Clarksburg Defenses
Protecting the Town and Railroad
On April 20, 1863, Confederate Gens. William E. “Grumble” Jones and John D. Imboden began a raid from Virginia through present-day West Virginia against the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Taking separate routes, they later reported that they marched 1,100 miles, fought several engagements, captured 100 Federals, seized about 1,200 horses and 4,000 cattle, and burned 4 turnpike bridges, more than 20 railroad bridges, 2 trains, and 150,000 barrels of oil. Most bridges were soon repaired. Confederate losses were slight. By May 26, both commands had returned to Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley.
The trenches here and on Pinnicinick Hill were constructed for the protection of Clarksburg and the vital North Western Virginia Railroad. The line ran west from Grafton, where it joined the Baltimore an Ohio Railroad, through Clarksburg to Parkersburg. On May 30, 1861, three companies of the 14th Ohio Infantry arrived in Clarksburg by train from Ohio, the first Union troops to do so. The 8th Indiana Infantry soon arrived and on Jun 19 began to help build fortifications on Lowndes and Pinnicinick Hills.The soldiers did not live in the trenches but rather in camps in town. One of the camps was in the current Glen Elk area and another was in the area of the Odd Fellows Cemetery on Chestnut Street.
When in April 1863 Confederate Gen. William E. “Grumble” Jones and Gen. John D Imboden raided present-day West Virginia, Jones approached Clarksburg from the north and Imboden from the east. Approximately 5,000 Union troops in the area retreated to the relative safety of Clarksburg’s fortifications. The commanding general, Benjamin S. Roberts, sent out a cavalry company on a reconnaissance but otherwise made no effort to attack the Confederates. Jones, finding the defenses of Clarksburg too strong, moved on to Bridgeport, where his men burned two railroad bridges and destroyed a locomotive.
Marker is on Kiwanis Drive.
Courtesy hmdb.org
