Symposium Spotlight: Forgotten Battlefields, Part 1

Can you name this battlefield? Here are a few clues:

  • Fought on May 9, 1864, in Pulaski County, Virginia.
  • Union General George Crook with ~6,000 vs. Confederate General Albert G. Jenkins with ~2,800
  • The battle last one hour, but the Union force lost 10% of their troops.
  • Two future U.S. Presidents – Hayes and McKinley – saw action at this battle.
  • Results are generally ruled as a Union victory since Crook’s cavalry regiments continued on and attacked their objective the Virginia & Tennessee Railroad and wrecking parts of Dublin, Virginia.
  • Ultimately, the Union forces captured a dispatch, and Crook believed his force might be endangered and decided to pull back into West Virginia.

And here’s a look at part of the battlefield…

It’s the location of the Battle of Cloyd’s Mountain.

Our managing editor Sarah Kay Bierle recently planned part of her travels to drive through southwestern Virginia and explore the military actions occurring in that region at the same time as the New Market Campaign in the Shenandoah Valley.

She says: “I wasn’t sure if I would be able to visit Cloyd’s Mountain battlefield. Time was running out that travel day, and I thought I would just stop in Dublin to shoot some photos at the train station (another great story!) before heading farther east. However, due to some road construction and a couple wrong turns, I ended up on a country highway, needing to turn around. I spotted the sign for a Civil War Trails marker and decided to turn around there and take a peek at the information. Imagine my delight and surprise to discover that I stood on part of Cloyd’s Mountain Battlefield! I am really looking forward to sharing details about this forgotten fight that impacted the better-known Battle of New Market and the continued conflict for the Shenandoah Valley at the 2019 ECW Symposium.”

The Emerging Civil War Symposium will be hosted at Stevenson Ridge on August 2-4, 2019. More event details are available here.



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