August 21, 2013

Between Wytheville and Walker Mountain

On Monday, North of Wytheville, VA:
When I realized we were on a detour that would not take us back to I-77 anytime soon, I wanted to look at the map. I pulled off by a Civil War Trails marker near the intersection of Krenning Road and Stoney Fork Road. The sign dealt with the Battle of Wytheville in 1863. I was not familiar with this battle, although I did write a report on the city of Wytheville back in grade school. 

The story on the marker starts out like this:
On July 13, 1863, Union Col. John T. Toland led 872 officers and men of the 34th Regiment Mounted Ohio Volunteer Infantry from Camp Piatt, West Virginia, into Southwest Virginia to attack the railroads, telegraphs, and salt and lead mines essential to the Confederate cause. At Tug Ridge in Abb’s Valley, on July 17, Toland surprised and captured a small company of Confederate pickets commanded by Capt. J.E. Stallings of the 45th Virginia Infantry. As Toland’s raiders descended to the foot of Walker Mountain, Confederate Maj. Andrew J. May followed close behind with about 250 cavalry men.
You can read the rest of this marker on Historical Markers Database.

3 comments:

  1. Sounds like it should have been labeled an engagement rather than battle. It was rough going to get to that area back then so it was pretty safe in SW VA.

    ReplyDelete
  2. amazing how much property was destroyed in that war among ourselves.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I think it's neat that you found this site and historical marker. Thanks for an interesting post.

    ReplyDelete

The View from Squirrel Ridge features thousands of views of the Shenandoah Valley and surrounding area. I post frequently so please visit often.

Your comments are appreciated. If you are responding to a post older than a few days, your comment will be held until we have a chance to approve it. Thanks for your patience!

Sorry, anonymous comments cannot be accepted because of the large number of spam comments that come in that way. Also, links that are ads will be deleted.