The Confederate troops left by
Garnett and
Pegram in
western Virginia in the summer of 1861 were placed in charge of
Gen. Robert E. Lee.
At the beginning of August he was at the head of 16,000 fighting men.
John B. Floyd, the late
Secretary of War, was placed in command of the
Confederates in the region of the
Gauley River.
From him much was expected, for he promised much.
He was to drive
General Cox out of the
Kanawha Valley, while
Lee should disperse the army of 10,000 men under
Rosecrans at
Clarksburg, on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and so open a way for an invading force of Confederates into
Maryland,
Pennsylvania, and
Ohio.
Early in September
Rosecrans marched southward in search of
Floyd.
He scaled the
Gauley Mountains, and on the 10th found
Floyd at
Carnifex Ferry, on the
Gauley River, 8 miles from
Summersville, the capital of
Nicholas county, Va. Already a detachment of
Floyd's men had surprised and dispersed (Aug. 26, 1861.) some Nationals, under
Col. E. B. Taylor, not far from
Summersville.
At the summit of
Gauley Mountain Rosecrans encountered
Floyd's scouts and drove them before him; and on Sept. 10,
Floyd's camp having been reconnoitred by
General Benham,
Rosecrans fell upon him with his whole force (chiefly
Ohio troops), and for three hours a desperate battle raged.
It ceased only when the darkness of night came on.
Rosecrans intended to renew it in the morning, and his troops lay on their arms that night.
Under cover of darkness,
Floyd stole away, and did not halt in his flight until he reached
Big Sewell Mountain, near
New River, 30 miles distant. The
battle at Carnifex Ferry was regarded as a substantial victory for the Nationals.
The latter lost fifteen killed and seventy wounded; the
Confederates lost one killed and ten wounded.
