269 km) long,Gilchrist-Stalnaker, Joy Gregoire. 2006. "Little Kanawha River." ''The West Virginia Encyclopedia''. Ken Sullivan, editor. Charleston, WV: West Virgi ...
. The goal was to cut Federal communications between the Greenbrier and Kanawha Valleys.
The
Union
Union commonly refers to:
* Trade union, an organization of workers
* Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets
Union may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Music
* Union (band), an American rock group
** ''Un ...
garrison of roughly 400 men was commanded by Captain William Mattingly. The Union troops manned a "fort" of makeshift log barricades and shallow trenches which can still be seen today.
Battle
Jackson approached Bulltown secretly. He divided his forces in an attempt to converge on the Union position from two different directions. The
Confederates advanced at 4:30am on October 13. They quickly captured the Federal pickets but failed to take the main garrison by surprise.
The Confederates advanced against the fort and a drawn out skirmish lasted until about 4:30pm, almost twelve hours after the battle began. Twice, Jackson sent a flag of truce with a demand to surrender to Captain Simpson, asking him to surrender, but Simpson answered back that "he would fight them until Hell froze over, and if he had to retreat he would retreat on ice."
Jackson eventually retreated back towards the Greenbrier Valley. Casualties were very light considering the length of the battle. On the Union side there were no fatalities. Captain Mattingly was wounded in the thigh and there were some other slight wounds in the Federal camp. The Confederates lost eight killed and a like number wounded.
One civilian, Moses Cunningham, who owned the farm on which the majority of the battle took place, was wounded when he ran out of his house shouting "Hurrah for Jeff Davis."
Aftermath
The battle was the last significant Confederate offensive in West Virginia and the Confederate goals of disrupting the Federal communications were thwarted.
Battle of Bulltown
USACE. Accessed April 4, 2012.
See also
*Burnsville Lake
Burnsville Lake is both a recreational and flood control reservoir on Little Kanawha River located southeast of Burnsville in Braxton County, West Virginia. Burnsville Lake was authorized by the U.S. Congress in the Flood Control Act of 1938.
Co ...
, a reservoir impounding the Little Kanawha River at Bulltown
*Union Civil War Fortification
Union Civil War Fortification, also known as Bulltown Civil War Site, is a historic archaeological site located near Napier, Braxton County, West Virginia. The site relates to the American Civil War Battle of Bulltown, that took place on October 1 ...
, listed on the National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in 1984.
References
Bibliography
* Hardway, Ronald V. ''On Our Own Soil: William Lowther Jackson and the Civil War in West Virginia's Mountains'' Quarrier Press. October 3, 2003,
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bulltown, Battle Of
1863 in West Virginia
Conflicts in 1863
Battles of the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War
Union victories of the American Civil War
Battles of the American Civil War in West Virginia
Braxton County, West Virginia
October 1863 events