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The Battle of Philippi formed part of the Western Virginia Campaign of the American Civil War, and was fought in and around Philippi, Virginia (now West Virginia) on June 3, 1861. A decisive Union victory, it was the first organized land action of the war, though generally viewed as a skirmish rather than a battle. However, the Northern press celebrated it as an epic triumph, and this encouraged Congress to call for the drive on Richmond that ended with the Union defeat at First Bull Run in July. It brought overnight fame to Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan, and was notable for the first battlefield amputations. It also encouraged the western counties of Virginia to form their own Union state. As the largely-untrained Confederates had fled the battlefield with barely any resistance, the Union jokingly referred to the engagement as the Philippi Races. ==Background== After the commencement of hostilities at Fort Sumter in April 1861, Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan returned to the Army and on May 13 assumed command of the Department of the Ohio, headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio.〔Official Records, Chap. IX, p. 2.〕 McClellan planned an offensive into what is now the State of West Virginia (at the time the northwestern counties of the Commonwealth of Virginia) which he hoped would lead to a campaign against the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia. His immediate objectives were to occupy the territory to protect the largely pro-Union populace in the counties along the Ohio River, and to keep open the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad line, a critical supply line for the Union. On May 26, McClellan, in response to the burning of bridges on the Baltimore & Ohio near the town of Farmington, ordered Col. Benjamin Franklin Kelley of the (Union) 1st Virginia Infantry〔McClellan privately confided to Scott on June 4 () that "comparatively few of the Virginia troops thus far raised," such as those in Kelley's command, were really Virginians but "mostly from Penna and Ohio." Ethan S. Rafuse, ''McClellan's War: The Failure of Moderation in the Struggle for the Union'', pg. 104〕 with his regiment and Company A of the 2nd Virginia Infantry, to advance from Wheeling to the area and safeguard the important bridge over the Monongahela River at Fairmont, a distance of about southeast of Wheeling. Kelley's men were supported by the 16th Ohio Infantry under Col. James Irvine. After securing Fairmont, the 1st Virginia advanced again and seized the important railroad junction of Grafton, about southeast of Fairmont, on May 30. Meanwhile, the 14th Ohio Infantry Regiment, under Col. James B. Steedman, was ordered to occupy Parkersburg and then proceed to Grafton, about to the east. By May 28, McClellan had ordered a total of about 3,000 troops into Western Virginia and placed them under the overall command of Brig. Gen. Thomas A. Morris, commander of Indiana Volunteers. On May 4 Confederate Col. George A. Porterfield had been assigned command of the state forces in northwestern Virginia and ordered to Grafton to take charge of enlistments in the area. As the Union columns advanced, Porterfield's poorly armed 800 recruits retreated to Philippi, about south of Grafton. At Philippi, a covered bridge spanned the Tygart Valley River and was an important segment of the vital Beverly-Fairmont Turnpike. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Battle of Philippi (West Virginia)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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