THE BATTLE OF WINFIELD

By Bill Wintz

In October 1864, Federal Captain John M. Reynolds, commanding Co. D, 7th W. Va. Cavalry was sent to occupy Winfield, the county seat of Putnam County. With the 80 men under his command he was ordered to establish a fortified position overlooking the steamboat chute through Red House Shoals. Their mission was to stop all Confederate river traffic through the shoals.

In a short time they had completed a well constructed installation of rifle pits along the river front. The breastworks not only protected them from the river side, they could also cover any threat from the rear.

Col. Vincent "Clawhammer" Witcher was operating with his 34th Virginia Cavalry on Mud River when he heard that the Federals had taken over Winfield. He reacted at once by sending two companies of Thurmond's Partisan Rangers to drive them out. The Rangers were led by their veteran leader and founder, Captain Philip J. Thurmond of Monroe County. They were a hard riding partisan troop that were usually not attached to any regular Confederate Army unit. They basically were organized to protect their home neighborhood, but they soon found they could contribute more to the cause by collaborating with various established Rebel units.

About 400 rangers reached Winfield early in the morning of October 26 and launched an attack through the streets of the town around 3:00 a.m. An erratic fire fight was kept up in the dark for over an hour but failed to dislodge the Federals from their strong position. Near 4:00 a.m., Captain Thurmond was mortally wounded in front of the courthouse when he was shot through the abdomen. By then it was apparent that the attack was a failure and the Confederates began to withdraw.

Since Capt. Thurmond could not be moved, his younger brother Elias allowed himself to be captured so he could stay with his brother unfit he died. Later that morning Lt. William Bahlman appeared in front of the Federal pickets under a flag of truce. He had with him a coffin and asked permission to come through the lines and bury Capt. Thurmond. Permission was granted and Capt. Philip J Thurmond was buried in an unmarked grave thought to be behind the Hogue house which is still standing near the courthouse.

The pro-union Charleston newspaper, The West Virginia Journal, reported: "Our men took five prisoners, among them Elias Thurmond, who is here in the guard house and wounded seven of the Rebels besides killing Phil Thurmond. Our loss was two slightly wounded."

As for the citizens of Winfield remembering much about the skirmish, they saw little of the action unless they dared look out their windows in the dark. The firing only lasted an hour or so and by daylight the Confederates were gone. Actually, the death of Capt. Thurmond was about the only noteworthy result of the action at Winfield. Not much else was gained or lost on either side.