Military-Related Parks
Military-Related Parks
Three State Parks and One National Park
Anybody planning a summer vacation? I know many people find visiting battlegrounds or military-related parks both educational and meaningful. West Virginia has several such parks—both state and national. I have visited the one at Point Pleasant, but I would like to go back because I don’t think I saw as much as I could have. I have also been to the one at Carnifex Ferry Battlefield, but I don’t remember seeing much except the house. I’ll have to find out if I missed something.
West Virginia State Parks about History: Official Site
1. Point Pleasant: Tu-Endie-Wei State Park
HISTORY
At the junction of the Ohio and Kanawha Rivers, Tu-Endie-Wei stands as a monument to commemorate the frontiersmen who fought and died at the Battle of Point Pleasant. On October 10, 1774, Colonel Andrew Lewis’ 1,100 Virginia militiamen decisively defeated a like number of Native Americans lead by the Shawnee Chieftain Cornstalk in a bloody, day-long battle. At the end, 230 Native Americans were killed or wounded and more than 50 Virginians had lost their lives, including Colonel Charles Lewis, brother of the commanding officer. Considered a landmark in frontier history, some believed the battle to be the first of the American Revolution. This action broke the power of the ancient Americans in the Ohio Valley and quelled a general war on the frontier. Significantly, it also prevented an alliance between the British and Native Americans, one which could very possibly have caused the Revolution to have a different outcome, altering the entire history of the nation. In addition, the ensuing peace with the Native Americans enabled western Virginians to return across the Allegheny Mountains to aid Revolutionary forces. The battle is recognized as the decisive engagement in a proactive series of Indian wars. The monument derives its name “Tu-Endie-Wei” from a Wyandotte word meaning “point between two waters.”
HISTORY
Located in the Greenbrier River Valley north of Lewisburg, Droop Mountain Battlefield is the site of West Virginia’s last significant Civil War battle.
On November 6, 1863, the federal army of Brigadier General William W. Averell attempted for the second time to disrupt the Virginia-Tennessee Railroad at Salem, Virginia. Averell and his troops faced the Confederate troops of Brigadier General John Echols. Throughout the morning, Echols’ smaller confederate army held the high ground and blocked the highway with artillery, but was later overwhelmed by the crushing advance of federal infantry on his left flank. Following the collapse of his lines, General Echols retreated south into Virginia with the remnants of his command.
Federal Troops occupied Lewisburg on November 7, 1863, but being burdened with prisoners and captured livestock, General Averell elected to return to his headquarters in Beverly, West Virginia, waiting until early December to lead a third and ultimately successful attack on the vital railroad. Operations in the Shenandoah Valley in the spring of 1864 drew remaining confederate troops out of West Virginia, thus leaving the new state securely under the control of the federal government for the remainder of the war.
Today, Droop Mountain Battlefield is recognized as part of The Civil War Discovery Trail, which links more than 300 sites in 16 states to inspire and to teach the story of the Civil War and its haunting impact on America. The Trail, an initiative of the Civil War Trust, allows visitors to explore battlefields, historic homes, railroad stations, cemeteries, parks and other destinations that bring history to life.
HISTORY
Nestled on the rim of the Gauley River Canyon near Summersville, West Virginia, Carnifex Ferry Battlefield State Park is an important Civil War battle site. On September 10, 1861 Union troops led by Brigadier General William S. Rosecrans engaged the Confederates and forced them to evacuate an entrenched position on the Henry Patterson Farm which overlooked Carnifex Ferry. The Confederate commander, Brigadier General John B. Floyd, retreated across the ferry to the south side of the Gauley River and on eastward to Meadow Bluff near Lewisburg. This Civil War battle represented the failure of a Confederate drive to regain control of the Kanawha Valley. As a result, the movement for West Virginia statehood proceeded without serious threat from the Confederates.
Today, Carnifex Ferry is recognized as part of The Civil War Discovery Trail which links more than 300 sites in 16 states to inspire and to teach the story of the Civil War and its haunting impact on America. The Trail, an initiative of the Civil War Trust, allows visitors to explore battlefields, historic homes, railroad stations, cemeteries, parks and other destinations that bring history to life.
Map of West Virginia State Parks
National Park Service: Military-Related Park in W.Va.
HISTORY
John Brown and the people with him planned and executed a raid on the National Armory and Arsenal at Harpers Ferry. Brown's contemporary, abolitionist Frederick Douglass, tells the story of the raid in this Address at the 14th Anniversary of Storer College. Harper's Ferry, West Virginia, May 30, 1881.
On the night of the 16th of October, 1859, there appeared near the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers, a party of nineteen men—fourteen white and five colored. They were not only armed themselves, but had brought with them a large supply of arms for such persons as might join them. These men invaded Harper's Ferry, disarmed the watchman, took possession of the arsenal, rifle-factory, armory and other government property at that place, arrested and made prisoners nearly all the prominent citizens of the neighborhood, collected about fifty slaves, put bayonets into the hands of such as were able and willing to fight for their liberty, killed three men, proclaimed general emancipation, held the ground more than thirty hours, were subsequently overpowered and nearly all killed, wounded or captured, by a body of United States troops, under command of Colonel Robert E. Lee, since famous as the rebel Gen. Lee. Three out of the nineteen invaders were captured whilst fighting, and one of these was Captain John Brown, the man who originated, planned and commanded the expedition…[He] was brought into court, subjected to a nominal trial, convicted of high treason and inciting slaves to insurrection, and was executed. His corpse was given to his woe-stricken widow, and she, assisted by Anti-slavery friends, caused it to be borne to North Elba, Essex County, N. Y., and there his dust now reposes, amid the silent, solemn and snowy grandeur of the Adirondacks.