RICH MOUNTAIN, Battle of. After the reverse of Colonel Porterfield at Philippi (see PHILIPPI, ENGAGEMENT AT) General Lee ordered Gen, H. A. Wise to the Kanawha Valle}' and Gen. R..S. Garnett to the Cheat Mountain re gion. Garnett was to relieve Porterfield, re cover lost ground and secure control of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. With one regi ment he arrived at Huttonsville on 14 June, where he found Porterfield with about 1,400 men. Leaving Porterfield at .Huttonsville with three companies to, guard his line,of oommuni cation with Staunton,• Garnett marched on the .night of the 15th to Beverly, from which point a regiment, a company of cavalry and two guns were sent by the Parkersburg road to the west foot of Rich Mountain, seven miles west of Beverly; Garnett, with the other regiment, two guns and a company of cavalry pushing on to Laurel Hill, the northern extension of Rich Mountain, 17 miles northwest of Beverly. These positions were regarded as the gates to northwestern Virginia, and both were strongly fortified. By 1 July Garnett had nearly men, including his reserve at Beverly and Hut tonsville.
General McClellan arrived at Grafton 23 June and prepared to expel the Confederates from their positions and to enter the Shenan doah Valley. He had 20,000 men; 5,000 along the line of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad; a brigade of over 3,000 and a battery, under Gen. T. A. Morris, were stationed at Philippi, and by 2 July the main column, under his own im mediate command, was concentrated at Buck hannon, 24 miles west of Beverly. This column of over 10,000 men, with 12 guns, was organ ized into three brigades, under Gen. W. S. Rosecrans, Gen. N. Schleich and Col. R. L. McCook On 2 July Gen. J. D. Cox was ordered to cross the Ohio with a brigade and co-op erate with McClellan by moving up the Kana wha Valley against General Wise. On 6 July Morris was ordered to march his brigade from Philippi to within a mile and a half of Gamett's position at Laurel Hill, and on the 9th Mc Clellan had the three brigades of his own column at Roaring Creek, two miles from the west foot of Rich Mountain, where Lieut.-CoL John Pegram was intrenched, with 1,300 men and four guns. Preparations were made to assault Pegram in front with Rosecraus' ' brigade, on the morning of the 11th, but on the evening of the 10th learned that Pegram's rear could be reached by a difficult route around his left and proposed to do it , with his brigade. To this McClellan assented.
It was arranged that Rosecrans should march at daybreak of the llth, with about 1,900 men, pin the road in Pegram's rear, march down it and attack, and that at the sound of the en gagement in the rear McClellan would attack in front. Rosecrans, after a very hard march, made the turning movement, and coming to the road about 3 P.M. unexpectedly came under fire of musketry and artillery and was checked. Pegram had been warned of danger to his rear, and during the morning had sent two detach ments to. Hart's farm at the summit of the mountain, with Maj. 1. A. De 'Lagnel in com mand, who took with im a gun of his battery, and threw up breastworks for his 310 men. Rosecrans attacked, was at first repulsed, and it was not until after a sharp engagement, of nearly two hours that he succeeded in driving the Confederates from position, just as Pegram was approaching with reinforcements and aa .other gun. A part of the reinforcements be came involved in the defeat, and Rosecrans captured the two guns. Nothing had been heard ,from McClellan, and knowing that a consider able body of Confederates was still near him, Rosecrans directed his men to lie on their arms until.morning. Rosecrans lost 12 killed and 49 wounded, The Confederates had made a gal lant fight, with a lopss of 40 to 45 killed and about 25 wounded. The noise of the engage ment had been heard in McClellan's ranks and he prepared for an attack in front, but the long continuance of the artillery-fire on the moun tain and some cheering in Pegram's camp im pressed him that it had gone badly with Rose crans and the attack was not made, and near night he withdrew his troops beyond Roaring Creek. At daybreak of the 12th kosecrans found that the Confederates had disappeared, and marching down the mountain he entered Pegram's abandoned camp taking two more guns, with some sick and wounded, and as nothing was seen of McClellan, he sent him word of what he had been doing and where he was.