June 16, 2010

Fort Mulligan, Petersburg, WV

Fort Mulligan is a well-preserved Civil War fort perched high on a hill. Originally built by Union forces to protect the South Branch Valley, it was later abandoned and then used by Confederates. Today it overlooks the Grant County Hospital and the town of Petersburg, with mountain views beyond. This is not very far from Moorefield but it was not included on our field trip there.

A number of interpretative signs present the fort's story. Don't miss the three-part sign on the wall between the flagpoles.

Since I've been following the history of McNeill's Rangers, I was interested in the markers dealing with their exploits. A detailed story of the rangers is on one of the markers (see yesterday's post on Fort Mulligan). Here's a much shorter version from a section called Civil War comes to Hardy County.
"McNeill’s Rangers was a company of Confederates who operated with impunity in the area and did much to thwart Federal efforts to protect the B&O Railroad. Their many small actions, along with larger scale incursions by regular Confederate cavalry resulted in a more determined effort on the part of Federal forces to hold the South Branch Valley."
Grant County, by the way, was once part of Hardy County. When it split off in 1866, it was named after U.S. Grant.

In 2008, I flew in to Petersburg Airport in a small plane with our friend Gordon. Petersburg WV is a much smaller city than Petersburg VA.

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