Camp Elkwater
Gateway to the Tygart Valley
Following success at Rich Mountain in July 1861, Federal troops under Gen Joseph Reynolds built Camp Elkwater to deter Confederates from returning. Fortifications here blocked the narrow valley floor and a turnpike leading to the Virginia Central Railroad. Erected in tandem with a fortress on Cheat Mountain, Camp Elkwater was the key to defense of the Tygart Valley.
Nearly 3,000 Federal troops were present when Confederates under Gen. Robert E. Lee threatened on September 12, 1861. A Confederate assault fizzled. Plagued by rain and cold weather, Lee left the area in humiliation. Federal troops remained at Camp Elkwater until spring, 1862.
“We are in a lovely little valley on a fine clear trout stream, with high mountains on all sides and large trees over us. A perfect camp, perfectly protected by entrenchments…Several regiments are in sight, and the enemy under Lee so near that our outposts have fights with his daily.” – Major Rutherford B. Hayes, 23rd Ohio Infantry U.S.A. A future U.S. President, Hayes served here with other notables.
“When morning broke, I could see the enemy’s tents on Valley River, at the point of the Huttonsville road just below me. It was a tempting sight.” - Gen. Robert E. Lee
Lt. Col. John Augustine Washington, C.S.A. Great grandnephew of the first president, and the last Washington to own Mt. Vernon, he was killed on Sept. 13, 1861, while scouting near camp Elkwater.
Marker is on Seneca Trail (Route 219) 0.4 miles south of Kumbrabow Forest Road (County Route 219/16), on the right when traveling south.
Courtesy hmdb.org
