User:TwoScars/sandbox

The Battle of Cloyd's Mountain occurred in Pulaski County, Virginia, on May 9, 1864, during the American Civil War. The fight has also been called the Battle of Cloyd's Farm. A Union Army division led by Brigadier General George Crook defeated a Confederate Army consisting of three regiments, one battalion, and Confederate Home Guard. The Confederate force was led by Brigadier General Albert G. Jenkins and Colonel John McCausland. Although the intense fighting in this battle lasted for less than one hour, it was southwestern Virginia's largest fight of the Civil War.

Additional Confederate forces arrived at a nearby railroad depot after the major portion of the fighting was completed, and they enabled the Confederate men to escape. On the next day, skirmishing erupted at a Virginia&Tennessee Railroad bridge located about ten miles east of the original battlefield. This fighting was essentially an artillery duel, and its casualties are included in totals for both sides. Confederate forces eventually fled further east, and the railroad bridge was burned by Crook's men.

The Battle of Cloyd's Mountain was a Confederate attempt to prevent an attack on the Virginia&Tennessee Railroad. That railroad, like the Virginia Central Railroad, was important to the Confederacy for moving troops and supplies. Although Union forces burned the bridge and destroyed portions of the railroad track, the damage was repaired in less than one month. As part of the greater plan, a Union force led by Brigadier General William W. Averell concurrently attempted to attack salt and lead mines connected to the railroad, but was stopped in the Battle of Cove Mountain on May 10. Despite Averell's lack of success against the mines, he diverted Confederate troops away from Crook. Major General Franz Sigel, in another part of the same plan, was unsuccessful in attacking the Virginia Central Railroad. He was defeated on May 15 in the Battle of New Market, and he was subsequently relieved of command.

Background
During March 1864, Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant became commander of all Union armed forces. Grant's strategy in Virginia was to attack the strongest Confederate Army, Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, from multiple fronts. The Union's Army of the Potomac would target Lee's army directly, while another Union force would attack Lee and the city of Richmond from the east. In western Virginia, the railroads that supplied Lee's army were Union targets, including the Virginia&Tennessee Railroad and the Virginia Central Railroad. This would cause Lee to send troops, that could be defending Richmond, to western Virginia to defend the railroads.

Grant ordered Major General Franz Sigel to advance south in the Shenandoah Valley to Staunton, Virginia, to attack the Virginia Central Railroad. Sigel began his part of the plan on April29, and he departed from Martinsburg, West Virginia. Grant ordered Brigadier General George Crook to attack the Virginia&Tennessee Railroad Railroad, including its Dublin Depot and a bridge over the New River. From there, Crook would form a junction with Sigel at Staunton and advance to Lynchburg. Crook began making preparations in Charleston, West Virginia. By the end of April his troops were assembled further south in Fayetteville, and they began moving toward their destination on May3.

Crook took an infantry division and began moving toward Dublin Deport. He sent a smaller two-brigade cavalry force, commanded by Brigadier General William W. Averell, to attack the Virginia&Tennessee Railroad Railroad further west from Crook's destination. Averell's goal was to disable a salt works located in a town called Saltville. During 1864, this salt works produced an estimated two thirds of the salt used by the Confederacy. Another potential target for Averell was the Austin lead mine in southern Wythe County. The lead mine produced about one-third of the lead consumed by the Confederacy, and it was shipped to Richmond, Knoxville, and Chattanooga where it was used to manufacture bullets.

Virginia and Tennessee Railroad
Using data from 1861, the Virginia&Tennessee Railroad was 204 mi long and connected Lynchburg, Virginia, to Bristol at the Virginia–Tennessee border. Additional railroads could be used from Lynchburg to move east to Richmond, and railroads connecting to Bristol could be used to move west to Knoxville, Chattanooga, Memphis, and Corinth. In western Virginia, an eight-mile (13 km) branch line north of the main line connected a salt works in Saltville, Virginia, to Glade Spring on the main line. Rolling stock for the Virginia&Tennessee in 1861 consisted of 39 locomotives, 27 passenger cars, 14 mail and baggage cars, and 365 freight cars that were box cars or flat cars. Because of equipment shortages, at least one locomotive and over ten freight cars were loaned to the railroad.

President Abraham Lincoln called the Virginia&Tennessee Railroad the "gut of the Confederacy". An attempt to attack the railroad a nearby lead mine near Wytheville, Virginia, known as the Wytheville Raid, was made in 1863. Confederate leadership considered that mission a failure, since the limited damage to the railroad line was repaired in "less than an hour". Grant regarded the railroad as "one of the most important lines connecting the Confederate armies". When Grant met with Crook in March, he emphasized that he wanted the railroad's infrastructure destroyed in multiple places. The Virginia & Tennessee carried Confederate soldiers and supplies both east and west. The railroad was also an important transporter of food from southwest Virginia to soldiers and civilians in the east, although some was transported west.

Potential Union targets along the railroad line were the Saltville salt works west in Smyth County and the lead mines at Austinville (south of Wytheville) in Wythe County. Further east from Wytheville was a regional Confederate Army headquarters at the Dublin Depot near Newbern, Virginia. Dublin was also the home of an instruction camp for Confederate recruits, and it was the commissary and quartermaster center for southwestern Virginia. East of the headquarters was a large railroad bridge across the New River. The bridge was 780 ft long, and it was constructed with timber on stone pylons.

Union
Crook's force was the 2nd Infantry Division of the Department of West Virginia. It was also known as the Kanawha Division. The division consisted of three brigades of mostly infantry and dismounted cavalry, plus two batteries, that totaled 6,155 men. Crook was experienced and his men were confident in his abilities. A 400-man detachment of cavalry was added to his 1st Brigade while they were preceding to their target destination, which increased the size of the force to 6,555. The 1st Brigade was commanded by a future president of the United States, Rutherford B. Hayes. The brigade's 23rd Ohio Infantry included another future president, William McKinley.

