Laurel Mountain, also called Laurel Hill, is a long

ridge A ridge or a mountain ridge is a geographical feature consisting of a chain of mountains or hills that form a continuous elevated crest for an extended distance. The sides of the ridge slope away from the narrow top on either side. The line ...

in north-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 ...

, US. Along with Rich Mountain to the south, it is considered to be the westernmost ridge of the

Allegheny Mountains The Allegheny Mountain Range (; also spelled Alleghany or Allegany), informally the Alleghenies, is part of the vast Appalachian Mountain Range of the Eastern United States and Canada and posed a significant barrier to land travel in less devel ...

and the boundary between the Alleghenies and the

Allegheny Plateau The Allegheny Plateau , in the United States, is a large dissected plateau area of the Appalachian Mountains in western and central New York, northern and western Pennsylvania, northern and western West Virginia, and eastern Ohio. It is divided ...

Geography

Running northeast to southwest through

Preston Preston is a place name, surname and given name that may refer to: Places England *Preston, Lancashire, an urban settlement **The City of Preston, Lancashire, a borough and non-metropolitan district which contains the settlement **County Boro ...

Tucker Tucker may refer to: Places United States * Tucker, Arkansas * Tucker, Georgia * Tucker, Mississippi * Tucker, Missouri * Tucker, Utah, ghost town * Tucker County, West Virginia Outer space * Tucker (crater), a small lunar impact crater in ...

, Barbour, and Randolph Counties, the ridge forms portions of the borders between them. It stretches for about from the

Cheat River The Cheat River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed August 15, 2011 tributary of the Monongahela River in eastern West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania in the Uni ...

(near the town of Manheim) in the north to the

Tygart Valley River The Tygart Valley River — also known as the Tygart River — is a principal tributary of the Monongahela River, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed Aug ...

(near the town of Aggregates) in the south. It achieves its highest elevation at the Eliot Benchmark (3,157 ft/962 m) about north of Pleasure Valley. The mountain is formed by the same structural fold in the Earth's crust which continues north from Laurel as Briery Mountains (north of

) and south as Rich Mountain (south of the

). Although it is a long folded ridge like Backbone Mountain, running northeast/southwest, similar to the parallel Apppalachan Ridge and Valley Section further east, it is not part of the Ridge and Valley Area. Like Backbone Mountain, it is part of the Allegheny Mountain region to the west of the Ridge-and-Valley area. There is a short break, then north of the Pennsylvania state line, it continues northeast as Laurel Hill.

History

Laurel Mountain's name was derived from the prolific "great laurel" (''

Rhododendron maximum ''Rhododendron maximum'' — its common names include great laurel, great rhododendron, rosebay rhododendron, American rhododendron and big rhododendron — is a species of ''Rhododendron'' native to the Appalachians of eastern North America, fr ...

'') which the earliest pioneers found there in profusion the late 1700s. After the June 3, 1861

Battle of Philippi The Battle of Philippi was the final battle in the Wars of the Second Triumvirate between the forces of Mark Antony and Octavian (of the Second Triumvirate) and the leaders of Julius Caesar's assassination, Brutus and Cassius in 42 BC, at ...

(by some reckonings the first land battle of the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polic ...

), the Confederate forces, having been routed by the Union Army in

Philippi Philippi (; grc-gre, Φίλιπποι, ''Philippoi'') was a major Greek city northwest of the nearby island, Thasos. Its original name was Crenides ( grc-gre, Κρηνῖδες, ''Krenides'' "Fountains") after its establishment by Thasian col ...

, retreated south. Confederate General Robert S. Garnett moved about 3,500 troops to Laurel Mountain. The Confederates made camp at the foot of the mountain near the Laurel Mountain Road (today a winding single lane dirt road that crosses the mountain and connects the towns of

Belington Belington is a town in Barbour County, West Virginia, United States, situated along the Tygart Valley River. The population was 1,804 as of the 2020 census. History Belington was founded in 1766–70. Originally it was known as the Barker Settl ...

and Elkins). On July 6, General George B. McClellan ordered General Thomas A. Morris to advance from Philippi to Belington with about 5,000 Union troops. Skirmishing began on July 7 and lasted for five days (the "Battle of Laurel Hill"), with the Union routing the Confederate troops. Upon hearing of the simultaneous defeat of forces at Rich Mountain, General Garnett retreated with his troops to Corrick's Ford near Parsons where he soon became the first general officer to be killed in the war. Later that summer, General Robert E. Lee maneuvered against Brig. Gen. Joseph J. Reynolds at

Cheat Mountain Cheat Mountain is an exceptionally high and rugged ridge situated in the Allegheny Mountains of eastern West Virginia, USA. It is about long (north to south) and more than five miles (8 km) wide at its widest. Its highest point is at its sou ...

and in the

Tygart Valley The Tygart Valley River — also known as the Tygart River — is a principal tributary of the Monongahela River, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed Aug ...

. He called off the attack and eventually withdrew to Valley Head on September 17. In October, he renewed operations against Laurel Mountain with the troops of Floyd and Loring, but operations were called off owing to communication and logistical difficulties. Lee was recalled to

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a ...

on October 30 after achieving little in western Virginia and with his reputation diminished. In recent years, production of a "Battle of Laurel Hill Reenactment" has been undertaken at the site of the

Laurel Hill Battlefield Laurel may refer to: Plants * Lauraceae, the laurel family * Laurel (plant), including a list of trees and plants known as laurel People * Laurel (given name), people with the given name * Laurel (surname), people with the surname * Laurel (m ...

on its anniversary dates. In 2004, the City of

assumed ownership of of the old camp and battlefield.

Wind turbines

The

AES Corporation The AES Corporation is an American utility and power generation company. It owns and operates power plants, which it uses to generate and sell electricity to end users and intermediaries like utilities and industrial facilities. AES is headquart ...

has constructed

wind turbine A wind turbine is a device that converts the kinetic energy of wind into electrical energy. Hundreds of thousands of large turbines, in installations known as wind farms, now generate over 650 gigawatts of power, with 60 GW added each year. W ...

s on Laurel Mountain. The wind farm opened in October 2011 with 61 turbines stretched across 12 miles. AES can generate up to 98 megawatts of electricity with this facility. A notable feature of the project is the largest battery installation attached to the power grid in the continental United States. The purpose of the 1.3 million batteries is to tame the wind, but only slightly. AES states the batteries will be a shock absorber of sorts, making variations in wind energy production a little less jagged and the farm's output more useful to the grid.Wald, Matthew L. (October 28, 2011)
"Batteries at a Wind Farm Help Control Output"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', p. B3.

References

Citations

Other sources

* Cox, Connie Loraine, ''Our Place In History: Southwestern Preston County, West Virginia'', Headline Books,

Terra Alta, WV Terra Alta is a town in eastern Preston County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 1,415 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Morgantown metropolitan area. History Terra Alta was originally called Portland, and under the latter ...

, 2005. (Written and oral histories, photographs)

External links

Battle of Laurel Hill Website

Laurel Mountain Preservation Association website
{{Mountains of West Virginia Landforms of Barbour County, West Virginia Landforms of Preston County, West Virginia Landforms of Randolph County, West Virginia Landforms of Tucker County, West Virginia Ridges of West Virginia Allegheny Mountains