The Battle of Cloyd's Mountain occurred in Pulaski County, Virginia, on May 9, 1864, during the American Civil War. The fight has also been called the Battle of Cloyd's Farm. A Union Army division led by Brigadier General George Crook defeated a Confederate Army consisting of three regiments, one battalion, and Confederate Home Guard. The Confederate force was led by Brigadier General Albert G. Jenkins and Colonel John McCausland. Although the intense fighting portion of this battle may have lasted for only one hour, it was southwestern Virginia's largest fight of the Civil War.
The battle was a Confederate attempt to prevent an attack on the Virginia & Tennessee Railroad. That railroad was important to the Confederacy for moving troops and supplies. The fighting occurred about five miles (8.0 km) north of the Virginia & Tennessee's Dublin Depot. Additional Confederate forces arrived at a nearby railroad depot after the major portion of the fighting was completed, and they enabled the Confederate fighters to escape.
On the next day, skirmishing erupted at a Virginia & Tennessee Railroad bridge located about eight miles (13 km) east of the Dublin Depot. This fighting was essentially an artillery duel, and its few casualties are included in totals for both sides. Confederate forces eventually fled further east, and the railroad bridge was burned by Crook's force. Even though Union forces burned both the railroad depot and a major railroad bridge, along with destroying portions of the railroad track, the damage was repaired in approximately one month.
Background
During March 1864, Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant became commander of all Union armed forces. Grant's strategy in Virginia was to attack the strongest Confederate Army, Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, from multiple fronts. The Union's Army of the Potomac would target Lee's army directly, while another Union force would attack Lee and the city of Richmond from the east. In western Virginia, the railroads that supplied Lee's army were Union targets, including the Virginia & Tennessee Railroad and the Virginia Central Railroad. Each of those two railroads also had more mileage within Virginia than any other railroad. Attacking the railroads would cause Lee to send troops west to protect vital railroad infrastructure, resulting in fewer soldiers available to protect the Confederate capitol in Richmond.
Grant's plan
In 1860, there was more railroad track in the United States than all other countries combined. The American Civil War became the world's first war where railroads played an important part. While the Union states had much of the railroad milage, the Confederate States still had more mileage than any other country. Railroads carried troops, food, supplies, and raw materials.
Grant ordered Major General Franz Sigel to advance south in the Shenandoah Valley to Staunton, Virginia. The Virginia Central Railroad ran through Staunton and connected with Richmond. Sigel began his part of the plan on April 29, and he departed from Martinsburg, West Virginia. Grant ordered Brigadier General George Crook to attack the Virginia & Tennessee Railroad, including its bridge over the New River. From there, Crook would form a junction with Sigel at Staunton and advance to Lynchburg. Crook began making preparations in Charleston, West Virginia. By the end of April his troops were assembled further south in Fayetteville, and they began moving toward their destination on May 3.
Crook took an infantry division and began moving toward the Virginia & Tennessee Railroad's Dublin Depot. He sent a smaller 2,500-man cavalry force, commanded by Brigadier General William W. Averell, to attack further west from Crook's destination. Averell's goal was to disable a salt works located in the town of Saltville. After 1863, this salt works produced an estimated two thirds of the salt used by the Confederacy. A potential target for Averell was the Austin lead mine located south of Wytheville in Wythe County. The lead mine produced about one-third to one fourth of the lead consumed by the Confederacy.
Virginia and Tennessee Railroad
The Virginia & Tennessee Railroad was 204 miles (328 km) long and connected Lynchburg, Virginia, to Bristol at the Virginia–Tennessee border. Additional railroads could be used from Lynchburg to move east to Richmond, and railroads connecting to Bristol could be used to move west to Knoxville, Chattanooga, Memphis, and Corinth. The Virginia & Tennessee carried Confederate soldiers and raw materials both east and west. The railroad was also an important transporter of food from southwest Virginia to soldiers and civilians in the east. President Abraham Lincoln called the Virginia & Tennessee Railroad the "gut of the Confederacy".
In western Virginia, a branch line of the Virginia & Tennessee ran north from Glade Spring to a salt works in Saltville, Virginia. Further east along the line were lead mines located south of Wytheville. Further east from Wytheville was the regional Confederate Army headquarters at the Dublin Depot just north of Newbern, Virginia. Dublin was also the home of an instruction camp for Confederate recruits, and it was the commissary and quartermaster center for southwestern Virginia. East of the headquarters was a large railroad bridge across the New River. The bridge was 780 feet (240 m) long, and it was constructed with timber on stone pylons. Grant regarded the railroad as "one of the most important lines connecting the Confederate armies". Several attacks on the railroad in 1863 had only limited success. When Grant met with Crook in March, he emphasized that he wanted the railroad's infrastructure destroyed in multiple places.
Opposing forces
Union force
Crook's force was the 2nd Infantry Division of the Department of West Virginia. It was also known as the Kanawha Division. The division consisted of three brigades of mostly infantry, plus two batteries, that totaled 6,155 soldiers. Crook was experienced and his soldiers were confident in his abilities. A 400-man detachment of cavalry was added to his 1st Brigade while they were preceding to their target destination, which increased the size of the force to 6,555.
- 1st Brigade - This brigade was commanded by Crook's best commander and a future president of the United States, Rutherford B. Hayes. The brigade's 23rd Ohio Infantry included another future president, William McKinley. Another regiment in the 1st Brigade, the 36th Ohio Infantry, had fought under Crook's command in 1862 in the Battle of Lewisburg. The 400-man cavalry detachment added to the brigade was essentially mounted infantry, and it was not armed with sabers.
