Laurel Hill
Confederate Encampment, 1861
Soldiers of the Confederate Army of the Northwest occupied this ground from June 16 to July 11, 1861. Led by General Robert S. Garnett, a West Point instructor of tactics, they dug fortifications on the Mustoe farm to block the Beverly-Fairmont Turnpike, an important north-south road.
General Garnett's headquarters tent stood in a maple grove nearby. Here raw volunteers went through rigorous drill and instruction. These Confederates consisted of infantry, cavalry, and artillery, mostly from Virginia.
A notable exception was the First Georgia Infantry Regiment. More than 1,000 strong and led by a snappy fife and drum corps, they boasted imported uniforms, silver settings, and slaves to attend every need. One Virginia colonel thought they came "rather for a holiday than for real war."
"I feel as if I was in an unknown land, being not accustomed to the continual roll of drums, martial law, and the gleam of bayonets."
John B. Pendleton, 23rd Virginia Infantry C.S.A.
"On a bench extending from the side of Laurel Hill, they have constructed a bomb-proof redoubt of logs and on the left flank they have three long rifle pits... Four old fashioned cannon, commanding the front and side approaches, are mounted in the fort... The timber in front of their position a half mile square has been felled, so that the country, excepting the roads, which are enfiladed by their pieces, is almost impassable."
Correspondent to the Cincinnati Commercial
Marker can be reached from Laurel Mountain Road (County Route 15), on the right when traveling east.
Courtesy hmdb.org