Crook begins
In addition to sending Averell's cavalry to Saltville, Crook had additional plans to confuse the Confederate Army. He sent the 5th West Virginia Infantry, led by Blazer's Scouts, east on the Kanawha Turnpike toward Lewisburg. The infantry band played during the march, and at night huge bonfires burned. This deception worked, as the Confederates first believed an entire division was moving toward Lewisburg.

Crook's main force began moving on May 2. It marched south toward Raleigh Court House (Beckley) and then Wyoming Court House (Oceana). The major difficulty in the march was cold and wet weather plus trees that had been chopped down to obstruct the roads. Crook took steps to conceal his movement. A small cavalry force led the expedition, and videttes rode on the main force's right and left to prevent bushwhacker/snipers from harassing the troops. Trees were burned as the troops moved over the mountains to provide a smokescreen that concealed the size and movement of Crook's force.

Breckinridge reacts
Confederate Major General John C. Breckinridge was commander of the Department of Western Virginia. He had been appointed to this position earlier in the year. A former vice president of the United States under the Buchanan administration, he was experienced and skilled in military affairs. His headquarters were in Dublin. His department was responsible for all of Virginia west of the Blue Ridge Mountains and south of Staunton, the southern portion of West Virginia, and eastern Tennessee. He did not have enough troops to protect his vast and mountainous territory. His priorities were to protect the Saltville salt mines, the Austinville lead mines, and the Virginia&Tennessee Railroad.

On May 1, Lee informed Breckinridge that it appeared that Union troops commanded by Averell were planning to attack Staunton (Virginia Central Railroad) or the Virginia&Tennessee Railroad. Lee mistakenly thought that Staunton was the main target, and movements in the Kanawha Valley were deceptions. However, Brigadier General John H. Morgan and his brigade were relieved from duty in eastern Tennessee and ordered to report to Breckinridge. Morgan's cavalry would assist in the protection of Saltville and Wytheville. More probes were ordered by Breckinridge, and on May 3 Brigadier General John Echols reported that the Union attacks would be on Saltville and the Virginia&Tennessee Railroad. Breckinridge moved troops to Jeffersonville (Tazewell County, north of Saltville). Other troops were shifted to Princeton (Mercer County, northeast of Tazewell County) and Pearisburg (Giles County on road to Dublin Depot).

Davis and Lee change Breckinridge's priorities
In correspondence dated May 4, Breckinridge was told by Confederate president Jefferson Davis to protect Staunton and communicate with General Lee. Breckinridge began moving most of his troops to Staunton via the Virginia Central Railroad's western terminal at Jackson River Depot. Brigadier General Albert G. Jenkins, headquartered at the Narrows in Giles County, was left behind with a small command of scattered troops. Brigadier General William E. "Grumble" Jones, who was headquartered at Glade Spring where a branch line of the Virginia&Tennessee moved north to Saltville, was notified by Breckinridge of the situation.

Crook moves closer
John McCausland's Brigade, which had arrived at Princeton in Mercer County on May 4, left on the next day to begin its move to Staunton. When Crook's Union infantry arrived at Princeton on May 6, he encountered a small cavalry company that fled after token resistance—instead of McCausland's Brigade. After capturing the town, Crook's men camped overnight, and departed on the next day at 4:00am. Crook had two choices for his route to the railroad. He believed that the most direct route might be guarded, so he took an indirect route on a rougher road through the Allegheny Mountains and Rocky Gap.

The Union capture of Princeton worried Confederate leadership because the town was considered an important point for guarding major roads west of the New River that lead to the Virginia&Tennessee Railroad, including the salt works and lead mines. Jones was also concerned about Crook's latest route through Rocky Gap, since that could put Crook in Jenkins' rear at the Narrows—and Jenkins had only 200 fighters. He had received his information about Crook's location from McCausland, and requested that Breckinridge allow McCausland's Brigade to remain with Jenkins for a day or two longer. On the evening of May 6, McCausland stopped his men from boarding the train in Dublin. He removed his artillery from the train and made camp at Dublin. By May 7, Jenkins was concerned enough that he requested two trains to be positioned at Dublin in case troops need to be moved or supplies need to be evacuated.

Confederate
On May 7, Jenkins moved to Dublin Depot. He decided he would intercept Crook on the Dublin–Pearisburg Pike at Cloyd's Farm. This site is at the base of the south side of Cloyd's Mountain. To get to Jenkins' men, Union soldiers would have to descend the south side of the mountain and cross an open area with a creek known as Back Creek. The creek was 10 ft to 20 ft in width, and 1 ft to 4 ft in depth.

In addition to having McCausland's Brigade, on May 7 Jenkins pulled the Ringgold Artillery Battery from the train in Dublin. This battery was sent on the next day to a series of bluffs south of Cloyd's Mountain. Home guard and local volunteers from Christiansburg and Dublin were also deployed. Among the volunteers was farmer James M. Cloyd.

Union
On the evening of May 7, Crook's troops camped on Wolf Creek. On the next day, they march 24 mi along the creek until they reached Shannon's Bridge. The bridge was located at the junction of the Giles Court House, Princeton, and Dublin roads. It was about 10 mi from Dublin Depot. At that time they were joined by a detachment of 400 cavalrymen led by Colonel J. H. Oley. Crook believed that Confederate troops would be waiting for them at the summit of the mountain on the road to Dublin, and more troops would be waiting for him on the south side.