By John A. Miller

The Kanawha Riflemen was a militia organization that began in 1856 under the command of Captain George Smith Patton. George Patton anticipated a war developing and started to organize the militia company known as the Kanawha Minutemen at Charleston, West Virginia. Patton was known as a strict disciplinarian who had a sharp mind for tactics. He held drills on a regular basis at the Old Mercer Military School in Joel Ruffner's Meadow, Charleston, West Virginia.

The Brooks Hall or the Assembly Room, as it is known today was where this formation took place. Privately financed, the Kanawha Minutemen’s’ ranks swelled with some of Charleston’s most prominent citizens. They consisted of men who were lawyers and also socially known throughout the Kanawha Valley region. Within two weeks company elections took place, officers were elected and the Kanawha Minutemen changed their name to the Kanawha Rifles. During a meeting in November of 1859, the Kanawha Rifles soon voted on a change of name to the Kanawha Riflemen.

Captain George Patton personally designed the uniforms that his men wore. The uniforms were similar in appearance to the Richmond Light Infantry Blues. The frock (over) coat was dark green with a cape and it was laced with black trim on the cuffs and collar. It featured a nine-button front, with epaulets of gold braid. The trousers were also dark green with a single black stripe down the leg for enlisted men, and a gold stripe for the officers. A wide brim slouch hat with ostrich feathers dangling down the side with the letters "KR" on the front completed the outfit. White Berlin gloves were worn to Charleston’s social events. The Kanawha Rifles, as resources state, were armed with the latest two band fifty-four caliber Mississippi rifle with a sword bayonet.

The men were highly disciplined and were regarded as the best militia company in the area. This was in part due to their social standing in the city of Charleston, where they were invited to social balls, dinners, parades, and other town events. On one occasion the Kanawha Riflemen were invited to attend a social ball in Ohio, where a fight almost broke out between an Ohio company and the Kanawha Riflemen. Due to the sharp discipline of Patton’s men, the Civil War almost started in 1858. They held dress parades and drills with an open invitation to the public to come out and watch their routine, as they would go through every command. This was a way for the riflemen to gain the support of the citizens that they would soon be protecting. During the John Brown Raid on Harper's Ferry in 1859, the governor of Virginia contacted the Mayor of Charleston, and requested that the Kanawha Riflemen be ready if the stand off had not come to an end.

The Coal River Rifles from Fayette County was an independent company under the command of Captain Lewis. It is believed the Coal River Rifles eventually evolved into the Kanawha Riflemen during the enlistment period of 1861. The information is very limited and although the company started in 1859, there is no record of their military duties during the Civil War. This would explain why the Kanawha Riflemen’s ranks swelled in the early part of 1859. However, the Coal River Rifles deserve their own spot in American history.

Upon entering the Confederate Army in June of 1861, as the 1st Kanawha Riflemen Regiment, the confederate regulations stated that their uniforms were too flashy in design. The new uniforms, as early as records show, was a light blue frock coat and dark gray jean wool trousers. Other uniforms such as the Cove Mountain Guards were navy blue with yellow striping on the cuffs, collar and the breast of the jacket. These uniforms were very similar to those of Hessian dragoons. Officers wore yellow chevrons with dark gray pants that had yellow stripes down the sides. The 22nd Virginia Infantry lost that appearance shortly after the war had started.

A description of the color of the uniforms it is best told by Captain Wm. F. Bahlmann: Submitted by R. Emmick

"The nucleus of the Fayette Rifles, Co., K, 22nd Virginia infantry volunteered on the 10th of May 1861. Although the company was named after the town of Fayetteville, it was not made up there, but came mostly from Loop creek country around Oak Hill and the Laurel creek section near Cotton Hill. There were four or five men from the town of Fayetteville.

The county court had appropriated $5,000 to clothe our company and the Mountain Cove guards from around where Ansted now stands. The ladies who were interested in our company gathered at the Methodist church at Fayetteville and made the clothes.

Our uniforms were a thing of beauty and joy forever. They consisted of light blue flannel jackets and dark grey pants. Although we were infantry they put yellow, or cavalry trimmings on us. The jackets had yellow stripes on the breasts and the pants had yellow stripes down the legs. They put sergeant chevrons on the officers and original markings on the sergeants. Nobody knew anything about the matter and those who thought they knew the most were mistaken"

As the Civil War began in western Virginia, the Kanawha Riflemen was reorganized under Captain George Patton and become company I of the 1st Kanawha Regiment in the General Henry Wise’s Army of Kanawha under the command of Colonel Christopher Tompkins. Their first baptism of fire came on July 16-17, 1861 at the Battle of Scary Creek. Confederates used this post for lookout duty and had a cannon stationed at the mouth of the Poca River where the Little Scary Creek emptied. The Kanawha River was located toward the west of the Confederate position.

