Although this Civil War engagement has ordinarily been termed a skirmish, Hatfield argues that it deserves to be called a battle due to its significance and intensity despite its duration of only five hours. It was a victory for the Union Army’s 13th West Virginia Volunteer Infantry led by James William Johnson that engaged with the Confederate’s 8th and 16th Virginia Calvary, led by Albert Gallatin Jenkins. Johnson was from Coal’s Mouth, now St. Albans, West Virginia, located 13 miles east of present-day Hurricane, West Virginia, and Jenkins was from near present-day Huntington, West Virginia, 28 miles to the west. The sub-title, “with the firmness of veterans,” is a tribute to the band of union soldiers who were less experienced than their Confederate counterparts, yet fought with equal ferocity. The bridge was on the vital James River and Kanawha Turnpike at the mouth of Hurricane Creek. The author, Dr. Philip Hatfield, is a native and resident of Hurricane, West Virginia, an Air Force Veteran and the author of five Civil War books.
Charleston, West Virginia, 35th Star Publishing, 2019. 283 pages with a Name Index, maps, photos, illustrations and appendixes. Trade paperback.