Friday, September 02, 2011

Civil War 150, Kessler’s Cross Lanes

August 26, 1861 Kessler’s Cross Lanes

This area of Virginia was in constant flux between the Union and Confederates. It was this area of the state that did not want to leave the Union when the rest of Virginia did. Two years later it would be organized into West Virginia and become the 35th state.

The actual battle was on a small scale:
Losses were light, but lopsided: around 250 for the Union, under 50 for the Confederates.

On August 26, Brig. Gen. John Floyd, commanding Confederate forces in the Kanawha Valley, crossed the Gauley River to attack Col. Erastus Tyler’s 7th Ohio Regiment encamped at Kessler’s Cross Lanes. The Union forces were surprised and routed. Floyd then withdrew to the river and took up a defensive position at Carnifex Ferry. Later in the month, Gen. Robert E. Lee arrived in western Virginia and attempted to coordinate the forces of Brig. Gens. Floyd, Henry Wise, and William W. Loring.

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