During the final charge Captain George Patton was wounded in the shoulder and Captain Albert Jenkins took over command of the 22nd Virginia and realized that the Federals were falling back. Fearing that the Federals were going to regroup and make a counter attack, the Confederates left the field. The Confederates realized that the Federals were in full retreat and the 22nd Virginia was ordered back on the field and claim their first victory. Captain Patton had won the first major victory for the Confederates, and unfortunately, Captain Patton was left behind at Charleston, West Virginia to be treated for a wound he received. Shortly after his recovery, he became Lt. Colonel of the 22nd Virginia Infantry and became the commander after Colonel Tompkins resigned.

Upon hearing of the collapsed of the Confederates at Rich Mountain, General Henry Wise recalled all portions of his army to Gauley Bridge. General Wise was recruiting men for his army from the Kanawha Valley. Colonel Christopher Q. Tompkins and Colonel John McCausland were also at Gauley Bridge recruiting for the Confederate cause for the 22nd Virginia Infantry.

Colonel Tompkins was the 22nd Virginia's first regimental commander until he resigned his commission due to his inability to work with General Floyd. He lived on top of Hawk Nest Mountain, which overlooked the Gauley Bridge region. He was a retired West Point Military officer who became a prominent farmer before the Civil War started. His farm was taken over by the Federals in the fall and winter of 1861-62.

The farm was then burned down and the house became the headquarters for General Cox. During the fall, General Cox and General Wise would launch counter attacks against each other that would be met in stalemate. General Wise would retreat from Hawk's Nest when General Lee ordered the army and General Floyd’s army to combine forces for the Sewell Mountain campaign.

Gauley Bridge was the center key location of the western Virginia area. It was where the Kanawha, Gauley and New Rivers came together astride the James River and Kanawha Turnpike. The road led due North toward Cross Lanes, Summerville and Lewisburg, while the Southern half led to Charleston. All communications came through Gauley Bridge. The C&O Railroad that traveled through the town followed it. Both armies wanted to keep possession of the town do to the importance of the area.

The Confederates held Gauley Bridge until General Wise retreated when hearing that General Rosecrans and his army was traveling into the area. Fearing this, wises army retreated to Hawk's Nest Mountain. Upon their retreat, the Confederate set fire to the covered bridge to slow the Federal Army down. Once the Federal Army took possession of Gauley Bridge it became the main supply depot for the Federal army in the Western Virginia area.

Generals Wise and Floyd had a long history of fighting against each other. This was due to the politics of Virginia’s government. The fighting between these two generals and the disorder of the Army of Kanawha and the Army of the Gauley was so immense that it caused General Robert E. Lee to personally take charge of the two armies.

On August 26th General Floyd located Col Tyler's men encamped at Kessler's Cross Lanes. Colonel Tyler's men were surprised and routed but General Floyd quickly relocated his army to Carnifex Ferry saying that it was a better defensive area. General Wise's Legion was located not far from Carnifex Ferry.

While the main Confederate army under Gen. Floyd occupied Carnifex Ferry, General Wise returned to assume a position at Hawks Nest. From this point, Wise launched several assaults on the forces of General Cox to prevent his advancing over the Lewisburg Pike to attack Floyd from the rear.

Overlooking the Gauley River at Hawk's Nest, General Wise's Legion was encamped during General's Floyd's fall back to Carnifex Ferry. General Lee, commended General Floyd for his movements, saying that the Confederate objective was to first push General Cox back away from the Kanawha Valley then to sever the Parkersburg branch of the B&O railroad at Cheat Summit Fort.

General Floyd awaited reinforcements and received them on September 2nd, six days later the artillery arrived. At Camp Gauley, General Floyd ordered the soldiers to build entrenchments, and Floyd later wrote to Jeff Davis saying that his positions could withstand any attack from the Federals. After a day long battle, General Floyd was forced to give up his position at Carnifex Ferry.

The disaster at Carnifex Ferry was due to the fact that General Wise had failed to send further troops to help General Floyd. Although General Rosecrans never broke through the main Confederate line, General Floyd retreated for he was badly outnumbered, and had no sign of more reinforcements. The 22nd Virginia Infantry under Colonel Christopher Tompkins had managed to help turn the tide of a complete disaster acting as a rear guard. General Floyd began his retreat across the Gauley River later that night. He blamed the action on General Wise for never coming to his aid. This was also the reason for the failure of driving back the Federal troops in the area. This action helped western Virginia to form her own state without the threat of the Confederacy.

