Spirit of ’61 Roundup for September 2026
Welcome to the monthly recap of blog posts for Spirit of ’61, a digital encyclopedia of early Civil War Virginia. We explore the first half of 1861, from the Secession Winter to just before Bull Run. Before the first large battles were fought, Virginia was already living through a political, military, and social crisis that would shape the course of the war. Spirit of ’61 exists to document that story.
Throughout September, we’ve been engaged in a deep-dive of events along the North Branch of the Potomac River around Romney, as well as the Skirmish at Glenville, all in preparation to release Version 1.7 of our Battlelog. The Spirit of ’61 Battlelog is a downloadable compendium of our battle narratives for 39 military actions in Virginia and West Virginia, May – July 1861, meticulously indexed with a comprehensive bibliography, free for the public to download.
The following are highlights from our posts in September, but there are plenty more to satisfy your curiosity. Remember, we are always looking for contributions from the public, so if you have written an article pertaining to our specific area of study, or are considering it, please contact us via the form on our site. Both military and civilian subjects are welcome.
Battlelog 1.7 is Now Available
Welcome to version 1.7 of the Spirit of ’61 Battlelog! Our latest updates included substantive revisions and expansions to the following battle narratives: Skirmish at Romney, Action at Bridge No. 21, Skirmishes at New Creek and Piedmont, Skirmishes at Dan’s Run and Kelley’s Island, and the Skirmish at Glenville. We also made some cosmetic changes, including fixing paragraph spacing and indentation. With these updates completed, our Battlelog is now 90 pages and just shy of 49,000 words.
Caskie’s Mounted Rangers in the 1861 Kanawha Campaign
Captain Robert A. Caskie led his Mounted Rangers on a grueling expedition into Gilmer County in July 1861, where they spread alarm among local unionists and skirmished with Ohio troops outside Glenville. This overlooked episode of the Civil War in western Virginia reveals how this small company of Wise Legion cavalry gained its first campaign experience before joining the 10th Virginia Cavalry.
Skirmishes at Dan’s Run and Kelley’s Island
On June 26, 1861, thirteen mounted scouts from Lew Wallace’s 11th Indiana collided with Confederate cavalry near Dan’s Run and Kelly’s Island along the Upper Potomac. What began as a reconnaissance quickly erupted into two savage, close-quarters skirmishes that mortally wounded Richard Ashby, left Turner Ashby wounded, and claimed the life of the first Indiana soldier killed in the Civil War.
Letter from Turner Ashby to His Sister, on the Event of Their Brother’s Death
On Wednesday, June 26, 1861, Richard Ashby, captain of the Fauquier Mountain Rangers, found himself in a desperate hand-to-hand fight with mounted scouts from the 11th Indiana Infantry Regiment near where Dan’s Run empties into the Potomac River in northern Hampshire County, Virginia. Richard was the younger brother of Turner Ashby, who would later win fame as Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson’s cavalry commander during the 1862 Valley Campaign. After clinging to life for a week, he died on July 3. Turner then wrote a letter to their sister, Dorothea Farrar Moncure, who lived with her husband in Stafford County. It has since been reproduced, in whole or in part, in several books, and we reprint it here with some analysis.
Illustrations of the 1861 “Battle” of Romney
The “Battle” of Romney, fought on Wednesday, June 12, 1861, received attention at the time and in later accounts that far outstripped its actual significance. Early in the Civil War, before anyone could imagine the bloody battles to come, a virtually bloodless victory like Romney seemed like a major triumph for the Union war effort. As a result, it received extensive coverage in publications such as Harper’s Weekly and Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper. It is clear, however, that none of these illustrators witnessed the action or had ever visited Romney. As faithfully as illustrators tried to depict events, they often had little choice but to rely on their imaginations to fill in the details.
Lew Wallace and the Indiana Zouaves Secure Cumberland
In June 1861, future Ben-Hur author Lew Wallace and the 11th Indiana arrived in Cumberland, Maryland, with orders to protect the vital B&O Railroad and secure the Upper Potomac. Within days, Wallace’s restless pursuit of Confederate forces would carry his Hoosiers into Virginia, setting the stage for a dramatic early Civil War campaign whose consequences reached far beyond a seemingly bloodless victory.
