With Christmas Day approaching, hopefully the holiday for you means plenty of family, friends and remembering the reason for the season.
The first Christmas for West Virginia as a state in 1863 was eventful in a variety of ways.
West Virginia entered the Union on June 20th, but statehood didn’t bring peace to the region. Families were often divided; loyalties split between the Union and the Confederacy.
Over the course of the Civic War, several high ranking officers saw their stars rise and fall, in some cases, multiple times. Such was the case of the Union’s William W. Averell. 1863 was a pivotal year in Averall’s career. In March, the Senate confirmed his appointment as a brigadier general, but in early May, he was relieved of command, after an ineffective performance at the Battle of Chancellorsville.
Averell’s career was back on the rise in November, as he masterminded a Union win in the Battle of Droop Mountain, in what is considered to be the most significant Civil War battle fought in West Virginia.
Averell had one more major Union triumph in 1863 and while his Salem Winter Raid actually took place in Virginia, its roots were clearly based in West Virginia.
Once again, Averell was ordered to attack the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad, which was supplying James Longstreet’s forces in Knoxville. Even after the loss at Gettysburg, if Longstreet had managed to force Ambrose Burnside to surrender in Knoxville, the Union momentum would be gone and the war would certainly have been extended.
Averell left Charleston with about 2,500 cavalrymen, made up mostly from 2nd, 3rd, and 5th West Virginia mounted infantry regiments, a group he trained. His scouts, disguised as Confederates, captured couriers and intercepted key dispatches, meant for other Rebel commanders.
Conditions were awful. The raid started ten days before Christmas in frigid weather. Averell’s troops dealt with hypothermia, frostbite, and swollen feet from repeatedly crossing icy streams that didn’t have bridges. On December 16, 1863, Averell’s advance guard reached Salem and cut telegraph lines, tore up track, and positioned their artillery.
When the Confederate supply train arrived from Lynchburg loaded with troops and supplies, Averell’s artillery opened fire. His troops destroyed rail facilities, burned five bridges and damaged track for miles in both directions.
After accomplishing their mission, getting away safely from a region crawling with 12,000 Rebel forces was another matter.
Averell’s men found a local slave, known only today as “Dr. Wylie” who knew the territory and was convinced that it would be in his best interest to lead the entire Union command back to West Virginia, if he wanted to live.
Again, the weather made the escape difficult. One of Averell’s regiments providing security for fleeing injured soldiers, was trapped after a bridge was burned. Four men drowned trying to lead their horses across a freezing river. Averell’s men were able to take the lone open road across the mountains in Pocahontas Country to get safely back into West Virginia, reaching ice-covered Beverly on this date, 162 years ago today, December 23rd, 1863.
Averell’s total casualties were surprisingly light. Eight men killed, seven wounded and 130 captured. However, more than a thousand of his men were suffering from hypothermia at the end of the raid and escape. And as to the 130 captured, most were sent to a prisoner of war camp in Salisbury, North Carolina, where only thirty survived the end of the war and returned to West Virginia.
The Secretary of War Edwin Stanton ordered that all the men who took part in Averell’s Salem Winter Raid, be given new uniforms, to replace those reduced to rags by the rigors of the trip.
Averell’s daring raid helped shorten the war and saved countless lives in the process. It’s a Christmas gift from 1863 we can all be thankful for this week.