General Lee went to settle the differences of these two generals. General Lee's objective was to push the Union Army in the Valley back into Ohio. After his weak assault on Swell Mountain General Lee was ordered to Charleston, South Carolina and General Wise removed from Western Virginia and transferred to North Carolina. The 22nd Virginia was transferred to General Floyd's Army of South Eastern Virginia. In the early part of 1862, after General Jacksons’ Romney Campaign, General Floyd transferred to Tennessee and General Henry Heth took over as the commanding officer of the Army of New River until General Loring took over as commander of all Confederate forces in Western Virginia.

During the early part of May, the 1st Kanawha Regiment was reformed into the 22nd Virginia Infantry; the Kanawha Riflemen was then reorganized and designated as Company H of the newly formed 22nd Virginia Infantry Regiment. George Smith Patton was then given command the regiment.

During the battle of Lewisburg, the Union Army managed to take possession of a Confederate cannon, which dated back to the Revolutionary War and was the cannon that the British had surrendered at Yorktown. Tensions finally boiled over when General Heth's army began to disobey his orders and he lost control of his army. The battle lasted little more than an hour. The Union force even captured an old 12-pounder cannon was taken from the British at the Battle of a Yorktown in 1781. This relic of the revolutionary war was sent home to Springfield by the victorious 44th Ohio as a memento of their first triumph.

After the war the remains of the 95 Confederate soldiers were removed from the churchyard and interred in the cross-shaped mass grave in the present Confederate Cemetery. The Union dead were buried on an unidentified hill north of town. They too were moved after the war and now rest in the National Cemetery in Staunton, Virginia.

General Heth, though criticized for the defeat at Lewisburg, was not found culpable by the authorities in Richmond. Robert E. Lee continued to show high regard for Heth, the only General Lee ever addressed by his first name. Few men on either side would see more action than Henry Heth, who fought on with the Army of Northern Virginia the final surrender at Appomattox."

On the morning of September 11, when the Confederates learned that the Federals had abandoned the works, they set out in pursuit, led by General Williams, Colonel Wharton, and General Echols. They overtook the Federals on the ridge of Cotton Hill, but were driven back and the Federals succeeded in reaching the Kanawha River.

When Lightburn heard of the battle going on at Fayetteville, he called in all the forces, which had been stationed at Summersville and on the Lewisburg Pike. The entire command retreated down the valley, skirmishing all the way. Lightburn made a stand at Charleston on September 13, but believing his forces to be outnumbered two to one, he continued the retreat to Point Pleasant.

The Confederate loss at the Battle of Fayetteville was sixteen killed upon the field and thirty-two wounded. The Federal loss in the battle and during the entire four days while retreating down the valley was twenty-five killed, ninety-five wounded, and one hundred ninety missing.

The Kanawha Valley was now in the hands of the Confederates. Loring left garrisons at Fayetteville and at Gauley, and about four thousand men occupied Charleston. Lee meant to retain the valley, and use it as a base of operations to recover trans-Allegheny Virginia. With this in mind, he ordered Loring to destroy the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Bridge at Cheat River and join Lee in Virginia. Instead of obeying Lee's orders, Loring wrote him of his intentions to march by way of Lewisburg and Monterey. For this reason, Loring was removed from command on October 15, and was replaced by Brigadier General John Echols. Echols was given orders to reoccupy the valley.

In mid-October, General Loring resigned his command, due to a conflict over state recruiting practices by Virginia governor John Lechter. It was the end of his service in the Old Dominion; when told that the general sought reassignment, Robert E. Lee icily responded, “There is no room in this army for that man.” Loring would now go west, to Mississippi. By the end of 1862, the new Confederate commander in Western Virginia, General Sam Jones would take over, leaving General John Echols in charge of the 22^nd, 23^rd and the 26^th Virginia as their Brigade commander.

General John Echols reformed the New River Army to the Army of South Western Virginia in the spring of 1863. The 22nd Virginia spent the spring on a series of raids called the Jones and Imboden Raid. The raid went completely around West Virginia and entered Oakland, Maryland. The purpose of the raid was to destroy the over hangs where the B&O Railroad was vital. On April 24, the raid carried over to Beverly, West Virginia. Once settled in Beverly, the 22nd Virginia was engaged in a skirmish that captured several Union troops and supplies.

