Battle of Phillipi

Max Bode

Battle of Philippi

        When going to Philippi, West Virginia, my goal was not initially to see a historical moment in American history. I was touring Alderson Broaddus University when I was introduced to this land mark. I visited in late January early in the morning although, the real battle took place in June at dawn in 1861. It was early on a cold morning when I was standing on the mountain looking over the city of Philippi and hearing that this was where the first land battle of the Civil War had taken place and that it was a union victory where very few casualties occurred. I also learned that this was the first place battlefield amputations took place during the war. This historical site fits into the context of this class because this was the first inland battle of the Civil War in America which was between the north, known as the union, which was anti- slavery, and the south,  known as the Confederate States of America, which were proslavery. I learned some things about the Civil War through my visit to Philippi and some further reading I did about what I had heard.

        The small town of Philippi was not meant to be a military strong hold for either union or confederate troops. They really ended up in Philippi because north approximately 25 miles was the town of Grafton, which had the only continuous east west railroad connecter. The railroads played an important part in the Civil War especially for transporting supplies.  What is now West Virginia was then a part of the confederate state of Virginia, and confederate troops were trying to maintain control of the railroad at Grafton.  General Robert E. Lee expected loyal Virginians to join the confederate troops in Grafton, but that never happened, and Union troops drove the confederates out to take control of the railroad.

        The Significance of the battle was that in northern Virginia, many citizens were opposed to slavery, and this battle let the confederate commander Robert E Lee know that he underestimated the loyalty to the north of some parts of Virginia. In the hilly country of western Virginia, more people were small, independent farmers, so they were not as supportive of slavery and secession from the Union as the large landholders of southern Virginia who were more dependent on slave labor.  The Confederate army withdrew troops from the area, and later it would become the state of West Virginia. This battle had few fatalities on either side, but it marked the first inland battle of the civil war.