- 2nd Brigade - Commanded by Colonel Carr B. White and consisted of four infantry regiments. White was responsible for creating Blazer's Scouts, an "elite group of commandos".
- 3rd Brigade - Commanded by Colonel Horatio G. Sickel and consisted of four regiments.
- Artillery - Captain James R. McMullin was the Chief of Artillery for two batteries. The combined firepower of the two batteries was 12 artillery pieces.
Confederate force
Brigadier General Albert G. Jenkins was temporarily in command of the Confederate Department of Western Virginia. Jenkins had very few soldiers readily available, and nearly all Confederate participants in the battle either arrived at the Dublin Depot by railroad or were delayed from departing from Dublin on the railroad. Approximately 2,350 soldiers were under Jenkins' command for the battle, and he had ten artillery pieces. All three regiments at Cloyd's Mountain, and Colonel John McCausland, had gained experience in 1862 when they fought in the Kanawha Valley Campaign. One of the regiments had also fought against George Crook in the Battle of Lewisburg.
- 45th Virginia Infantry Regiment - This regiment was commanded by Colonel William H. Browne.
- Fourth Brigade - This brigade was commanded by Colonel John McCausland. It consisted of the 36th and 60th Virginia Infantry Regiments, the 45th Battalion Virginia Infantry (a.k.a. Beckley's Battalion), and Bryan's artillery battery.
- Ringgold Battery - This artillery battery was commanded by Captain Crispin Dickenson. It had four artillery pieces: three 12-pounder Napoleons and one 3-inch rifled gun.
- Home Guard - Captain White G. Ryan commanded the Montgomery Home Guards. Other volunteers included James Cloyd, owner of Cloyd's Farm; and Reverend William P. Hickman of the Dublin Presbyterian Church.
Prelude to Battle
Crook begins
In addition to sending Averell's cavalry to Saltville, Crook had additional plans to confuse the Confederate Army. He sent the 5th West Virginia Infantry, led by Blazer's Scouts, east on the Kanawha Turnpike toward Lewisburg. The infantry band played during the march, and at night huge bonfires burned. This deception worked, causing Confederate leadership to believe that an entire division was moving toward Lewisburg.
Crook's main force began moving on May 2 and marched south toward Raleigh Court House (Beckley). The major difficulty in the march was cold and wet weather plus trees that had been chopped down to obstruct the roads. Crook took steps to conceal his movement. A small cavalry force led the expedition, and videttes rode on the main force's right and left to prevent bushwhacker/snipers from harassing the troops. Trees were burned as the troops moved over the mountains to provide a smokescreen that concealed the size and movement of Crook's force.
Breckinridge reacts
Confederate Major General John C. Breckinridge was commander of the Department of Western Virginia and headquartered in Dublin on the Virginia & Tennessee Railroad. He had been appointed to this position earlier in the year. A former vice president of the United States in the James Buchanan administration, he was experienced and skilled in military affairs. His department was responsible for all of Virginia west of the Blue Ridge Mountains and south of Staunton, the southern portion of West Virginia, and eastern Tennessee. He did not have enough troops to protect his vast and mountainous territory. His priorities were to protect the Saltville salt mines, the Austinville lead mines, and the Virginia & Tennessee Railroad.
On May 1, Lee informed Breckinridge that it appeared that Union troops commanded by Averell were planning to attack Staunton (Virginia Central Railroad) or the Virginia & Tennessee Railroad. Lee mistakenly thought that Staunton was the main target, and movements further west were deceptions. Brigadier General John H. Morgan and his brigade were relieved from duty in eastern Tennessee and ordered to report to Breckinridge. Breckinridge shifted the few troops he had in response to reports that Saltville and the Virginia & Tennessee Railroad were the Union targets.
Davis and Lee change Breckinridge's priorities
In correspondence dated May 4, Breckinridge was told by Confederate president Jefferson Davis to communicate with General Lee and protect Staunton against Sigel's army advancing south in the valley. Breckinridge began moving most of his troops to Staunton via the Virginia Central Railroad's western terminal at Jackson River Depot. An exception was the 45th Virginia Infantry Regiment, which was stationed in Saltville, Virginia. The movement of troops toward Staunton left the territory west of the New River and east of Saltville with little protection. Brigadier General Albert G. Jenkins was left behind with the small command of scattered troops.
Crook moves closer
McCausland's brigade left Princeton on May 5 to begin its move to Staunton. When Crook's Union infantry arrived at Princeton on May 6, he encountered a small cavalry company that fled after token resistance—instead of an entire brigade. After capturing the town, Crook's force camped overnight, and departed on the next day at 4:00 am. Crook had two choices for his route to the railroad. He believed that the most direct route might be guarded, so he took an indirect route on a rougher road through the mountains and Rocky Gap.
The Union capture of Princeton worried Confederate leadership because the town was considered an important point for guarding major roads west of the New River that lead to the Virginia & Tennessee Railroad, including the salt works and lead mines. Jenkins grew more concerned—he had only 200 fighters. He requested that Breckinridge allow McCausland's brigade to remain with Jenkins for a day or two longer. On the evening of May 6, McCausland stopped his soldiers from boarding the train in Dublin. He removed his artillery from the train and made camp at Dublin.
Troops are positioned
Confederate positions
On May 7, Jenkins moved his headquarters from the Narrows to Dublin Depot. He decided he would intercept Crook on the Dublin–Pearisburg Turnpike at Cloyd's Farm. This site is at the base of the south side of Cloyd's Mountain. To get to Jenkins' fighters, Union soldiers would have to descend the south side of the mountain and cross an open area with a creek known as Back Creek. There had been some debate on placing artillery on top of the mountain and blocking the road, but others worried about losing cannons from a flanking maneuver.