During the month of August, the 22nd Virginia was stationed near Lewisburg. White Sulphur Springs was the place of a famous health spa and a scene of a huge battle between The 22nd Virginia and Federal forces under the command of General Averell. The federal objective was to seize the law books at the Virginia State Law Library at Lewisburg. These books contained information on the Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals for the convenience of lawyers and judges. Colonel Patton marched his army down Anthony's Creek Road and the Union army went by way of James River Pike. The two forces met at the intersection of where these two roads met. Colonel Patton deployed his men at once, blocking the road. The battle lasted all day and carried over to the following day. Both armies were running low on supplies, and the Federal army was forced to withdraw from the field. Colonel Patton had a decisive victory for the Confederates.

The Battle of Droop Mountain occurred on November 6, 1863. At dawn the Union Army under the command of General Averell, sent out skirmishers to test the Confederate line. The Confederates there, held the ground and this forced General Averell to send a detachment of troops to the west where they were ordered to attack the Confederate left. General John Echols was aware of the situation even though the center and the right were heavily engaged; General Echols ordered the left flank to be reinforced. And sent the 23rd battalion to support the Confederate left.

Seeing that the Confederate right and center falling back, General Echols sent three companies of the 22nd Virginia to support the left flank. Colonel Patton informed General Echols that the left flank was on the verge of collapse. As the order of retreat was called to the Confederates, Colonel Jackson held the center for another half hour until the artillery was removed from the field. The Confederates retreated into the woods and disappeared from sight.

Even though the battle of Droop Mountain was a Confederate defeat, General Echols managed to survive from the main thrust of the Union Army and caused General Averell to incomplete their raid in Virginia and Tennessee. After the battle of Droop Mountain, (West) Virginia in November of 1863 the Army of South Western Virginia was almost destroyed.

In 1864 the Army of South Western Virginia was ordered to protect the Shenandoah Valley from the invading Federals. In May at New Market, Virginia the 22nd made a stand next to the V.M.I.'s, which was the 22nd's biggest victory. By late spring the 22nd Virginia was called to Richmond, Virginia to take part in protecting the Confederate Capital at Cold Harbor, as Grant's Army was invading the state once again, this time not retreating as previous generals have done in the past. Western Virginia would never be claimed by her mother state of Virginia again and General Lee needed men desperately. This led to the 22nd Virginia Infantry being pulled from West Virginia.

By the summer of 1864 the 22nd Virginia went with the Army of the Valley to rid the Yankees, under General Franz Sigel, from Lynchburg, Virginia. They also went into the Shenandoah Valley to relieve some of the pressure off of General Lee's lines and force Grant to send troops away from Petersburg. Therefore, the 22nd Virginia would soon be part of a raid that would attack Washington (DC).

The 22nd Virginia left Petersburg during June of 1864 to attack the Federals there and relieve pressure of Federal occupation of the town. The first task was completed with the liberation of Lynchburg. General Early then traveled up the Shenandoah Valley and entered Maryland at Shepherdstown, West Virginia. Once there the raid carried over to Hagerstown with the demand of 20, 000 dollars from the town. The officer in charge misunderstood the order an accidentally forgot to add an extra zero to that number.

On July 9 the 22nd Virginia served as reserves during the battle of Monocacy. July 11, the 22nd Virginia was called out at Fort Stevens, three miles from the White House. The battle was called of the following day. General Early retreated to White's Ford and entered Leesburg, Virginia.

Once General Early entered the Shenandoah Valley, the 22nd Virginia participated in the battles of Cool Springs, Kernstown, and Winchester. On September 16, during the retreat from Winchester, Colonel George Patton was wounded and taken prisoner. By September 25, Colonel Patton died refusing amputation to his leg.

At the battle of Cedar Creek, the 22nd Virginia had almost been wiped out, as they had about 140 soldiers left in the ranks. After Cedar Creek, General Early was removed from command along with General Breckinridge. General John Echols was given command of what was left of the Army of South Western Virginia and the Army of the Valley. Both armies made a last attempt to regain control of West Virginia and failed. By 1865 the armies did not have enough manpower and started for Lynchburg to rejoin General Lee.

On April 15 a telegram was sent to the 22nd Virginia Infantry telling them that General Lee had surrendered at Appomattox, Virginia. By that time the 22nd Virginia had already started to disband. Other members of the 22nd Virginia, who still wanted to fight, were marching off for Tennessee. The last company to disband was Company H, when they received word that General Johnston had surrendered in North Carolina at the Bennett Place.