Corricks Ford Battlefield

<i>"They have not given me an adequate force. I can do nothing. They have sent me to my death."</i><br><b>Gen. Robert S. Garnet CSA</b><br><br><i>"I have made a very clean sweep of it."</i><br><b>Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan USA</b><br><br>Confederate Gen. Robert S. Garnett took command of the Army of the Northwest in this region after the "Philippi Races," first land battle of the Civil War. By June 16, 1861, Garnett's 5,300 Confederates dug in at Rich Mountain and Laurel Hill, more than 25 miles south, to stop an invasion by Union Gen. George McClellan.<br><br>McClellan's victory at Rich Mountain on July 11 forced Gen. Garnett to abandon Laurel Hill. That night, Garnett and 3,500 Confederates marched south toward Beverly. Fearing a trap, they turned northeast in a daring bid to escape.<br><br>Union Gen. Thomas Morris' brigade gave chase. Slowed by muddy roads and river crossings, Gen. Garnett's army made a gallant stand to rescue their wagons less than on mile south on Shavers Fork.<br><br>Breaking off the fight, they retreated downstream to nearby Corricks Ford, where Garnett was killed on July 13, 1861 - the first Civil War general to fall. His Confederates fled in disarray to Highland County, Virginia. Events here made Gen. McClellan a national hero and bolstered West Virginia statehood in 1863.